Dog charity campaigns for landlords to accept pets

The UK's largest dog welfare charity, Dogs Trust, has announced its Lets with Pets campaign, due to kick off next year. The charity hopes to persuade more landlords of residential accommodation to accept tenants with pets.

A recent survey by Dogs Trust shows that 78% of pet owners had struggled to find accommodation that would accept them and their animals. The charity followed this up with a survey of landlords and letting agents to discover more about their concerns regarding pets in their properties.

Chartered surveyors George F White are supporting the forthcoming campaign. Annabel Hunter, head of lettings at George F White's Northumberland office, said: "Many landlords are wary of allowing pets in their home, especially if offering only a short term tenancy. If a landlord has had a bad experience with past tenants allowing their animals to destroy furniture or dirty the property they may be wary of allowing future tenants to keep pets.

"Irresponsible tenants, whether they own a pet or not, incur further repair or cleaning costs for the landlord."

Given the lack of pet-friendly rented accommodation at present, many dog owners who find themselves in the position of having to look for rented accommodation often have to give up their pets.