Renting with a Cat or Dog: 73% of Respondents Faced Difficulties Finding Housing

According to OLX Real Estate, 65% of respondents experienced refusals to rent due to pets. Having a pet complicates the search for rental housing, although only a small fraction of landlords with such experiences reported serious property damage. This is reported by OLX Real Estate.

Renting Housing with Pets: What Difficulties Do Seekers Face?

48% of respondents have experience renting a property with pets. At the same time, 89% of surveyed landlords pay attention to the presence of animals in applicants for long-term residence.

Among those looking for housing with pets, 73% faced difficulties. For 26%, the search was very difficult, and 47% reported certain obstacles. Only 8% said it was easy.

Help from a realtor also didn't always resolve the issue. According to the responses from renters:

• 27% received full help with the search;

• 34% noted partial help;

• 20% received no help;

• 19% searched for housing independently.

Among the challenges in working with agents, respondents named the lack of negotiations with the owner, the inability to convince them to allow the pet, and the lack of arguments in such conversations.

According to the head of OLX Real Estate, Oksana Ostapchuk, it is important for the parties to agree in advance on living conditions and responsibility for possible damages. This is an additional issue alongside financial affordability: for some workers, rent takes most of their salary.

Property Damage: What Renters with Pets Are Saying

Almost half of the surveyed renters with pet experience reported no damages. The results were distributed as follows:

• 47% reported that there were no damages;

• 44% noted minor damages;

• 9% reported serious damages.

If the property was damaged, renters most often partially repaired or replaced it. Others fully replaced items or compensated for losses with money. In 11% of cases, expenses were covered from the deposit.

Ostapchuk advises notifying the owner about the pet before moving in, discussing the conditions, and documenting the agreements in the contract. Landlords are recommended to state in the ad whether they are willing to accept tenants with pets.

An online survey was conducted in August 2026 among 450 people aged 18–55 with income above the low level. It covered cities in Ukraine with populations over 50,000, excluding occupied territories and active combat zones.

The presented figures describe the responses of the study participants. The specific conditions of each property should be checked separately: for example, even in an ad for a expensive apartment in Kyiv, the owner imposed a ban on pets.