More Pet Owners Make Way for More Pet-Friendly Housing In Major Cities
Most of the country has their eyes set either westward at Los Angeles, or to the east toward New York City for new happenings. Anticipation in fashion trends, pop-culture, and marketplace bearings begin in these two cities.
A new push for landlords motivating renters with pet-friendly accommodations has become a new marketing tactic. Of the 68% of U.S. millennial pet owners, 74% own dogs, according to the American Pet Products Association. Landlords are now marketing to these dog owners by waiving pet fees, allowing more than one dog, and supplying on-site pet care facilities.
The vacancy surplus combined with falling prices and rising concessions has made landlords think creatively to lure tenants. Pet-friendliness is now a marketing tactic. In the last 12 months, there has been a 20% increase in pet-friendly mentioning in landlord marketing materials. In NYC rent fees have dropped from $500 (and in some cases an extra month’s rent deposit) to around $20 in buildings like the West Village Building.
This trend is mostly happening within high-end luxury residential spaces like Hell’s Kitchen’s 525W52. Developers plan on building an on-site daycare facility, pet spa, agility course, and veterinary clinic for dog owning tenants.
In Los Angeles, where the highest percentage of renters live, the LA city council is working with landlords and tenants to increase pet-friendliness. A unanimous council vote aimed at curbing the number of pets in shelters was passed recently. LA shelters state that 26.6% of dogs were given up because of landlord pet restrictions.
One landlord in North Hollywood named Judy Guth has a no-pet-no-apartment policy. Guth’s prized 12-unit apartments come with the rule that tenants own at least one pet. If a pet dies, Guth personally takes them to the shelter to adopt another. Many of her tenants have lived in the complex for decades and units are coveted.
We at Splash and Dash Groomerie & Boutique think these pet-friendly pushes are more than just trends. They are indicative of a lifestyle movement for this country. Dogs are now the center of the home and the heart!
