The supply of pet-friendly rental homes in England has dropped by 39% since the beginning of 2026, a latest analysis shows.

Landlords appear to be scaling back the number of properties openly advertised as accepting pets in the run-up to the Renters’ Rights Act, which comes into force on 1st May.

Under the Act, an implied term will be added to tenancy agreements giving tenants the right to request a pet, with landlords required to give a reasonable justification if they refuse.

Pet-friendly listings were already scarce, and fresh data from a property inventory and software company indicates the pool is shrinking even further.

The latest listings data shows that only 5.9% of England’s 98,964 available rental properties are currently advertised as pet-friendly. At the start of 2026, that share stood at 8.2%, meaning the proportion of pet-friendly homes has fallen by 2.3%.

The steepest decline has been recorded in the East of England, where the number of pet-friendly rentals has dropped to just 317 a massive fall of 50.9% since January.

Across England, every region has seen a sharp reduction in pet-friendly rental homes. The East Midlands has recorded one of the steepest falls at -49.8%, followed by the South East -46.6%, Yorkshire and the Humber -45%, the South West -43.1%, the North West -39.1%, the West Midlands -37.9%, London -31.9% and the North East -31.2%.