Pet-owners finding it hard to rent in Devon

Those who own pets may find it harder to find a place to rent

People are struggling to find somewhere to rent when they own pets, the president of the South West Landlords Association has said.

The average number of tenants requesting to view a rental property in Britain is 25 for every application, figures from Rightmove show.

But those with pets are finding it harder to put in a successful application.

Iain Maitland from the South West Landlords Association said "things have to be acceptable to the landlord, the tenant and the pet" for the application to go ahead.

Kim Irvine, from Plymouth, nearly had to give up her dog Digby as she was struggling to rent.

She said: "I got to the situation where I was starting to consider taking Digby to kennels.

"It was awful, it was absolutely heart-breaking."

The South West Landlords Association said 7% of landlords advertise as being pet-friendly.

Mr Maitland said: "I've been a landlord an awful long time, more than 30 years, I've heard landlords saying 'yes you can keep pets', going to do the first inspection of the property and finding they had a donkey in the kitchen.

"So whatever we're looking at, we have to look at reasonably."

He added: "If they have a pet, the first question the landlord is going to ask is 'why are the tenants looking for a new property'? Is it because the pet has been a problem somewhere else?

"There's nothing a landlord wants more than a good tenant who pays their rent on time and has no anti-social behaviour problems and the landlord will keep the tenant as long as possible."