This is a perennial question that all landlord and tenant advisers get asked.
As discussed in the post here, the law has not (at the time of writing) been changed recently to force landlords to allow pets, although the government has threatened to change it in future in the promised renters reform bill.
So what is the law now?
It’s all about the tenancy agreement
Many landlords and tenants might be surprised to learn that under the general law, tenants DO have a right to keep pets.
So if a tenant goes into a property on a handshake and a promise to pay £X rent – there is nothing to stop them from having a dog. Or a cat. Or a rabbit or a parrot. Or any sort of pet.
The reason why most tenants are not allowed to keep a pet is because their tenancy agreement says so.
So the pet prohibition will depend upon the enforceability of the relevant clause in their tenancy agreement.
Enforceable pet prohibition clauses
So what does an enforceable pet prohibition clause look like?
The wording may vary but it needs to contain the following elements;
- It should say that pets are not allowed
- It should say that tenants have the right to request, in writing, leave to keep a pet, and
- It should go on to say that the request will not be refused unreasonably.
All professionally drafted tenancy agreements will include all these elements. However, some landlords will cross out the last two, on the basis that they will never allow pets, so what is the point in allowing tenants to request leave?
What they don’t realise though, is that by doing this, they are invalidating their prohibition clause.
Under the Unfair Terms rules (now part of the Consumer Rights Act 2015), prohibition clauses need to be ‘fair’. And we have a precedent case where the Judge held that a blanket prohibition is not fair, as it would prevent a tenant from keeping something innocuous, such as a goldfish in a bowl.
So if you want to keep a pet, you need to read your tenancy agreement and see what it says.
Why landlords don’t like pets
It may be worth adding here a section on why landlords usually prohibit pets.
It’s because they have usually experienced tenants who failed to control their pet property and were left with a damaged property when the tenant left.
For example, see this post on LandlordZone.
This sort of extreme damage can also be traumatising for landlords. If you have spent time and trouble making your property nice for your tenants, it is distressing to receive it back with badly damaged walls and doors and urine-soaked carpets.
Although most landlords will take a deposit, this is often insufficient to cover the type of damage that pets can do. Properties may also need deep cleaning and maybe treatment to make it safe for people with pet allergies.
There is also the fact that landlords will normally want to re-let their properties as quickly as possible, and doing work to repair pet damage will delay this.
So it is not surprising that most landlords simply don’t want the hassle.
And finally
Contrary to what many people think, most landlords don’t earn massive amounts from their property and landlord incomes have reduced recently due to increased taxation and regulation.
So most landlords will want to reduce the ‘void’ period and potential losses through pet damage.
If you want to keep a pet, therefore, you will need to persuade your landlord that YOUR pet is not going to cause this sort of problem.
But check your tenancy agreement first.
- Landlords – find out more on my Landlord Law service.
- Tenants – find out more on the Renters Guide