Citizens who have a pet were recently shocked by newly introduced governmental fees for their smaller friends. As of now, they are forced to pay up to € 55, and it is only per month and each pet. Such fee makes an impact on the housings costs. The British who prefer to rent housing over its buying will need to take this information into account.

Pet statistics

According to The Guardian, today half of UK adults have at least one pet, about 11 million adults own a cat and 9 million chose a dog. However, these new rules do not scare owners but let them come up with their own rules, a few people choose fish and hamsters while others opt for having simultaneously 3 to 4 pets even without thinking of any discounts.

Changes for pet owners

The new rules were launched in June 2019 after the landlords were legally deprived of charging renters of any cleaning fee when the rental period was coming to an end. Also, they could not ask for extra deposits for a pet. Before it used to be common practice to charge at least €165 per animal but that amount was strictly returned when renters broke the rental contract. Now it is an obligatory step to live with a four-legged friend.

For example, one landlord who let a flat to tenants in Oxfordshire was asking around €45 per one pet and per month once the flat was at price 995 pounds per month. So that it could cost a family with a dog and two cat approximately €1,119 annually. Other landlords from Cheltenham raised the fee up to €56 per pet but excluding such animals as fish or hamsters.

For reference, about a quarter of families in Great Britain rent housing and it is almost 1.6 million people.