Rental boom adds to Plymouth's homeless pet problem

PLYMOUTH’S thriving rental market is fuelling a worrying increase in animals being parted from their owners due to landlords’ strict housing policies.

Woodside Animal Welfare Sanctuary at Elfordleigh, on the outskirts of Plymouth, currently has more than 50 animals on its waiting list who cannot remain with their owners due to landlords’ ‘no pet’ policies.

And the charity has warned that the situation is likely to get worse as more people are forced into the rental sector by high demand, rising house prices, fluctuating mortgage rates and economic uncertainty.

Woodside’s deputy manager Dawn Cornish said last year the charity took in more than 120 animals whose owners were moving and unable to take them to their new rental accommodation.

“We expect this number to continue to increase again this year with landlords becoming more choosy about allowing pets in property,” she said.

‘Generation rent’ is now one of the top three reasons why pets are being brought to Woodside Animal Welfare Sanctuary, alongside strays and the ill health of owners. These animals include cats, dogs, small furries such as rabbits and guinea pigs, and birds.

In Plymouth and across UK, the private rental sector is growing at a rapid pace with the UK currently having the highest number of private renters in its history, totalling more than one in five households. By 2021 one in four people are expected to be private tenants.

Research carried out by Citizens Advice Plymouth in 2017, found that out of 396 rooms being let by private landlords in the city, only 34 would take people with pets.

Plymouth’s largest social housing landlord, Plymouth Community Homes, stipulates that cats and dogs are only permitted in properties which have exclusive use of a garden, under a Pets Policy that came into effect in early 2012. Cat and dog owners who signed their tenancy agreements prior to this time, who do not have exclusive use of a garden, can keep the cats and dogs they already owned but they may not be replaced.

However in the private rental sector, landlords’ rules can be even tougher, with many implementing a ‘no pet’ policy across the board.

Among the animals brought into Woodside because of such policies is Bella, a black, white and tanned moggie who is expecting a litter of kittens.

Dawn said it was heartbreaking to see pet owners having to give up their beloved animals.

She said for some people, their beloved pet might be the only constant companion, bringing them enormous health and emotional benefits.

“I have animals and live in rented accommodation, and it breaks my heart when people are forced to give up their much loved pet,” she said. “This can be due to regeneration of property and the new property having a no pet clause, or because they either cannot find a property that will allow animals or the landlord has changed their mind and they are forced to rehouse them.”
 
To contact Woodside Animal Welfare Sanctuary email generalenquiries@woodsidesanctuary.org.uk or call the sanctuary on 01752 347503. To find out more about animals in need of a home visit www.woodsidesanctuary.org.uk or find the sanctuary on Facebook.

PHOTO: Pregnant cat Bella who was brought to Woodside Animal Welfare Sanctuary because her owners were moving to rental accommodation with a ‘no pet’ policy.