London is the best city in the UK to rent a home if you have a pet but overall only 2% of property available to rent is pet friendly, new research has found.

The research from tenant referencing and insurance firm HomeLet looked at a number of factors, including the number of pet friendly rentals in each city, the amount of green space per city, percentage of people with pets per city, ratio of vets, ratio of dog walkers per pet, ratio of kennels and pet sitting facilities, and the number of pet shops.

The study ranked city on the different factors that will make a pet friendly home and found that London had the largest share of available pet friendly rentals at 8.4%, along with the greatest ratio of vets, dog walkers, kennels and pet sitters and pet friendly pubs in the country.

It points out that finding a property to rent in London with a garden may be hard, the city has lots of greens spaces, including Clapham Common, Hampstead Heath and Hyde Park, so there is plenty of opportunity to walk a dog.

However, the data suggests that Londoners are not taking advantage of these benefits, with the capital ranking as one of the lowest cities in the country for the percentage of people owning indoor pets.

In second place is Birmingham, followed by Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Glasgow, Sheffield, Edinburgh, and then Leeds making up the top 10.

The data also shows that while Newcastle has the most pet owners in the country at 55% but it ranks low for both pet friendly rentals and green space along with the other pet related factors.

The city with the next biggest number of pet owners is Nottingham at 54%, Cardiff at 52%, Bristol and Birmingham, both at 50%, Liverpool and Manchester at 49% and Southampton at 46%. London has just 24%.

‘The research shows a lack of rental options for tenants with pets, yet London highlights that there are areas with everything in place that could make a perfect home for renters with pets,’ said Rob Wishart, group data manager at HomeLet.

He pointed out that landlords might have insurance cover for things such as the building and any contents, it’s unlikely it will cover damage specifically caused by pets so those letting to tenants with pets need to make sure they are covered.

‘Since the introduction of the Tenants Fee Act, deposits are now capped by law to a maximum of five weeks rent. Landlords who have previously agreed to allow pets based on a higher deposit, in case of damage or a clause to deep clean at the end of tenancy will no longer be legally allowed to do so, so this may reduce the number of landlords who are willing to accept pets, but as it was only introduced 01 June 2019 it’s too early to say,’ he explained.

‘When looking for your next rental, it’s worth having an open an honest conversation with your potential landlord or the letting agent involved, to fully understand the clauses of your tenancy agreement,’ said Wishart, adding that having a pet without permission could breach tenancy agreements.

‘Asking for a specific pet-reference from your existing landlord may go some way to reassuring your landlord to take on a renter with pets,’ he added.