Pets more important than parking when it comes to renters choosing homes

A survey suggests that the ability to have a pet in a rental property is more important than ease of parking when it comes to tenants choosing their homes.

A survey conducted last month for insurance firm Cover4LetProperty produces some predictable results - chiefly that for 77 per cent of renters, cost remains the single most important deciding factor when choosing a property, although this is substantially down by 11 per cent on the figure emerging from a similar survey six months ago.

Some 68 per cent also said that the location was key - that’s also a decrease of 11 per cent over the last six months - while having a garden is important to 48 per cent (up seven per cent from last time).

But perhaps surprisingly the ease of parking - which six months ago was the third most important factor where choosing to rent - dropped by 23 per cent down to 24 per cent, whereas allowing pets into a rental property increase four per cent to 32. 

“In February, Labour said it wanted to implement a default right for tenants to keep a pet in their rental properties. It appears that the party has found this is a popular choice for tenants and would be seen as a vote winner” explains Richard Burgess, director at Cover4LetProperty. 

“Regardless, landlords may want to consider their own policy on pets to see if it could help rent their properties now - or they are forced to change their policy by potential new government legislation”.