Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick wants landlords to let pet owning tenants off the leash by allowing them to have well-behaved animals in their rented homes.
He has stopped short of making the move mandatory but wants to encourage more landlords to offer pet friendly tenancy agreements.
The minister has also left the precise description of a well-behaved pet open-ended.
His announcement is in advance of the government updating a model tenancy agreement to let renters move in with pets. No date has been set for publication of the revised agreement.
The government wants landlords to be more flexible when renters want to share their homes with pets but wants to ensure properties are protected from damage by badly behaved animals.
“Pets bring a huge amount of joy and comfort to people’s lives, helping their owner’s through difficult times and improving their mental and physical wellbeing. So, it’s a shame that thousands of animal-loving tenants and their children can’t experience this because they rent their homes instead of owning property,” said Jenrick.
“I’m overhauling our model tenancy contract to encourage more landlords to consider opening their doors to responsible pet owners. We will listen to tenants and landlords to see what we can do to tackle this issue in a way that is fair to both.”
The national model tenancy agreement is the government’s recommended contract for landlords signing up new tenants in England.
The agreement sets out the minimum requirements and can be edited by landlords to cater for specific circumstances, tenants or properties.
Jenrick’s plans do not make allowing pets a legal requirement for landlords but suggests a ban should only be for a good reason, such as renting small homes or flats where pet owning might be impractical.
The tenancy agreement is free to download or print from the government web site
Note: as was the case in an earlier post about pets, the photo at the top is our pet “Toby”.
I have had this arise. There are consequences, particularly with dogs, which are sometimes left unattended at the property – what about the safety of people coming to the property to carry out repairs and , inspections for the landlord? The tenant would have to commit to be available to manage the dog, even if this meant e.g. taking time off work.
Anyone you thinks that all pets particular dogs can to lumped into one category is deluded. Some dogs are small, some are larger than humans. Some dogs leave a minimal smell while some dogs leave a smell that cannot be removed by cleaning and as a consequence decoration and carpet renewal can be required. This Housing Minister is ill informed and should concentrate on more worthy housing issues.
So he wants us to allow pets, but not to cover the additional risk with a higher deposit? Hmm, cake and eat it?
And aren’t they being so nice not dictating to us who we must rent out our property too?
“Please plug the gap in the social housing market for us, but we’ll make it as challenging as possible to run your business whilst helping us with that little problem.”
Simple fact is that on average tenants with pets cause more wear and tear on the property… so the rent needs to offset these higher maintenance costs… I generally allow pets but charge an extra £50 per month in rent.
As is the case with many MP’s and their advisers this minister has little or no idea of the realism’s and implications of their proposals. I have always allowed pets in my properties, although I am considering not doing so in the future (unless legislation decrees otherwise). The problem is that, despite assurances to the contrary, some tenants adopt an irresponsible attitude towards the numbers, size and bread of animal.
On many occasions there is an inherent smell associated with many animals that gets ingrained in carpeting etc, added to which damage to woodwork, doors, flooring (carpets, lino etc) is not unheard of.
Given the limit on the level of bond that can now be taken against a tenancy I can see that, as has been stated in a previous post, an increase in the rent charged is the only way to protect ones investment.