Suggestions for finding pet friendly accomodations?

Hey again folks,

I've been looking for the last day (pretty solid) and I'm having trouble finding pet friendly accomodations.

My focus has been studio and 1 bedrooms in Bristol and Keynsham, but it the pickings are slim to none.

I haven't called any agents yet, but I keep seeing "not suitable for children, pets, smokers,.....)

I've been looking on Gumtree, doing Google searches (each and every link that pops up).

Any one got suggestions?

  Holly

No suggestions, because you're doing the right thing, but I do feel your frustration. The 'no smokers, children or pets' thing is the bane of my existence at the moment, trying to find a place that doesn't equate my little cat with crack smoking squatter.

If you do see something you fancy, you can always call and say you're really interested but yes, you do have a pet and would be willing to pay extra on your deposit. You never know how long someone has been trying to rent a place, and they might cave. Rental houses are a bit more flexible about pets if you can stretch your budget. Gumtree and Rightmove.co.uk are great sites. Good luck! And how dare you have a pet! 

If possible, houses are the way to go, not flats.

I spent weeks looking at flats - all of which are by default not pet friendly.  With houses, as you have your own garden and are not as close to other tenants, landlords are much more lenient.

Through a agency, you will always see adverts that say not suitable for pets or no pets allowed.

I have always rented with two cats and the easiest way to get round it is to go and attend the viewing, then enquire about having your cats during the viewing face to face.  I have even offered a extra £100 non returnable deposit sometimes (£50 per cat.) I always highlight that kitty never scratches up the carpet (  )

Agency go back to landlord and everything normally turns out fine.  Also a tip...if the house has a cat flap and the owners used to live in it...9 times out of 10 they had a cat too.

Its mainly to distract people with dogs or a billion pets.

Always worth a try for you.

We were thinking about bringing our cats over, but had difficulties with the pet policies.  The flat that we are in has a "no pets" policy in the head lease, but we were told *wink, wink* that unless there's a complaint it's not a problem.  My company told me that if I were veicted for violating the lease I would have to pay for all costs related to moving, breaking the lease, etc.  That and $500 apiece to get the cats UK-certified is why they stayed home.