Relocating to London for personal or professional reasons is amazing. London is an exciting capital City with a number of opportunities. If you are coming from overseas, here are a couple of options to consider, particularly if you don’t want your dog or cat to flay cargo.
Flying or via Euro Star with your dog or cat
Moving with your dog or cat to London is another matter. Pet moves raises a lot more consideration, from a pet passport and vaccinations as well as transporting your pet from overseas.
There are lots of companies that are pet moving specialists such as Air Pets who fly in your pets from all over world and offer a bespoke taxi service from the airport to your doorstep. This works well for people and we recommend this to our Pets Lets clients.
Another company that takes a different approach is Pet Moves. They greet their pet owners at Charles De Gaulle Airport, so that the dog(s) or cat(s) do not have to go in cargo. Clients are met and then driven, via Euro Star, back to the UK. They help with the whole process and offer a bespoke chauffeur service to your doorstep.
London Relocation Tips
London has its own ‘micro-climates’. People you speak to have their own preferences. Some love North London, others prefer the South West with more open green spaces, others East London with a number of commons and places to walk your dog. You end up working it out yourself and sometimes it is about where your friends live. When you have a dog, you need to consider close proximity to parks and commons for dog walks as well as ease of getting to work.
London is complicated and that is why sometimes you need professional pets and property relocation advice.
- Only 10-15% of London landlords are pet friendly.
- Many blocks of flats in London have non-pets’ clauses. There are a few exceptions to the rule which requires local London knowledge.
- Having more than 1 dog can make it harder to find a dog friendly London property. Landlords are happy to accommodate a small dog, more than 1 dog, reduces the numbers of potential dog friendly rentals.
- A professional relocation agent will come up with properties and locations you would never have normally considered.
- Recommendations is a good way to find the right person/ company to look after your pet friendly relocation search
“I wanted to thank Pets Lets for everything, I was so lucky to find your company. You do a fantastic job and I could not be happier with the house!” August 2020
Recommended Locations:
- Primrose Hill and St Johns Wood which are close to Regents Park as well as Central London including Camden
- Hampstead close to Hampstead Heath
- Hight Street Kensington and Notting Hill close to Hyde Park and central
- Ladbroke Grove/ North Kensington which is close to Wormwood Scrubs, great for dog walking, and rents are a bit lower for the location
- Battersea with Battersea park close by
- Clapham Junction and the surrounding areas with Clapham and Wandsworth Commons close by
- Tooting and Balham with Tooting Common to walk the dog
- Wimbledon with the huge Wimbledon Common on your doorstep
- Dulwich, Forrest Hill and Tulse Hill in South East London with the picturesque Brockwell Park. These are just a handful of the pet friendly London locations. Have a look at the The Dog Vine to get a clearer picture of what there is to do in London with your dog and where to go.
Pet Friendly London Accommodation - Budget?
Renting in London is expensive. Dog friendly rentals are harder to find. It really does depend on where you are looking. Here are some useful tips:
- A bare minimum for a 1 bedroom/ studio flat will be £1000 per month (£230 per week) upwards.
- If you are looking in zones 1 & 2 you are really looking at £1400-1800 per month and upwards for a 2 bedroom property. This will really depend on the market at the time as well as location and kind of property.
- When the sun is shining, everyone wants a property with a garden. Pet owners are then competing with tenants without pets. Nine times out of 10 you will be overlooked.
- Have a Pet CV to hand and if possible meet with the landlord direct.
- Be decisive. Don’t dither otherwise you will miss out.
Examples of Pets Lets happy clients:
We negotiated on a Marylebone flat for a client with her dog down from £625 per week to £500 per week with no extra pet rent.
We agreed a flat in St Johns Wood and only after it was agreed, the client suddenly adopted a second dog. The landlord kindly agreed to another dog with no extra charge. We had both dogs inserted into the contract.
We agreed a flat for a couple with their 2 dogs who flew from the other side of the worked and just moved in. We dealt with the landlord direct and had the flat renovated and the garden cleared of debris which could have hurt the dogs.
Moving with your pet is emotional. Your four legged friend is part of the family. To many another child. There is now way you would leave your dog or cat behind.
To a landlord, renting out their property is a business decision devoid of emotion. It is all about the tenant being able to pay the rent. If the tenants is hardly going to be there, then minimal wear and tear to the property is more appealing.
To UK landlords, having a dog in the property means damaged furniture and neighbours being woken up during the night by barking.
It is an out of date mindset. People have parties, children draw on the walls and adults vape or smoke. Most dogs sleep, exercise outside and are well behaved. Like people there is the odd exception which gives pets as tenants a bad reputation which agents and landlords remember for a long time.
This is one of the hurdles pet owners have to overcome when finding a dog friendly rental.
Russell is the Founder of Pets Lets, a 100% pet friendly London property portal with a relocation & viewing service and a hub of information about dogs in London. Pets Lets is a community where people with pets matter. Russell is a staunch advocate for increasing the number of pet friendly landlords in the city.