- Pet-friendly listings are up across Australia.
- Pandemic drove Australians to adopt more pets.
- Unfavourable tenancy laws towards pet ownership make pet-friendly listings more attractive.
Pet-friendly property listings have surged since last year, according to Ray White data analyst, William Clark. The news will be welcome to pet owners nationwide, with more options to rent from, despite vacancy rates hitting record lows as of late.
Pandemic-driven pet ownership
There are several reasons why pet-friendly houses for rent have been trending upward.
The first reason is that the pandemic facilitated a boom in pet ownership. Many families struggling with isolation stress, resulting from public health restrictions and lockdowns, found solace in the comfort and companionship of pets.
This trend has been sustained post-Covid, with Animal Medicines Australia research finding that pet ownership increased from 61% in 2019 to 69% in 2022. Naturally, more pet owners lead to more demand for pet-friendly properties.
‘Pet-friendliness’ features in states where pet owners are unwelcome
Another reason driving listings changes includes how pet-friendly properties are marketed.
Sydney and Brisbane lead the way for pet-friendly listings
Sydney has the most significant change in pet-friendly listings, with 313 properties added since 2022. In Sydney, where tenants must ask permission to keep a pet in their rental accommodation, more properties and landlords have no obligation to approve or give reasons for denying pets on the premises. Properties are automatically assumed not to allow pets unless stated otherwise.
Clark explains that in states where landlords are given more power to turn away pet owners from properties, the ‘pet-friendliness’ of a property will be seen as an ‘advertisable’ feature, differentiating one’s property from the pack.
Cities with laxer rules on pet ownership will have fewer properties listed as pet-friendly because tenants will be allowed to keep pets, in most cases.
Up until recently, Perth and Adelaide had laws like Sydney. Under new tenancy law changes in Perth, from May 2023, landlords can only refuse a tenant’s ability to keep a pet with the consent of the Commissioner for Consumer Protection.
Likewise, South Australia has recently unveiled new rental reforms that prevent renters from having their request to keep pets unreasonably refused.
Clark believes that the new pro-pet ownership laws in these two states represent the last opportunity for landlords to market their properties as being friendly to pets.
The pet-owner-friendly states
Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory have more favourable laws for pet owners. These states and territories do not automatically allow landlords to refuse pets in a rental, however, in order to reject pets, landlords must go through an approval process with the relevant department.
For instance, in Victoria, landlords have 14 days to apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to get permission to refuse a pet upon receiving a tenant’s request. Requests for pets get automatically approved should landlords fail to respond within the given timeframe.
The Northern Territory has similar laws, with the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT) overseeing rejections.
While Queensland employs a similar process requiring landlords to approve or deny a pet request within 14 days, there is no independent oversight over whether the landlord has a reasonable explanation for refusal, like in Victoria, should a landlord refuse a request.
