Pets-A-Loud

2 Aug 2013

Renting with Pets

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At The Lost Dogs’ Home we care for over 31,000 lost, abandoned and injured cats and dogs each year. Within this statistic we see cats and dogs surrendered by owners who have had to make the heartbreaking decision following limited access to pet friendly rental housing.

Changing rental landscape

With almost a quarter of Australians living in medium to high-density housing, the landscape of rental accommodation has changed dramatically in recent years.

No longer are houses with huge backyards the norm, rather a growing trend can be seen in cities across the nation to high density living, with individuals making a switch to downsizing and inner city apartment living.

In addition, higher house prices and affordability are pushing people into tight rental markets.

While Australia has one of the highest pet ownership rates in the world, finding pet-friendly rental accommodation – be it a house, unit or apartment – is not always an easy task.

It can be a lengthy and somewhat frustrating process for a lot of cat and dog owners. There are numerous stories of application rejection, with those with pets ending up at the end of the rental queue in favour of applicants without pets.

There are solutions!

Don’t despair – it is not an impossible task to find rental accommodation for you and your beloved pet!

Today on Pets-A-Loud we:

Explore tenants’ rights and how to increase your chances of having your application approved.
Look at the growing trend towards pet-friendly apartments and how landlords can benefit from harbouring a pet friendly environment/community.
Provide advice on choosing the right accommodation to suit your pet and vice versa.
Offer alternatives to surrender if you are in financial hardship and feel like you can no longer look after your pet.

Useful websites and links:

Tenants’ Union of Victoria, Renting with Pets Factsheet www.tuv.org.au/articles/files/resources/Pets_FS_R_062009.pdf

The Australian Animal Companion Council, Landlord Guide to pet-friendly rentals www.acac.org.au/pdf/renting_landlordguide.pdf

Pet Friendly Rentals www.petfriendlyrentals.com.au