For home buyers looking to buy somewhere that is ideal for their pet, house buying company WeBuyAnyHome has ranked 130 UK towns and cities in order of dog-friendliness.
As a nation of dog lovers, finding somewhere suitable for a pet is often important. WeBuyAnyHome looked at factors such as the size of the average garden or private outdoor space, average property size, average vet ranking, number of pet groomers, pet amenities and pet-friendly establishments.
The company has put an interactive tool in place to help people filter the results.
Best places for pets
Bromsgrove tops the list, with above-average scores across the board. The average price of a house in Bromsgrove is just over £300,000. Next on the list is Bridgend in Wales, which is also the most affordable option, with average house prices of £167,325. It is only just behind Bromsgrove. Sevenoaks in Kent is third, and also one of the most expensive options with average house prices of £455,828.
Worst for pets
Unsurprisingly, London is the worst place to live for dogs, with poor garden space and smaller property sizes. Birmingham and Gateshead did not rate well for pet amenities such as training centres and grooming salons.
Garden score
WeBuyAnyHome rated outdoor space in respect of the amount of garden and the type, whether it was a balcony or terrace and whether the garden was front or back. Northern Ireland took all three top places, with Lisburn, Carrickfergus and Craigavon coming in first, second and third respectively.
However the lowest rating for outdoor space was also in Northern Ireland, In Newtownabbey. Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen also all ranked at the bottom.
Indoor space
Northern Ireland sweeps the board again for the amount of inside space, with Craigavon, Derry and Lisburn topping the ratings. The least amount of space was found in the homes of Newtonabbey, Bournemouth and Glasgow.
Pet amenities
WeBuyAnyHomes also looked at the quality of amenities that pets might need.
Hereford has the best veterinary care, followed by Bingley and Wokingham. Newport, Ashford and Bridgend have the highest ratio of groomers to pets.
Newport, Ely and Chichester take the lead for the number of dog training classes available, while Warwick, Chichester and Gloucester do well for dog-friendly eating out.
Surprisingly, a total of 23 towns and cities had only one dog-friendly eatery listed.
For dog-friendly days out, Lincoln is the place to live, followed by Warwick and Swansea. Worst for dog fun were Newmarket, Boston and Doncaster.
The region with the highest percentage of dog owners was the north-east, with 36% of the population owning a dog.
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