Did you hide your horse? New Study Reveals Nearly One Third of Brits Have Been Hiding Their Pets for Over Three Years!

To celebrate the anniversary of the UK government introducing the new Model Tenancy Agreement to give pet owners more freedom to rent, Quintain Living – the award-winning management company overseeing the rental of more than 3,000 apartments in Wembley Park – has released a new study focusing on renting with pets in the UK.

The study, based on 1,000 respondents who own pets, provides insights on the secret life of pet owners, the best and worst UK cities for pet owners, the pets most commonly concealed from landlords and even how owners hide pets from their landlords.

The study revealed that nearly one third of pet owners in the UK have been hiding their pets for over three years. 38% of respondents said they do not feel comfortable asking their landlord for permission to keep a pet and almost one third experienced difficulty finding a property to rent as a pet owner.

It was also revealed that 21% of men and 17% of women surveyed said that keeping their pets hidden has had a negative impact on their mental health. What’s more, almost one in five pet owners (17%) said that they have considered giving up their pet in order to find somewhere to live.

Birds were named as the most secretly kept pets in the UK – a staggering 50% of respondents who keep birds admitted hiding them from their landlord. Rabbits came in second place, cited by 43% of people who own them.

A truly unexpected animal finds itself coming in third place – horses, according to 33% of respondents. How on earth do you hide a horse from your landlord? It’s not exactly a small pet is it! I admit to hiding a hamster from my landlord in the past and I might have had some budgies, but a horse!! I’d love to hear from anyone who has hidden their horse from their landlord- please contact me!!!

How do people hide their pets?

When it comes to hiding pets from landlords during inspections, the most common ways are:

1. Taking the pet for a walk (35%)
2. Asking a friend to look after it (32%)
3. Asking neighbours to watch it (19%) and;
4. Hiding it in the wardrobe or cupboard (15%) – like to see you do that with a horse!

Almost one in ten pet owners (9%) admitted they disguise their pets to conceal them from their landlords. But what did they disguise them as? A baby in a pram? A stuffed toy!! ?

Other key findings from the survey are:

·     27% of landlords do not know that their tenants keep pets

·     30% of Brits think they could rent a nicer property if they didn’t have a pet

·     Brighton was voted the most pet-friendly city in the UK, followed by Edinburgh and Liverpool

·     Belfast turned out to be the least pet-friendly city, with London and Glasgow rounding out the bottom three

·     The most pet-friendly landlords live in Norwich (96%), Leeds (95%) and Sheffield (93%) while Plymouth (82%), Cardiff (80%) and Edinburgh (73%) were voted as the cities with the fewest pet-friendly landlords

“For too long renters have been excluded from keeping pets in their homes but, as we have proved, there is no reason why we cannot live in harmony together.

We are proud to have been one of the first to offer pet-friendly homes to rent, as well as a host of pet-friendly amenities onsite for two- and four-legged residents alike to enjoy.”  

Danielle Bayless, COO of Quintain Living,

Tell me your story!

Did you hide your pets from your landlord? Drop me a line and tell me your story, I’d love to hear it!