Renting with pets under the Renters' Rights Act

As of June 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice — consult a solicitor for advice on your specific situation.

Pet ownership and renting have long been an awkward fit. Until recently, only around 7% of rental properties in England were advertised as suitable for pets (Zoopla, 2024), and almost one in ten private renters reported being told in the past year that they could not rent because they had a pet (English Housing Survey 2024-25 — around 363,000 households). The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 changes that calculus — not by forcing landlords to accept every animal that walks through the door, but by switching the default for existing tenants from blanket refusal to reasoned consideration.

The main reforms came into force on 1 May 2026, brought into effect by The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/421). The Act itself received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. If you manage assured tenancies — whether as a self-managing landlord or a letting agent — the pet provisions apply to you now.

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What the law actually says

Section 11 of the Renters’ Rights Act inserts new sections 16A and 16B into the Housing Act 1988. The effect is an implied term in every assured tenancy (other than social housing) that a tenant may keep a pet, provided:

• the tenant requests consent in writing, including a description of the pet; and
• the landlord gives or refuses consent in writing on or before the 28th day after the date of the request.

Consent is not to be unreasonably refused. That is the core obligation.

The 28-day clock can be paused in two limited circumstances:

1. The landlord reasonably requests further information about the pet from the tenant (the request must be made on or before the 28th day). The landlord may then delay until the 7th day after the tenant provides that information.
2. The landlord needs consent from a superior landlord — provided the landlord seeks that consent on or before the 28th day, the deadline is extended until the 7th day after the superior landlord’s response arrives.

The statute expressly lists circumstances in which refusal is reasonable: where keeping the pet would put the landlord in breach of an agreement with a superior landlord, and where the landlord has taken reasonable steps to obtain a superior landlord’s consent but it has not been given. Beyond those, the test is the general “not unreasonably refused” standard, applied to the facts of each request. Government guidance may point to further relevant factors (such as property size or animal welfare in the setting), but these are guidance, not statutory grounds — see the note at the end of this article.

One thing the Act does not do: it does not give prospective tenants any right to keep a pet. Landlords may still advertise a property as “no pets” and decline applicants on that basis during the letting process. The implied term only bites once someone has become a tenant.

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What landlords and agents cannot do

Two points deserve particular attention.

No separate “pet deposit” on top of the deposit cap. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 caps security deposits at five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is under £50,000 (six weeks’ rent at £50,000 or above). The Renters’ Rights Act does not create a pet exception to this cap, and an amendment that would have allowed a separate pet deposit did not make it into the Act. A “pet deposit” charged on top of the capped tenancy deposit would be a prohibited payment.

Pet insurance cannot be mandated. The original Bill would have let landlords make consent conditional on the tenant taking out, or reimbursing the cost of, pet damage insurance. That provision was removed by Government amendments at Report Stage in the House of Lords and is not in the Act. Requiring pet insurance as a condition of consent would be a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

What landlords can do is use the tenancy deposit, in the normal way, to recover pet-related damage at the end of the tenancy — subject to the cap and the usual deposit-protection rules.

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A documented pet-request process

Because consent must be given or refused in writing within a fixed window, an ad-hoc approach creates risk. Build a simple, consistent process.

Step 1 — Receive the written request. Acknowledge it by return, noting the date received. The 28-day clock starts from the date of the request. Use email or another medium with a clear timestamp.

Step 2 — Assess the request. Before responding, consider:

• The property. A studio flat is a different conversation from a three-bedroom house with a garden. Size, outdoor access, and flooring are all relevant.
• The animal. The Act defines a pet broadly — an animal kept by a person mainly for personal interest, companionship, ornamental purposes, or a combination of these. Treat each proportionately.
• The lease. If your property is leasehold, check the superior lease immediately. If you need a freeholder’s or management company’s consent, request it in writing on or before the 28th day to preserve your extended deadline.
• Prohibited breeds. The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is unaffected by the Renters’ Rights Act. Five types of dog are prohibited: Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, and the American XL Bully (illegal to own without a Certificate of Exemption since 1 February 2024). Landlord consent is irrelevant — possession of a prohibited dog without exemption is a criminal offence regardless.
• Assistance animals. These are not pets in law. Under the Equality Act 2010, refusing an assistance dog where a tenant is disabled can amount to unlawful discrimination through failure to make reasonable adjustments. Do not conflate the two regimes — and note there is no formal “register” that determines protection; it flows from the tenant’s disability.

Step 3 — Request further information if needed. If the request is too vague to assess, ask the tenant for more detail in writing, on or before the 28th day. Specify what you need. A reasonable request pauses the clock.

Step 4 — Respond in writing. Grant or refuse, with reasons. A refusal should rest on grounds a reasonable person could accept — not personal preference or a general worry about damage. Keep a copy of everything.

Step 5 — Issue a pet addendum if consenting. Document which pet, and under what conditions (for example, “one neutered domestic cat, kept indoors”). This gives both parties clarity at check-out.

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A pet-reference framework

If you want to make a genuinely informed decision — especially for dogs and cats — consider building a light-touch pet reference into your assessment. This is not a statutory requirement, but it is good practice and may be useful evidence if a refusal is ever challenged.

For existing tenants with a track record, pull up the check-in/check-out history and any previous correspondence. Good tenant referencing at the outset will often have included a previous landlord reference — directly useful if it covered a period when the tenant kept a pet.

For a pet reference specifically, you might ask for:

• Previous landlord confirmation that the tenant kept a pet without damage beyond fair wear and tear.
• Vet registration details confirming the animal is vaccinated, microchipped (microchipping is legally required for all dogs over eight weeks old in England), and neutered if applicable.
• Evidence of training for dogs, where relevant.
• A brief welfare statement. For dogs, leading welfare charities (RSPCA, Dogs Trust, PDSA, Blue Cross) advise against routinely leaving a healthy adult dog alone for more than around four hours.

If a tenant has never rented before, or the pet is new, a reference from their vet is a practical alternative to a previous-landlord reference.

A well-documented pet reference serves two purposes: it helps you make a proportionate decision, and it creates a contemporaneous record of your reasoning — useful if the tenant later disputes a refusal.

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Enforcement and what happens if you get it wrong

If a tenant alleges the landlord has breached the implied term, the court may order specific performance of the obligation — meaning a court could compel a landlord to grant consent. A redress route is also coming: the Renters’ Rights Act will require landlords to join a Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman, though the Government’s implementation roadmap indicates this will follow later in the rollout (after the PRS Database), rather than at launch in May 2026. Either way, an unreasonable refusal documented in writing is not a comfortable position to defend.

If you manage properties for multiple landlords, a consistent, recorded process is your best protection. Letting agents and landlords using a structured referencing workflow are better placed to show that every pet decision was made on its merits.

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The bigger picture

The pet provisions are relatively narrow compared with the abolition of Section 21, the new tenancy structure, and the forthcoming Private Rented Sector Database. But they matter, because they shift the culture: a blanket “no pets” stance is no longer a legally defensible default for existing tenants. The landlords who adapt well are those who replace a blanket policy with a documented framework — clear criteria, consistent application, written records.

If you are still working through the broader implications of the Renters’ Rights Act, the PropertyGoose comparison guide sets out how referencing and tenancy-management tools can help you stay compliant without adding administrative overhead.

Author: Craig Ryder