Pets in apartments were once thought of as a no-no. Thank again. High rise dwelling pets are becoming increasingly common as the apartment market matures and more owner occupiers move in.
Go to any big city overseas and apartment buildings are packed with pets. The idea is catching on in New Zealand.
What’s more developers are coming to see pet-friendly as being a great marketing tool for their new projects.
If you think keeping pets in apartments is cruel, then think again. In fact SPCA chief executive Andrea Midgen lives in an Auckland apartment with her rescue dog Jack.
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The environment can be managed quite easily, says Midgen. The big issue with pets isn’t whether it’s an apartment or a home on a section. It’s the enrichment and activity that the pet receives.
The key thing is to be a responsible pet owner. After all, she adds, many dogs are left tied up all day on sections, which is no better for them than being in an apartment all day.
A good dog owner in an apartment will make the animal part of their lives and take it out for regular walks and socialisation, says Midgen. She takes Jack to work regularly. Cat owners need to provide their pet with toys and lots of attention, she says.
Developer Dave Mahoney of Tawera Group says the last six apartment buildings from his company were designed with pet owning in mind.
“It goes back quite a long time,” says Mahoney. “We did a development in Wellington that my mum and dad were going to live in. Mum said, ‘I am not going if I can’t keep Bolly the Labrador’.” It was such a success that all of the developers’ buildings have been pet friendly ever since.
The focus for Tawera Group, which built the Hereford Residences and others in Auckland, is on owner occupiers not investors, says Mahoney. “It is usually people who are downsizing and nine times out of 10 they have got a pet dog or a cat or something else.” Allowing them gives the company an edge. Mahoney says making developments pet friendly is as much a “reality tool” as a marketing tool.
For pet-friendly buildings to work there do need to be rules in place, says Mahoney. “The body corporate always has the power (to veto) if the pets are not acceptable or a dog is yappy.” Having said that Tawera has built more than 500 pet friendly apartments and Mahoney doesn’t remember any problems.
Most bodies corporate have restrictions around the number of pets per apartment. Whilst some newer buildings don’t’ require owners to seek permission, many do. In Midgen’s case she needed to submit a pet waiver form to the body corporate in order to get permission to keep a dog.
Some pets (or pet owners) aren’t suited to apartment blocks, says Midgen. “It’s not really any different to a house.” Just your neighbours are closer. Bored or frightened dogs can bark a lot, although this behaviour can be managed.
Matt Baird, projects manager at Barfoot & Thompson, says the situation regarding pets in apartment buildings has changed a lot since he joined the industry in the 1990s. Pets were a rarity then.
These days Baird encourages the developers he works with to consider allowing pets , albeit with rules built in. “Higher end apartments are sold to people who are older and typically they have a pet. “We sell more apartments to people who are moving in to live,” says Baird. Developers don’t want to exclude those people. In an entry level building (however) you might consider no pets. “
Generally pet friendly means small dogs, says Baird. “Owners don’t want to see an Alsatian (in the building). A small dog such as a Cavoodle or Schnauzer would be fine.”
Whether tenants can keep pets comes down to both the body corporate rules and their tenancy agreement. The government is looking currently at changes to tenancy law that would make it harder for landlords to refuse pets. The rules are still being worked on. Housing minister Phil Twyford suggested in a discussion document that landlords might be allowed to refuse pets on the grounds that the properties were “unsuitable”. In theory owners of apartments with no outdoor space might fall into this category.
