Newport and Blaenau Gwent named Zoopla's most pet-friendly

Based on their rentals listings, Zoopla found that Newport and Blaenau Gwent came in at eight and ten respectively across the UK for most pet-friendly rental properties.

22.3 per cent of Newport’s rental listings on Zoopla were pet-friendly, with 20 per cent of Blaenau Gwent’s falling under the category.

Top in the UK is East Ayrshire with half of the listed rentals being pet-friendly. The rest of Gwent falls much lower on the list – with 4.2 per cent of properties listed in both Caerphilly and Monmouthshire as pet-friendly, and 2.4 per cent in Torfaen.

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The research comes as a new tenancy agreement comes into place to make it easier for people who own well-behaved pets to get a lease. The UK Government announced the new Model Tenancy Agreement in January which means that landlords are no longer able to issue blanket bans on pets in England. However, it is only guidance and not bound by law – although there is a bill going through Parliament which could make it law.

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Landlords can still stop tenants from keeping pets but must offer a reasonable excuse for refusal in writing within 28 days of the tenant’s request.

Reasonable excuses would include a ban in smaller homes or flats where owning a pet might be impractical, according to UK Government housing minister Chris Pincher.

This does not apply to Wales and there is no similar document, however, some of the councils have published their own documents which outline their policies.