Landlords Missing Out On Long Term Ruffenue

Aug. 20, 2014 - PRLog -- LANDLORDS THAT EXCLUDE PET OWNERS from their rental property risk overlooking quality tenants.

Lets Rent, an online letting agency, recently found that landlords who advertise their property allowing pets get a 14% better response rate from tenants than those that choose to exclude pets. Once more, the survey found that tenants with pets were 37% more likely to renew their rental agreement.

This is was presumed that allowing pets opens properties up to a larger audience. A study by Dogs Trust found that 78% of pet owners had experienced difficulties finding privately rented properties that allowed pets, so accommodating for these people will naturally gain more enquiries.

Pet owners face difficulty finding a property they can call home, so when they do find a property that allows pets, they are more likely to stick around, meaning less vacant periods and reduced tenant find fees for the landlord, and thus increasing their return on investment.

A PFMA (Pet Food Manufacturer Association) survey revealed that 46% of households own pets. In today’s increasingly difficult economy, renting is on the rise and people are also renting for a longer period of time, which means more people with pets.

Landlords who indicated that they wouldn’t consider letting to pet owners cited property damage as their main concern (63%), but also smell to the property (13%) and noise disturbances to neighbours (11%) were also of concern.

Oliver Fitzpatrick, director of Lets Rent, commented: ‘Property damage is clearly a concern for landlords, and understandably so. However, if you do a full reference check with the previous landlords, they will be able to tell you whether any damage to the property was caused. Also, landlords may want to take a proactive approach and meet the pet in question to observe how the pet behaves. With these things in mind, you may find yourself with a good tenant who stays in the property for a longer-term’.

ENDS

For more information please visit www.lets-rent.co.uk, or call 0330 223 1646 to chat with a member of the team.

NOTES TO EDITOR

·         Figures from http://www.pfma.org.uk/pet-population-2014/

·         Survey based on 572 landlord responses

·         Lets Rent is a free online letting service which aims to make property letting easy and simple. We achieved crowdfunding investment early 2014 from CrowdCube, and have been growing our operations ever since