Considering that approximately 70% of U.S. households own a pet and that 97% of pet owners consider them family, you’d think the rental housing industry would do anything and everything to cater to this demographic.
To be clear, many properties do—yet many renters continue to report ongoing challenges in finding genuinely pet-friendly housing. Even advocates such as the Humane Society insist the industry can do more to remove various obstacles for pet-owning residents.
Hurdles such as stringent pet limits per household, blanket breed restrictions, and weight limits can lead to distressing outcomes, including struggles for pet-owning residents to find adequate housing and, in a worst-case scenario, the need to surrender a pet.
With so many pet-owning renters in rental housing, one wonders why the industry contains such an abundance of barriers. Even properties that fashion themselves as “pet-friendly” often only fit that description on the surface. Savvy property owners, however, see an opportunity to bolster pet-friendliness and create a strategic advantage.
Read Victoria Cowart’s article in the Multifamily Executive.