Feb

What’s your opinion on pets? Animal health researchers launch survey

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The National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) is quizzing landlords about pets as part of its attempt to widen access for dog and cat owners within the private rented sector.

The body, which represents the UK animal medicine industry, hopes to encourage wider use of the model tenancy agreement and wants to work with landlords and tenants’ associations to promote new pet-friendly policies and responsible pet ownership.

Its campaign, Securing the Right to Rent with Pets: Making One Health Housing a Reality, has launched an online survey, asking whether landlords allow tenants to keep animals, and if so, what type.

If they don’t, it wants to know if they’re concerned about damage, suffer from allergies, or have had previous problems with pet-owning tenants.

It also gives landlords a chance to explain what they think would protect them if they relented: an increased deposit to cover damage, an insurance policy, or an ability to charge pet premiums by increasing the rent. It even wants to know if they keep pets themselves.

Very difficult

NOAH believes that despite the significant and clear benefits, owning a pet in rented accommodation remains very difficult. It says widening access to pets will actually bring benefits to landlords that outweigh their often-inflated fears.

A survey released earlier this week by Quintain Living revealed that nearly one-third of pet-owning renters have been hiding their animals from landlords for more than three years.

Its survey of 1,000 renters also found that 38% don’t feel comfortable asking for permission to keep a pet and 29% had difficulty finding a property to rent as a pet owner.

Take the NOAH survey.

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