Will the Renters’ Rights Bill truly help Pet Owner-Tenants?
The Renters’ Rights Bill has some promising ideas to help tenants with pets, but how much it will actually change things depends on how it works alongside existing laws and whether landlords fully embrace the new rules.
What will the Renters’ Rights Bill do for Pet Owners?
The Right to Ask for a Pet
Under the new rules, tenants can formally REQUEST permission to keep a pet, and landlords can’t just say no without a good reason. This stops landlords from banning pets outright in tenancy agreements.Reasonable Refusals Only
If a landlord wants to say no, they’ll need to have a valid reason, like the property not being suitable for pets or other specific concerns. They can’t just refuse because they feel like it.Tenant Responsibilities
Tenants might have to get pet insurance to cover any damage their furry friends might cause. This is designed to reassure landlords while giving tenants more freedom.
Pets in Properties
What does the Renters Reform Bill say about Pets?
The Bill will set in place the opportunity for tenants to request to have a pet within the property.
Landlords must give the request reasonable consideration; this will be on a case-by-case basis. If a landlord refuses, tenants can escalate the matter if they believe that their landlord has been unfair, and tenants will have access to the Landlord Ombudsman as well as the First Tier Tribunal (FTT).
The view of all the animal centric organisations is that this Bill will be revolutionary for tenants who own pets because large numbers of animals are given up to the RSPCA, Dog’s Trust, and Cat Protection every year due to landlords not allowing pets in their properties. For example, the Cat Protection League received 1,300 cats last year, from people who couldn’t keep them due to issues with private rented and social housing.
Lockdown Pets - How are they being managed?
A recent study carried out by the University of York and the University of Lincoln found that having a pet was linked to maintaining better mental health and reducing loneliness.
However, 68 per cent of pet owners reported having been worried about their animals during lockdown, for example due to restrictions on access to veterinary care and exercise or because they wouldn't know who would look after their pet if they fell ill.
Lead author, Dr Elena Ratschen from the Department of Health Sciences University of York said: "Findings from this study also demonstrated potential links between people's mental health and the emotional bonds they form with their pets: measures of the strength of the human-animal bond were higher among people who reported lower scores for mental health-related outcomes at baseline.
"We also discovered that in this study, the strength of the emotional bond with pets did not statistically differ by animal species, meaning that people in our sample felt on average as emotionally close to, for example, their guinea pig as they felt to their dog.
Two Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear-Tree
“On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, Two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree” and of course, we all know that a dog or puppy or kitten or turtle doves or any kind of bird, is not just for Christmas. Last year the RSPCA rescued and collected 102,900 animals. The charity does not just deal with domestic animals, it also takes care of wild animals. The aim of the RSPCA and the Dogs Trust is for the public to have a much better understanding of how animals should be cared for and treated.