A leading lettings agency says increasing numbers of tenants are seeking pet-friendly homes to rent.

Chestertons claims up to 35 per cent of tenants currently looking for rental properties in London are pet owners, and the agency calculates some 3.2m UK households have bought a dog since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Richard Davies, head of lettings at Chestertons, says: “The rental market is extremely competitive but pet-owners face the additional challenge of finding a property in which pets are allowed.

“To win over landlords, many tenants are creating pet CVs featuring references from previous landlords giving assurance that their pet is well-behaved, but even then, many are still finding it hard to move with their pet.

“As supporters of the Dogs Trust’s ‘Lets with Pets’ scheme, we do everything we can to try and help tenants with pets find a suitable property and also encourage more landlords to allow pets in their properties.”

Meanwhile a survey by rental cleaning firm End of Tenancy has found Belfast to be the most pet-friendly city in the UK – but even then with just 12.1 per cent of available properties for rent, allowing pets.

Glasgow was second with 11.5 per cent of properties followed by Manchester with 9.2 per cent.

In fourth place is Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, with 8.9 per cent of accommodation being pet-friendly.

In London, End of Tenancy says only 624 properties out of the total 8,531 accept pets, which at  7.3 per cent of properties puts the capital at the bottom of the top 10 best cities for pet-friendly accommodation.