Key Takeaways
| Issue | What It Reveals |
|---|---|
| Renters with pets face extreme housing discrimination | Severe housing scarcity, not tenant behaviour |
| “No pets” clauses dominate the rental market | Power imbalance caused by undersupply of homes |
| Regulating landlords won’t fix the issue | Lack of Supply is the real problem |
| State-supported housing can lead by example | The State can ban blanket ‘no pet’ rules on its own assets to offer more options for renters with pets |
| The Apple tax fund offers a root solution | It can expand supply and restore choice |
Summary of the Main Points from Irish Times Article
In a recent article from the Irish Times, a couple with 3 dogs has struggled to find rental accommodation because most landlords refuse tenants with pets, forcing them into unsafe and unstable living conditions.
- This issue shows us how pet ownership intersects with Ireland’s wider rental and housing crisis.
- Fine Gael TD Maeve O’Connell and others have raised this as a serious policy gap, and the Minister for Housing is reported to be seeking to repeal bans on pets in some social and affordable housing.
- In 2023, animal charities reported large increases (around 80%) in people being forced to surrender pets due to rental restrictions. The Journal
Pets Are Not the Problem – Limited Housing Supply Is.
For centuries, especially in Western society, pets have played a significant role as companions and providers of support. Yet in Ireland’s current rental market, owning a dog or cat can dramatically reduce your chances of securing a home.
This is not because pets suddenly became more disruptive since 2020. It is because the housing system has no flexibility or choice left for aspiring renters and homeowners.
When even minor personal circumstances such as ethnicity or pets can become a cause for housing discrimination, it signals a deeper failure in the entire housing system.
Right now, the discrimination towards renters with pets is simply exposing this failure.
Pets as an Indicator of Irish Housing System Failure.
I will be the first to admit that I am not keen on owning or keeping pets myself. However, the glaring rates at which pet owners are having difficulties getting accepted into most rental accommodation right now is very alarming.
In 2025, only about 7% of rental properties in Ireland were pet-friendly, yet a weighted survey carried out by Ipsos B&A show that 34% of homes in Ireland have a dog at least – cats and/or other animals not included.
Though we were unable to find a comparable figure for pet-friendly rental properties in the last decade, we understand that the current 7% is a figure that has tightened over the last decade, ever since it became harder to find rental accommodation. Dogs Trust.
- Also, animal welfare groups report a 112% increase in people forced to surrender pets due to housing pressures since 2019. This further highlights how the rental crisis has steadily worsened for pet owners.
In a healthy rental market:
- More landlords allow pets
- And tenants can easily move on to find a more suitable accommodation if needed
But in Ireland’s current rental market:
- Housing demand massively exceeds housing supply
- As a result, landlords become more selective – as they begin to focus more on simplicity, not suitability
- So “No pets allowed” becomes just one of several default filters; no couples allowed, no children allowed, etc.
This turns pets into an exclusion tool that tells us something important – the real issue is not pet policy itself, but the increasing absence of choice.
Why This Hits Renters and First-Time Buyers Hardest
Many renters with pets are not choosing to remain in the rental sector. They are stuck there.
High rents, limited supply, and rising house prices mean that:
- They have to rent far longer than they intended
- Moving frequently becomes unavoidable
- And Pets make each move harder
This slows the transition from renting into homeownership and increases financial strain, especially for first-time buyers already struggling to save in this economy.
Why I believe that Blanket Pet Bans – though Helpful, is still Missing the Point.
As we mentioned in the summary above, government officials are already working on a housing action plan seeks to eliminate blanket bans on pets in tenancy agreements. The Journal.
While this sounds like a good idea in theory, implementing this ban on all advertised privately-owned housing will hurt pet-owners even more!
Here’s why.
There are already very few private landlords in the Irish market as it is. Small landlords, (owners of 1-4 rental properties) are leaving the rental market in great numbers because of harsh new regulations coming in March 2026.
- From March 2026, Irish landlords will be forced to provide 6-year minimum leases to their tenants. My Little Home.
This is a huge cause for concern for most small landlords, as they view this new rule as a big infringement on several personal freedoms. Yes, I understand that the state is implementing this new rule to help prevent more evictions, but forceful compliance is not the way to go about it.
Forcing landlords to abide by the upcoming March 2026 rules without actually fixing housing supply could:
- Force even more landlords to remove their listed homes from Daft.ie
- Reduce the available amount of homes available to rent nationwide
- Increase competition for remaining homes even further
- Push house & rent prices higher!
That would hurt all renters, and those with pets will suffer even more.
Now, if the government decided that it will implement the ‘no pets ‘ ban primarily on public social & cost-rental housing which the government actually owns, then that is different. This could actually help a lot of pet-owners, without potentially hurting the rest of the rental market any worse.
But that is only an assumption.
Regardless, this will still not fix the main problem in this housing crisis, which is – limited housing supply.
How the Apple Tax Fund Can Help Fix The Irish Housing Crisis at the Source.
Since 2021, Ireland has recorded 4 consecutive years of budget surpluses.
These surpluses do not include a €14bn Apple Inc. back tax bill, which was finally collected in full by the Irish Government in July 2025.
For further context:
- This is money that was owed to the Irish State by Apple Inc. since 2016
- This money collected was not borne by the Irish taxpayer, so this fund is an incredible public service
- This money is also not a foreign loan, so there are no state obligations or strings attached to a foreign lender.
The Apple tax fund is a once-in-a-lifetime lump sum that can fall into the laps of any soveriegn nation.
That is precisely why I believe that this money should be allocated fully as capital investment to resolve the housing emergency right now, rather than being stored away in the well-intentioned but long-term, 10-Year National Development Plan where the money now sits.
On the other hand, people need houses now.
With a little political willpower, the Irish Government could use this 14bn Apple fund immediately and strategically to increase overall housing supply in Ireland.
This would help pet-owners, but also achieve the following:
- Empower local councils to buy qualifying vacant & easily-restorable derelict buildings from willing sellers (Ireland has over 80,000 vacant properties as of 2025)
- Directly contract local SME builders to help restore these vacant homes and or build new homes using modular and modern methods of construction
- Allow local councils to own these vacant buildings and add them to the social housing stock
- Lay the initial groundwork for the Irish State to get back into direct social housing construction
- Create a temporal scheme that will bring in the missing, skilled workforce from Africa, Asia and South America, necessary to build these homes and improve public infrastructure
- Improve Uisce Eireann’s infrastructure by contributing to its Leakage Programme – millions of litres of treated water are lost a day through leakages, which could be vital for construction and public welfare
- Better fund the HBIF and introduce loan schemes that can activate the real sleeping construction giants i,e small & medium builders.
- Improve the planning system by reducing judicial reviews and making sure that local councils are properly staffed.
- Reduce reliance on the private rental market to stabilise house and rent prices nationwide
And so much more!!
Deploying this fund right now would permanently improve Ireland’s housing system. I cannot guarantee that it would fix it, but it would sure as hell put a massive dent in the housing crisis for decades to come.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and the Irish State would be remiss to waste it.
Final Words – Pets Reveal What Policy Often Ignores
When owning a pet becomes a housing crisis, the problem is not pets.
The solution is not forcing landlords to change behaviour.
The solution is expanding supply, choice, and ownership pathways.
And the Apple tax fund offers a rare chance to do exactly that, while also helping to fix the problem at its root.
