Tips For Finding Pet-Friendly Accommodation in Egypt

On a lighter note for those in Egypt looking to find accommodation with pets, it can be an exceptionally difficult situation. The article below, submitted by Jenny Hart, provides a little insight for those of us in Egypt seeking pet-friendly accommodation. 

Finding Rental Accommodation Is a Struggle for Pet Owners

In Egypt we own around 178,000 pets, but perhaps one of the reasons why we don’t keep more cats and dogs is the difficulties faced by tenants in search of rental accommodation that welcomes animals. While it’s possible to see the situation from a landlord’s point of view, as potentially an untrained dog or cat could be destructive when in their property, it is frustrating for those of us who are responsible owners. Our pet would be unlikely to cause any more damage than a child might and rarely do landlords turn families away who have young children. So what are pet owners meant to do who are in the position that they need to rent their home?

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Options for pet owners

While some renting property try to conceal their cats, dogs or other small animals, this is a risky step to take, as if found to be in breach of your contract the landlord is within their right to ask you to leave their property and with a bad reference the task of finding new accommodation becomes harder still. If it looks like you are going to struggle to find a landlord to take on both you and your pet, you may need to consider whether you could ask a willing member of family or a friend who owns their own home to keep them until you can find a more animal friendly rental. However, this option or the alternative of finding yourself without any accommodation is not appealing. Perhaps the key to securing a rental where you can openly keep your pet is to demonstrate to your landlord that your pet will be no trouble.

Demonstrating responsibility

While a landlord may have questions of their own they wish to ask to determine whether you and your cat or dog will be suitable tenants, in other cases you can cover the areas that will put their mind at ease. Highlighting that your pet is house trained, receives daily exercise, is not left for extended periods home alone and that you have taken all the steps to keep your companion in good health demonstrates your pet is less likely to be a risk to their property. Offering for your prospective landlord to meet your dog or cat is another good way to influence their decision in your favour, as seeing that your animal is indeed well behaved should help to convince them of your suitability.

Charges and expectations

When you find a landlord willing to accept you as a tenant with pets, it’s almost inevitable that you will pay more than if you were not renting with a dog or cat. This may mean that your refundable deposit is greater to cover potential repairs that may be needed or that you are required to pay a charge to offset professional cleaning costs when you vacate the property. In other instances, each month your rental payment could be higher, though some pet owners feel that this additional cost is worth it if they have found a pet friendly landlord. Especially if you are paying a premium for your accommodation, don’t be afraid to ask your landlord about reasonable issues that they should be prepared to deal with when renting to pet owners. For example, if the property has outside space with a fence that is in disrepair, they should be willing to fix this to prevent the escape of your dog. Equally, inside the property if they haven’t provided chair covers or a vacuum capable of dealing with pet hair, they should address this too to allow you to keep the property clean.

Benefits to landlords

Landlords would be wise to remember that by excluding pet owners they are missing out on the opportunity to rent to a greater audience, so they possibly may have periods where their property stands empty if they don’t cast their net wide enough for prospective tenants. Not only this, but landlords forget that when people find accommodation that welcomes their pets they will tend to stay for a longer period of time, so the cost and trouble of finding new tenants is reduced. Therefore it is not just tenants set to gain from the wider availability of pet friendly rentals, landlords are also in a better position, which may sway more of them to consider accepting pet owners.