I am now able to share the reports. Please find attached a copy of the full reportand the summary briefing. Our research found the following key findings:

· Zoopla reported that only 7% of adverts for rental properties were listed as ‘pet friendly’

· Nearly two-thirds of pet owners (65%) reported difficulty in finding a rental property, a higher proportion than renters without pets (58%).

· The reviewed research indicates several outcomes of these difficulties in finding pet-friendly rentals. Pet owners may be forced to accept substandard accommodation, keep their pets a secret from their landlord, or in some cases, relinquish their pets. These experiences were found to be accompanied by increased rental insecurity and emotional distress.

· Nearly half of private landlords (49%) reported charging a pet rent surcharge to pet owners. On average, landlords charged an additional £29.10 per month.

· Our survey findings show a consistent pattern. 50% of pet-owning renters had stayed in their previous accommodation for more than three years, compared with only 31% of non-pet-owning renters.

· On average, renters with pets reported a longer tenure (approximately 5 months longer) than renters without pets (63 months vs 58 months).

· Three out of four landlords (76%) reported that they did not encounter any damage caused by pets in their rental properties.

· On average, the total reported cost by landlords of pet-related damage was £300 per tenancy. In contrast, landlords who didn’t rent to pet owners reported an average cost of £775 for non-pet-related damages.

· We asked landlords what policies or incentives would make them more likely to consider offering pet-friendly properties. Out of all the different policies and incentives, the two most popular were, firstly, requiring tenants to hold insurance to cover any damage (53%), which the Renters Reform Bill includes, and secondly, changing the Tenant Fees Act to allow the landlord to charge for a deep clean and fumigation at the end of the tenancy (51%), which is not currently being considered by the Government. 

· We also conducted a cost-benefit analysis of landlords renting to pet owners over other renters. We found a Net Present Value (NPV) of £3,800.

· NPV tells us whether the benefits of an investment outweigh its costs, by considering the value of money over time. A positive NPV indicates that the benefits exceed the costs, suggesting the investment is profitable. 

· On average, landlords can expect to gain more financially from renting to tenants with pets than they spend on associated expenses. Therefore, renting to pet owners can be financially viable and beneficial for landlords.

I’ve put in bold above the key finding in relation to insurance, which was that landlords were more likely to consider renting to pet owners if pet damage insurance was in place – as this provides a further level of security to the landlord when approaching risk.

Best,

Tom

Dr Tom Simcock CPsychol CMRS

Research Fellow