Renters' Rights Act Pet Rules for Landlords in England: Requests, Refusals, and Insurance

How the Pet Request Process Works

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 creates a statutory right for tenants to request permission to keep a pet. This is not an open-ended right to keep whatever animal they choose — it is a formal request process with fixed deadlines and clear rules for both sides.

Here is the sequence:

1. The tenant submits a written request detailing the pet they want to keep — species, breed, number of animals.
2. You have 28 calendar days to give or refuse consent in writing. You may reasonably request further information by day 28; if the tenant provides it, you may respond by the 7th day after receiving it. If superior-landlord consent is needed and you request it by day 28, you may respond by the 7th day after receiving consent or refusal. You and the tenant may also agree a later date.
3. You must not unreasonably withhold permission. You can refuse, but only on reasonable grounds.

If no extension applies and you miss the response deadline, the Act does not automatically treat silence as an unreasonable refusal. The duty is to give or refuse consent in writing by the applicable deadline.

What Counts as a Reasonable Refusal

The Act does not list every scenario where refusal is reasonable, but the statutory framework and guidance point to specific situations:

• Superior lease restrictions. If you are a leaseholder and your superior lease prohibits pets, you can refuse — but you must have actually sought consent from the freeholder and been refused. Simply citing the lease without trying is not enough.
• Property size unsuitability. A large dog in a studio flat where the animal cannot be properly housed could justify refusal.
• Specific animal risks. Where the particular animal poses a genuine safety concern (a venomous reptile, for example) or where the property is physically unsuitable (no secure garden for a dog).

What does not count as a reasonable refusal:

• A blanket "no pets" policy — these are exactly what the legislation targets
• General concerns about damage — the insurance mechanism exists to address this
• Preferring not to have pets on principle
• Concerns about noise, unless there is a specific and documented issue with the particular animal

Pet Damage Insurance

The Act amends the Tenant Fees Act 2019 to allow landlords to require a tenant to hold pet damage insurance, or to reimburse the landlord for the reasonable cost of adding pet cover to the landlord's own insurance policy.

This insurance charge is classified as a permitted payment. It is not part of the deposit (which remains capped at 5 weeks' rent), and it is not a prohibited fee.

In practice, this means you can:

• Require the tenant to take out their own pet damage insurance policy and provide proof of coverage
• Alternatively, add pet cover to your landlord insurance and ask the tenant to reimburse the reasonable cost

The insurance requirement should be included in your written response to the pet request, alongside any other conditions (such as keeping the pet in designated areas, maintaining flea treatment, or restricting access to communal gardens).

What to Include in Your Written Response

Whether you approve or refuse, your response should be in writing and include:

If approving:

• Confirmation of which pet is approved
• Any conditions (insurance requirement, areas of the property, behaviour expectations)
• How insurance costs will be handled

If refusing:

• The specific ground for refusal
• Evidence supporting the ground (e.g., a copy of the superior lease clause and the freeholder's response)

Keep a dated copy of the tenant's original request, your response, and any pet insurance certificate in your tenancy file. This documentation protects you if the tenant claims you unreasonably withheld permission or if there is a later dispute about conditions.

What This Means in Practice

Most pet requests for common domestic animals — cats, dogs, caged pets — are difficult to refuse without a specific property-related reason. The legislation is designed to shift the default from "no pets unless the landlord says yes" to "pets allowed unless there is a reasonable ground to refuse."

For landlords with multiple properties, it is worth reviewing your standard tenancy terms to ensure they do not contain blanket pet prohibition clauses. These clauses are not automatically void in the same way as rent review clauses, but refusing a pet request solely on the basis of such a clause without assessing the individual request is likely to be treated as unreasonable.

Our Renters' Rights Act guide for landlords in England includes a pet request log template and a step-by-step walkthrough of the 28-day response process.

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