Should You Allow Pets in Your Airbnb? Yes, Here's the Maths

"Should we allow pets?" is one of the first questions new landlords ask us, and it usually arrives wrapped in worry: scratched floors, hair in the sofa, a complaint from a neighbour. Our answer, after nearly a decade of hosting across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, is yes, allow pets unless you have a specific reason not to. It is our default position across our own portfolio, and we arrived at it through experience, not sentiment.

The maths is about audience, not the pet fee

When a guest travelling with a dog opens Airbnb or Booking.com, the first thing they do is switch on the pets-allowed filter. At that moment, every listing that does not accept pets simply vanishes from their search. They never see your photographs, your reviews or your price. You are not losing the booking to a better listing; you are invisible.

Now look at the other side of that filter. The supply of genuinely pet-friendly short lets is thin, because most hosts default to no. The pet owner's shortlist might be a handful of properties rather than hundreds. A pet-friendly listing is therefore competing in a far smaller pool, for a guest with far fewer alternatives, which supports both occupancy and rate.

Two more things make this audience worth having. First, loyalty. A dog owner who finds a property that genuinely welcomes their dog books it again, because re-running the search is a chore and a warm welcome is not guaranteed elsewhere. Some of our most dependable repeat guests travel with a dog. Second, pet travellers skew towards UK breaks taken by car, year-round, which means they help fill the quieter months, not just the obvious weekends.

And the guests themselves are usually a pleasant surprise. In our experience, people organised enough to plan a trip around an animal tend to be organised guests full stop. They read the house rules, they ask sensible questions before booking, and they leave the place tidy because they want to be welcome back.

What actually changes operationally

Saying yes is not the same as saying anything goes. A few practical adjustments carry most of the load.

Charge a pet fee that covers the real cost

The honest purpose of a pet fee is cost recovery, not profit. A stay with a dog needs extra changeover time, hair, paw prints, a more thorough going-over of the soft furnishings, and the fee should fund that work properly so the cleaning team is never tempted to rush it. Guests accept a clearly explained pet fee without complaint; what they resent is a vague surcharge.

Furnish with pets in mind

Hard floors are your friend, and most modern apartments and renovated terraces already have them downstairs. Beyond that: leather or tightly woven upholstery rather than loose-weave fabrics, washable throws on the sofas, darker rugs, and nothing precious at tail height. None of this makes a property feel like a kennel. It is simply durable, sensible furnishing that also stands up better to ordinary human wear.

Add a pet kit

A water bowl, a food bowl, an old towel for muddy paws by the door, a packet of treats and a printed note on the best walks nearby costs very little and lands brilliantly. Guests mention it in reviews, and those mentions do your marketing for you.

The protections that make yes a safe answer

Allowing pets works because of the guardrails around it, and they are largely the same guardrails that protect a property from human guests.

• A damage deposit, taken before arrival and refunded after inspection. Considerate pet owners expect it and rarely object.
• House rules in writing. Pets off the beds, not left alone in the property for long stretches, garden door kept closed, whatever you and we agree, stated plainly in the listing and the welcome guide so there is never ambiguity to argue about later.
• Vetting before confirmation. We ask who is staying, including the four-legged guests. How many pets? What kind? House-trained and used to unfamiliar places? The conversation itself is a filter: a guest who is evasive about their dog is telling you something useful. This sits naturally inside the way we handle guest communications anyway; pets simply add one more honest question.

The review upside compounds

Here is the part hosts underestimate. When a pet owner has a good stay, their review says so in a very specific way: "they welcomed our dog", "the pet kit was a lovely touch", "great walks straight from the door". Those phrases are exactly what the next pet owner is scanning for, because a listing that merely tolerates pets and one that welcomes them read very differently. A handful of dog-mentioning five-star reviews becomes a conversion asset no photograph can replicate, and it keeps working season after season.

When saying no is the right call

We said yes unless there is a specific reason. These are the genuine ones.

• You use the property yourself and have allergies. Even a deep clean will not make a sensitive allergy sufferer comfortable in a property that hosts dogs every week. If the place doubles as your own bolthole, no is the sensible answer.
• The lease forbids it. Some apartment blocks, including a number in central Manchester, prohibit pets in the head lease. Check before you decide; this one is not negotiable.
• Brand-new, high-end soft furnishings you are not yet ready to risk. Legitimate, though usually temporary. Plenty of owners relax the rule after the first year of normal wear puts the worry in proportion.

What we would gently challenge is a vague "I'd rather not". Vague costs real bookings every week, and the operational fixes above are neither expensive nor difficult.

Where we land

Across the 80+ properties City Superhost manages, pets are allowed by default unless the owner objects, and most owners who start out nervous keep the policy once they see the calibre of guest it attracts. If you are weighing it up for your own property, we are happy to talk through the specifics, fabrics, fees, rules and all. Get in touch and you will reach Matt or Steph directly, usually within the hour.