Many are talking about the investment property rising from the initial purchase price of £680,000 to nearly double at £1.2 million pounds, but the other large talking point is the advert from letting agents Strutt and Parker highlighting the consideration of animals at the property.
This comes after the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP called on landlords back on the 4th of January 2020 to enable responsible tenants to have well behaved pets, which was backed up by the new Model Tenancy Agreement removing the ability to issue blanket bans on pets.
It is a rather important topic as more tenants are searching for companionship in their socially restricted lives. The RSPCA helped highlight the 84% spike in dog ownership making it roughly 44% of UK households home to pets, that is more than 12 million pet owners.
The government is trying to widen the option for tenants with only 7% of landlords advertising homes as ‘suitable for pets’, forcing tenants into a position of either giving up their animal companion for the home they want to wait for a landlord who will accept the added risk to their property.
And there is a risk, with the Tenancy Deposit Service stating that half of landlords who have experienced damage have cited pets as the cause. Thanks to the June 2019 Tenant Fees Ban there is no ability for pet deposits to give security to landlords making the situation one of sacrifice for landlords which seems to be the trend for most changes in the lettings policies.
Written by Toby Dawson
