Free guide
Pets in Rented Properties - the Law
12-14 minutes to read
In this guide
- Introduction
- Why do so many landlords prohibit pets?
- What to do if you want to keep a pet
- Reasonable reasons for landlords to refuse permission
- If your landlord refuses permission
- Assistance dogs and emotional support animals
- Granting permission with conditions
- Pet damage warnings
- If you keep a pet without permission
Share this
1. Introduction
Things have changed since the last time this article was published on tenants rights to keep a pet.
In the past, most tenancy agreements prohibited pets, and it was difficult for tenants to overcome this.
However, there has been a general recognition of the fact that pets are important for family life and people’s mental health. So when the Renters Rights Act was drafted, it included new rights for tenants to keep pets.
The rights are better than initially intended, as clauses requiring tenants to pay for pet insurance were removed from the Bill after debates in the House of Lords made it clear that suitable insurance did not actually exist. There were then attempts to bring in amendments making tenants pay a higher deposit, but these also did not make the final version of the bill.
So tenants’ rights regarding pets are now considerably stronger than they were in the past.
The Renters’ Rights Act has made it more difficult for landlords to operate blanket “no pets” policies. However, tenants are still expected to behave responsibly and landlords may still refuse permission where they have a good reason.
However, before we discuss this, let’s take a look at why pets are so unpopular with landlords.
2. Why do so many landlords want to prohibit pets?
It mainly comes down to money. Pets can cause a lot of damage to a rented property, which can be expensive to put right.
When the tenant leaves, the landlord will have the job of putting the property back into a proper condition to re-let. If there have been pets in the property (particularly cats and dogs):
- Furniture may have been damaged, needing replacement
- Carpets may be infested with fleas, damaged by scratching and in some serious cases may be soaked in urine
- Walls, skirting boards, doors and windows may be scratched and chewed
- The landlord’s insurer will not provide cover if pets are allowed (which does happen sometimes)
Pet damage costs money to put right. Unlike the popular perception of landlords, most are not particularly wealthy. They already have a lot of expenses and would prefer to avoid having to pay hundreds, or in some cases thousands, of pounds rectifying the damage done by their tenants’ pets.
There is also the problem that many people are allergic to pets (sometimes it is the landlord him or herself who is allergic!), and the cost of remedying this can also be expensive.
For example, if the landlord were to let a property to someone who was allergic after the property had previously been let to a pet owner, this could seriously affect the new tenant’s health – the landlord could even be liable for compensation.
Even if there was no problem with paying for all this (and we will be looking at this later on), landlords are mostly looking to re-let their property fairly quickly and do not want long delays while properties are cleaned and repaired and treated for flea and any other infestations.
Remember that landlords are losing money while properties are empty – as they still have to pay their expenses such as mortgage repayments, insurance and the like.
So it is quite understandable, from the landlords’ point of view, that they would in most cases want to prohibit pets.
However since the introduction of the Renters Rights Act it will now be more difficult for them to do this.
3. What to do if you want to keep a pet
Although tenants’ rights have been increased, you do have to apply for permission. So any tenant wanting to keep a pet must apply for permission. This is set out in new sections 16A and 16B in the Housing Act 1988.
Here are the new rules:
- If you want to keep a pet at the property (which is referred to as the ‘dwelling house’ in the legislation) you must apply for permission in writing
- You need to do this whether or not you are the owner of the pet. So if for example you want to look after a relatives pet while they are away, you will need permission
- You should provide a description of the pet when making your application. Note by the way that some landlords may have included a procedure in their tenancy agreement for you to follow when asking permission. If so, you must follow this procedure.
- The landlord must respond either giving or refusing consent within 28 days (or a longer period if you agree to this in writing). If they don’t, they will have lost their chance to object.
- However, if they ask you to provide further information about the pet (and that request is ‘reasonable’) during the 28 days, their time to respond is extended to 7 days after that information has been provided by you, and
- Likewise, if they need to obtain permission from their freeholder or superior landlord (for example if the property is leasehold) then so long as they apply for this within the 28 days, their time to respond to you is extended until 7 days after they have received a response.
- Landlords must not unreasonably refuse consent.
So, you will no doubt be wondering – what are the ‘reasonable reasons’ which landlords can give to refuse permission?
We look at this next.
4. Reasonable reasons for landlords to refuse permission
The first thing to do is check your tenancy agreement and see what it says. If there is no clause prohibiting pets, then it will be difficult for your landlord to refuse permission.
It is arguable that you might even be able to keep the pet without asking permission, but as the legislation refers to requesting permission, it is probably best to do this.
The guidance given by the government sets out four reasonable reasons for landlords to refuse permission:
- That the property is leasehold and your landlord’s lease forbids pets.
- The property is too small for the pet or pets you have asked permission for
- Someone else living in the property has a pet allergy
- The pet is illegal to own – for example under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
The government also makes it clear that when making their decision, landlords need to take into account considerations regarding the property and the pet only. Not their own feelings about it.
For example, they can’t refuse permission because the last tenant had a large dog which caused thousands of pounds worth of damage. Or because they don’t like animals.
However, despite this guidance, there are a lot of unanswered questions.
5. If your landlord refuses permission
If you ask for permission and you think your landlords refusal is unreasonable, then you have (or will have) two options:
- Apply to the Court for an order for ‘specific performance’ – effectively an order saying that the landlord must grant you permission. Or
- Apply to the Landlords Ombudsman. Or, if you rent the proerty via an agent, you can apply to one of the agents’ Property Redress Schemes.
At the time of writing this, the Landlords Ombudsman service has not yet been launched but it is expected by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
Once the Ombudsman’s service is available, this will be the best place to apply to. Over time no doubt the Ombudsmand will be publishing case studies which will help landlords when deciding whether to grant or refuse permission.
6. Assistance dogs and emotional support animals
Assistance dogs include guide dogs, hearing dogs and dogs trained to assist people with a range of physical or mental disabilities.
Refusal to permit an assistance dog will in most cases be discrimination under the Equalities Act 2010.
There is guidance on the Equalities website on assistance dogs here (although this is not specifically on rented property).
However many people today view animals as being necessary for ’emotional support’. Will it be discriminatory to refuse to permit these?
There has been a County Court case, Plymouth Community Homes Ltd v. Palmer in 2021 where a 64-year-old man, Christopher Palmer, with ‘significant mental health issues with a diagnosis of chronic anxiety with signs of post-traumatic stress and recurrent depression’ was refused permission to keep an ’emotional support’ dog. The Court held that this was discrimination and awarded him compensation.
However, in this case the tenant was disabled, and he had the support of his doctor who confirmed that the dog was beneficial to his condition. The Judge also noted the marked improvement in Mr Palmer when the dog was present.
This case could be useful if the landlord’s lease prohibits pets or if the landlord applied to the freeholder who refused permission. Particularly if you were able to prove that you suffered from a recognised disability and had the support of a medical practitioner prepared to stand up in Court and state on Oath that the animal is medically beneficial to your condition.
However, this case was before the coming into force of the Renters Rights Act. The situation now is that, in most cases, unless there is a reasonable reason to refuse permission, people like Mr Palmer should be entitled to keep their pet under the new Renters Rights Act rules.
7. Granting permission with conditions
The legislation does not deal with permission which is subject to conditions, but it is likely that reasonable conditions would be upheld.
What sort of conditions could be allowed?
Conditions which simply reflect the law, and conditions relating to the well-being of the pet and the condition of the property are likely to be upheld, for example
- That dogs and cats should be microchipped as required now by law
- That you should care for the animal properly and comply with the Animal Welfare Act 2006
- That animals, particularly dogs, should not be left alone for long periods
- That where appropriate animals should be vaccinated against common diseases
- That animals should not be allowed to foul inside the property
- That the animal should not be allowed to cause a nuisance to neighbours or visitors or cause damage to other people’s property
- That tenants should make good damage caused by the pet
The £50 fee
One of the few fees that landlords are allowed to charge under the Tenant Fees legislation is a fee of £50 (inclusive of VAT if the landlord or agent is VAT registered) if the tenancy agreement is amended at the tenant’s request.
So if you ask for permission for a pet after your tenancy has started, and your tenancy is amended accordingly, your landlord is entitled to charge the £50 fee.
However, if you ask for permission (and this is granted) before you move in and the tenancy agreement is adapted to permit your pet before the tenancy starts, it is not.
8. Pet damage warnings
In most cases, you should be granted permission to keep your pet. Even if your tenancy agreement says pets are allowed with the landlord’s consent, you should still obtain that consent before bringing a pet into the property.
You should also be aware that pets can cause serious damage. If this happens then, assuming your landlord has prepared a detailed inventory at the time the tenancy started, they will be entitled to claim the cost of rectifying this from your deposit.
If, as sometimes happens, the cost of rectification is more than the deposit held, they could also bring a claim against you in the courts for the balance.
Then, if you have opted for an alternative deposit scheme (as explained here), and if your pet causes damage, you will not have any deposit money available to cover the cost.
If the landlord brings a claim under the alternative scheme for pet damage, the scheme will pay him and then pursue you to recover the cost.
Landlords often don’t pursue tenants for damage exceeding the traditional deposit money. However, be warned that this will not be the case with alternative deposit schemes. So if your pet causes damage, it could prove very expensive for you.
9. If you keep a pet without permission
This is not recommended, certainly not if you want to keep on good terms with your landlord.
Your landlord may not be able to do anything about it immediately, but possible consequences could be:
- A substantial claim off your deposit when you leave (as you will be keeping the pet in breach of tenancy, the fair wear and tear element will not apply to pet damage)
- An unfavourable reference from your landlord if you need a reference for future accommodation
- A higher rent increase at renewal, or
- If the pet proves problematic, this could form the basis of a claim for possession. On the basis that you are in breach of the terms of the tenancy agreement in keeping the pet particuarly if the pet is one which it would have been reasonable for your landlord to refuse permission.
- It would take some time for your landlord to obtain a possession order (during which time you would still be able to live at the property) but if you were evicted via the courts this would affect your chances of obtaining alternative accommodation in future
Generally, if you wish to remain living in the private sector long term, it is best not to antagonise your landlord. It will not prevent you from living in the property in the immediate future, but long term it may make it hard for you to find private sector rented accommodation.
This is the end of this article.
Premium guide
Letter requesting permission to keep a pet
Do you want to ask YOUR landlord for permission to keep a pet? In this guide, we have advice and a draft letter for you. Plus a sample letter showing how it can be used.
8-13 minutes to read
Didn’t find your answer? Search again:
Search Articles
Would you like to speak to a solicitor about this?
A simple and straightforward way for you to get up to 1/2 hours telephone advice from a specialist landlord and tenant solicitor.
