{"id":1565,"date":"2021-09-14T10:32:04","date_gmt":"2021-09-14T09:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eacompliance.co.uk\/?p=1565"},"modified":"2021-09-14T10:32:05","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T09:32:05","slug":"landlords-tenants-and-pets-in-rented-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eacompliance.co.uk\/landlords-tenants-and-pets-in-rented-property\/","title":{"rendered":"Landlords, Tenants and Pets in Rented Property"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a person who grew up with all manner of domestic animals in the family, I am in no doubt about the benefit a pet brings to my own mental and physical wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a landlord, I can also see how a responsible pet owner translates into a responsible tenant. In fact, my firsthand experience as a landlord with a tenant who kept a pet, indicated that the pet in question played a significant part in extending the length of the tenancy. My tenant renewed her tenancy for several years purely because I was agreeable to her continuing to keep a pet in the property and it saved her the anguish of being rejected as a tenant at a new property. As a result, I enjoyed the benefit of a long term, good quality tenant and I avoided the costly vacant periods that often occur between changing tenancies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having said that however, I am yet to be convinced that a piece of legislation that \u2018bans\u2019 landlords from rejecting occupiers who wish to introduce a pet into the tenancy, is workable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dogs and Domestic Animals (Accommodation and Protection) bill<\/a>, which was introduced in October 2020 aims to do just that. The bill, known as Jasmine\u2019s Law, will seek to eradicate \u201cno pet\u201d clauses in tenancy agreements, by making them \u2018unfair\u2019. The thinking being that this will ensure that existing pet owners are in a better position to find a home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tory MP, Andrew Rosindell, who has proposed the new bill is keen to point out that it is not without its caveats. Rosindell told the National Residential Landlords Association: \u201cThe bill will include measures to ensure that pets are suitable for the type of accommodation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What those measures might be, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will the bill propose parameters for gauging the size of the pet in relation to the size of the property? Will the bill put an onus on the occupier to \u2018prove\u2019 they are \u2018responsible and caring\u2019 before the landlord\u2019s obligation to accept the pet is invoked? And how does a landlord or the landlord\u2019s agent properly determine that the tenant is \u2018responsible and caring\u2019 or whether the pet is \u2018appropriate for the property\u2019, if the pet is a desire that is yet to materialise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How will the bill address situations where a landlord grants consent to one specific animal only to find that the tenant later replaced that pet with an entirely different pet or even multiple pets?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there is the question of how the threat of possible noise or actionable nuisance claims against the landlord, particularly in a multi-tenanted block, should be addressed. The restrictive covenants in most Leasehold Agreements put the onus on landlords to ensure everyone in a multi-let abides by the same rules. If a neighbour raises a complaint or suggests that the lease is being breached by the landlord\u2019s tenant\u2019s pet, will the landlord have the right to insist that the pet be removed from the property in order to protect his position as a Leaseholder? Arguments on how much nuisance may be acceptable before a breach arises do seem inevitable and if the answer to this particular question is \u2018yes\u2019, then is it not likely that the tenant will have to consider giving up the beloved pet or leave the property with their pet is such cases and will this not simply perpetuate the situation that the bill seeks to eliminate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*The screening questions listed below may help alleviate some of the problems and therefore they really should be answered before a landlord is asked to consider a pet in the property:<\/p>\n\n\n\n