Any advice for finding pet friendly properties?

Hello all... Please help!

I see many of you have pets and have managed to find suitable accommodations in the UK. Is there some secret to pulling this off?

We're really struggling trying to find places in Leeds that will let us bring our fur baby along. My partner is a UKC and knew having a pet would narrow our choices but I'm shocked by the apparent total aversion to pets in rental properties... We've tried a dozen different estate agents and they all just shut us down immediately upon the mention of the word "cat."

It's been a long time since I've rented but this is just a non-issue in the US, so what am I missing here? We were hoping to find something in or around the city centre in Leeds and there are lots of properties available but filtering by 'pet friendly' basically eliminates all of our options on Zoopla and similar sites.

I've had my cat for 10 years and the thought of leaving him behind breaks my heart. It's simply NOT an option. I'm feeling so guilty that this is so unnecessarily difficult, I'd sooner just buy a flat. I never expected this to become such an issue 

Hello all... Please help!

I see many of you have pets and have managed to find suitable accommodations in the UK. Is there some secret to pulling this off?

We're really struggling trying to find places in Leeds that will let us bring our fur baby along. My partner is a UKC and knew having a pet would narrow our choices but I'm shocked by the apparent total aversion to pets in rental properties... We've tried a dozen different estate agents and they all just shut us down immediately upon the mention of the word "cat."

It's been a long time since I've rented but this is just a non-issue in the US, so what am I missing here? We were hoping to find something in or around the city centre in Leeds and there are lots of properties available but filtering by 'pet friendly' basically eliminates all of our options on Zoopla and similar sites.

I've had my cat for 10 years and the thought of leaving him behind breaks my heart. It's simply NOT an option. I'm feeling so guilty that this is so unnecessarily difficult, I'd sooner just buy a flat. I never expected this to become such an issue 

It is possible to rent with a pet, don't loose hope!

From what I've read, you'll have better luck  dealing directly with with private landlords rather than with letting agencies and estate agents.
Even if an advertisement states 'no pets', approach them anyway with an offer of an increased deposit they may be swayed.
Providing pet references from US landlords may help too.

Good luck!

Thanks Larrabee! We're going to keep looking and try what you suggest - emailing individual landlords via OpenRent...

I'm seeing a handful of options on Zoopla in the outlying suburbs, but that'll certainly mean needing to have two cars and/or lengthy commutes. We'd much rather live centrally and rely on public transport.

It's tempting to just sneak in with the kitty. He's strictly indoors, so we might be able to pull it off if we get really desperate. I don't know what UK rental agreements are like with respect to violations of this sort (i.e. eviction or fines) 

We had the same problem in Glasgow. What I eventually did was to only call on properties that didn’t mention pets at all. I made an appointment to view, if I liked the property, THEN I asked about my 2 dogs.

Twice the letting agent asked the landlord, and twice they said yes. I also got several refusals, but I only needed one flat!

Good luck!


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You'll find something!  You won't have as many choices and may not have all modern features, but you'll find someone to let you bring kitty - promise!

Do be warned that in England, they "inspect" the property every 90 days during your tenancy.

Oddly, also in Glasgow, we had no pets at the time we moved. (The last cat had died of old age the prior autumn.)  We found a flat and moved in, to find that there were many dogs and at least one cat in the building. We asked the landlord (we are thinking of getting a small animal other than Thor Hamsterdahl once we know we are going to be allowed to stay in-country for sure) and they have no problem with pets.

Our flat has Pergo floors and was completely unfurnished, which helps with the pets, I think. I did view two other places, and one mentioned that they would allow pets with a sizeable deposit without my having asked. (Both unfurnished as well.) Both of the "yes pets" places were of higher monthly rent than the third, and required a sizeable deposit just for the flat, so.... no idea if that is a common thing or not, sorry!  And, of course, this probably (whatever is going on here) doesn't apply to where you are looking. But, just the same, it might be that you'll have better luck with unfurnished?

Do be warned that in England, they "inspect" the property every 90 days during your tenancy.

Has that changed recently? When I was renting in England (between 2002 and 2016), I seem to remember that the properties I lived in were only inspected every 6 months.



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Has that changed recently? When I was renting in England (between 2002 and 2016), I seem to remember that the properties I lived in were only inspected every 6 months.



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My tenancy in 2010 and 2011 was every three months and that seems to be the norm based on people moaning on Facebook about the frequency.   

Is this just a clause written into the rental agreement, or do the landlords actually inspect that often.  I can remember two occasions in the four years I lived in the rented house that our landlady came in, and both were for specific purposes, not to "inspect".   She even hired some work to be done, and never came back to see the result.

My flat in Glasgow is inspected every 2 months on the dot. And each time, I get a call or e-mail about something we are reportedly doing wrong (ie parking a car we don’t even own behind the building? ‘Presumably yours’)

This is even though, the refrigerator is unreliable, the freezer is frozen shut, lost too much food defrosting it weekly and finally gave up, all agree it needs to be replaced but 8 months later. The oven has a mind of its own. We had to replace the furniture ourselves as the 3 couches were infested with something that was eating us alive, covered in burn marks and urine.

The washing machine is draining under the kitchen floor, and the shower under the bedroom floor- both wood.

All have been reported repeatedly. Nothing has been done in 8 months.

I could go on and on, but will just say, never rent from Clyde Property. There I’ve done it. But I DO love the location, 5 seconds from Kelvingrove Park. Rant over


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If rented through a letting agency, they will check it at the required frequency listed in the tenancy agreement. 

My property that I am the landlord too is not through an agency and we don't do inspections.  But our tenant keeps in touch frequently and let's us know if there are any issues.  Frankly, she keeps the place in WAY better condition than we keep our own home! 

Wow.  I thought I didn't care for our landlord/lady, but it seems they were slightly more reasonable than I realized.  They rented the place to my husband a few years before he and I met, and as far as I know, they didn't enter the property any more frequently before I came along.  So I assume they were only in there a handful of times in the 7 or 8 years that he had the place.  But, of course, we did live right next door.  They would have known if anything unusual was going on. 

We had the same problem in Glasgow. What I eventually did was to only call on properties that didn’t mention pets at all. I made an appointment to view, if I liked the property, THEN I asked about my 2 dogs.

Twice the letting agent asked the landlord, and twice they said yes. I also got several refusals, but I only needed one flat!

Good luck!


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Thanks Barb! We'll definitely have to give this a try!

Do be warned that in England, they "inspect" the property every 90 days during your tenancy.

Seriously? Wow, thanks for the heads up! I figured maintenance requests might be a little tricky. Even if it's less frequent, there goes the idea of just sneaking him in!

If rented through a letting agency, they will check it at the required frequency listed in the tenancy agreement. 

My property that I am the landlord too is not through an agency and we don't do inspections.  But our tenant keeps in touch frequently and let's us know if there are any issues.  Frankly, she keeps the place in WAY better condition than we keep our own home!

To be fair, if I were letting my property through a management company, I'd probably expect them to earn their keep. My sister rents her house out through a PM company but they only set foot there if the tenant calls about something. Sounds like the inspections are a common enough clause that I wouldn't want to risk it.