Can a landlord still say no to pets under the Renters' Rights Act?

In England, the Renters’ Rights Act pet-request right has applied since 1 May 2026 to private assured tenancies, not social housing assured tenancies. Wales has no statutory pet right and treats pet clauses as ordinary contract terms; Scotland has passed a pet-request right but has not brought it into force; Northern Ireland has no equivalent pet-request law.

What does the Renters' Rights Act say about pets?

The Renters’ Rights Act says that, for an English private assured tenancy from 1 May 2026, a tenant may keep a pet only if they ask properly and the landlord consents, and that consent must not be unreasonably refused. The operative Housing Act 1988 wording is that “a tenant may keep a pet at the dwelling-house if the tenant asks to do so in accordance with this section and the landlord consents;” and that “such consent is not to be unreasonably refused by the landlord;”. The landlord must respond in writing by the statutory deadline: “the landlord is to give or refuse consent in writing on or before the 28th day after the date of the request, except as provided by subsections (2) to (5).” That is the new pet law for landlords in England; it is not a UK-wide 2026 pet law for all rental properties.

Can a landlord still say no to a pet?

A landlord can still say no to a pet in England, but only where the refusal is not unreasonable; the Act did not create an automatic right for every tenant to keep a dog, cat or other animal. The statutory rule is that “such consent is not to be unreasonably refused by the landlord;”, so the answer to whether landlords can no longer ban pets is no: blanket refusal is weakened, but a valid refusal survives. A tenant should not treat silence as consent, because the remedy in the Act is court enforcement, not automatic permission: where a tenant alleges breach, “the court may order specific performance of the obligation.” In practice, early post-commencement evidence suggests the rule has not yet produced a flood of formal refusals: LRG’s Summer 2026 survey said, “Of all landlords surveyed, 93% have not received a request, 6% have approved one, 0.8% have one under consideration, and fewer than 0.3% have refused.”

What counts as a reasonable ground to refuse a pet?

A reasonable ground to refuse a pet in England is any fact-specific reason that makes the refusal reasonable, but the Act itself names superior-landlord restrictions as the clearest statutory example. The government’s guide explains why there is no closed list: “Due to the diversity of landlords, tenants, and properties in the private rented sector, it would not be possible to legislate for every situation where a landlord would or would not be able to ‘reasonably’ refuse a pet.” The statute then gives included examples, including where “the pet being kept at the dwelling-house would cause the landlord to be in breach of an agreement with a superior landlord;”. Good reasons to say no are therefore strongest when tied to the property, the lease above you, the animal, or a specific legal or practical conflict; a general dislike of pets is the weakest answer.

Can you still advertise a property as no pets?

You can still advertise a property as no pets in England, but the advert does not remove an assured tenant’s later statutory right to request a pet and have that request considered reasonably. The statutory pet term applies to the tenancy itself, because the Act says that “This section applies to every assured tenancy other than a tenancy of social housing, within the meaning of Part 2 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.” It does not contain the same kind of express voiding rule that the Renters’ Rights Act uses elsewhere for children and benefits terms, where “A term of a relevant tenancy or regulated tenancy is of no effect” if it prohibits a child living at or visiting the home. The cleaner advert wording is not no pets in all circumstances, but not suitable for pets, especially where the head lease or building rules give the reason.

What is the pet clause in a tenancy agreement?

The pet clause in an English private assured tenancy is now effectively a request-and-consent clause: the tenant can ask to keep a pet, the landlord must decide in writing, and consent must not be unreasonably withheld. NRLA describes new agreements under the Renters’ Rights Act as including “a clause relating to pets, stating the tenant can keep a pet if they request to do so in accordance with the law and the landlord consents to it, and, that the landlord will not unreasonably withhold their consent.” A tenancy agreement can still record practical conditions about damage, nuisance, cleaning and control, but it should not be drafted as an absolute contractual ban that purports to settle every future request. In Wales, a pet clause remains an additional contract term; Welsh Government says, “Any pet clause as an additional term in the contract should allow a contract-holder to ask for permission to keep a pet, and the landlord is not allowed to unreasonably refuse the request.”

Can you refuse a pet because the head lease bans them?

You can refuse a pet in England if allowing it would breach your head lease or another agreement with a superior landlord, because that is expressly listed as a reasonable refusal ground. The Act says refusal can be reasonable where “the pet being kept at the dwelling-house would cause the landlord to be in breach of an agreement with a superior landlord;”. If the head lease allows pets only with the freeholder’s or superior landlord’s consent, the landlord cannot simply ignore that step: refusal is also covered where “an agreement between the landlord and a superior landlord prohibits the keeping of a pet at the dwelling-house without consent of the superior landlord, and the landlord has taken reasonable steps to obtain that consent but the superior landlord has not given it.” No ruling yet decides whether deliberately restructuring a freehold into a leasehold just to insert a no-pets clause would work; the safer view is that a court would examine the substance, timing and purpose rather than reward a paper device.

Can you require the tenant to take out pet damage insurance?

A landlord in England cannot require the tenant to take out pet damage insurance as a condition of pet consent, because the final Act removed that power and the Tenant Fees Act 2019 still bans compulsory third-party insurance. The Tenant Fees Act says “A landlord must not require a relevant person to enter into a contract with a third party in connection with a tenancy of housing in England if that contract is—” and the next statutory line includes “a contract of insurance.” The Renters’ Rights Bill once proposed pet-insurance conditionality, but before Royal Assent the Commons explained that “Lords amendments 10, 12 and 13 remove the provisions in the Bill which made landlord consent to a request to keep a pet conditional on the tenant taking out, or paying for, pet damage insurance.” A landlord can buy their own cover instead; one market product says it “costs £134.40 per annum including Insurance Premium Tax” and covers up to three pets.

Can you take a bigger deposit for a pet?

In England, you cannot take an extra pet deposit outside the Tenant Fees Act cap; any deposit held for pet risk must still be part of the tenancy deposit, protected as a tenancy deposit, and the total must not exceed five weeks’ rent where annual rent is under £50,000. The Tenant Fees Act makes the starting point blunt: “For the purposes of this Act a payment is a prohibited payment unless it is a permitted payment by virtue of Schedule 1.” A tenancy deposit is permitted only up to “the amount of five weeks' rent, where the annual rent in respect of the tenancy immediately after its grant, renewal or continuance is less than £50,000,” with no pet carve-out in the Act. That means the pet deposit amendment did not create a new English right to charge extra money above the existing cap, although the Commons Library notes that “the total deposit must not breach the deposit cap introduced under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 and must be protected in an authorised tenancy deposit scheme.” Wales is different: Welsh Government guidance allows a slightly higher pet deposit, while Scotland caps deposits at two months’ rent and Northern Ireland at one month’s rent.

Can you increase the rent because the tenant has a pet?

In England, rent is a permitted payment, but a landlord cannot use pet consent to charge a separate pet fee, bypass the statutory rent-increase process, or accept a bidding offer above the advertised rent. The Tenant Fees Act states that “A payment of rent under a tenancy is a permitted payment,” while GOV.UK warns that “You cannot charge your tenant any payment that is not on this list.” For an existing assured tenancy, the post-2026 rent rule is procedural: “The rent for a period of an assured tenancy to which this section applies may not be greater than the rent for the previous period except by virtue of—” the statutory routes. Market practice is still real: a 2024 briefing found “Nearly half of private landlords (49%) reported charging a pet rent surcharge to pet owners,” and “On average, landlords charged an additional £29.10 per month.” For a good long-term tenant, the commercial question is retention, not just risk pricing.

Last reviewed September 2026.

Sources

• Housing Act 1988 s.16A — “a tenant may keep a pet at the dwelling-house if the tenant asks to do so in accordance with this section and the landlord consents;” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.16A — “such consent is not to be unreasonably refused by the landlord;” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.16A — “the landlord is to give or refuse consent in writing on or before the 28th day after the date of the request, except as provided by subsections (2) to (5).” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.16A — “This section applies to every assured tenancy other than a tenancy of social housing, within the meaning of Part 2 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.16B — “In proceedings in which a tenant alleges that the landlord has breached the implied term created by section 16A, the court may order specific performance of the obligation.” Source
• LRG Summer 2026 Lettings Report — “Of all landlords surveyed, 93% have not received a request, 6% have approved one, 0.8% have one under consideration, and fewer than 0.3% have refused.” Source
• GOV.UK Guide to the Renters’ Rights Act — “Due to the diversity of landlords, tenants, and properties in the private rented sector, it would not be possible to legislate for every situation where a landlord would or would not be able to ‘reasonably’ refuse a pet.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.16B — “the pet being kept at the dwelling-house would cause the landlord to be in breach of an agreement with a superior landlord;” Source
• Renters’ Rights Act 2025 Part 1 Chapter 3 — “A term of a relevant tenancy or regulated tenancy is of no effect” Source
• NRLA Renters’ Rights pets FAQs — “a clause relating to pets, stating the tenant can keep a pet if they request to do so in accordance with the law and the landlord consents to it, and, that the landlord will not unreasonably withhold their consent.” Source
• Welsh Government Renting Homes FAQ — “Any pet clause as an additional term in the contract should allow a contract-holder to ask for permission to keep a pet, and the landlord is not allowed to unreasonably refuse the request.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.16B — “an agreement between the landlord and a superior landlord prohibits the keeping of a pet at the dwelling-house without consent of the superior landlord, and the landlord has taken reasonable steps to obtain that consent but the superior landlord has not given it.” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 s.1 — “A landlord must not require a relevant person to enter into a contract with a third party in connection with a tenancy of housing in England if that contract is—” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 s.1 — “a contract of insurance.” Source
• Hansard, Renters’ Rights Bill debate, 8 September 2025 — “Lords amendments 10, 12 and 13 remove the provisions in the Bill which made landlord consent to a request to keep a pet conditional on the tenant taking out, or paying for, pet damage insurance.” Source
• Total Landlord pet damage protection — “costs £134.40 per annum including Insurance Premium Tax” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 s.3 — “For the purposes of this Act a payment is a prohibited payment unless it is a permitted payment by virtue of Schedule 1.” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Schedule 1 paragraph 2 — “the amount of five weeks' rent, where the annual rent in respect of the tenancy immediately after its grant, renewal or continuance is less than £50,000,” Source
• Commons Library, Pets in rented properties — “the total deposit must not breach the deposit cap introduced under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 and must be protected in an authorised tenancy deposit scheme.” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Schedule 1 — “A payment of rent under a tenancy is a permitted payment.” Source
• GOV.UK tenant fees guidance — “You cannot charge your tenant any payment that is not on this list.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.13 — “The rent for a period of an assured tenancy to which this section applies may not be greater than the rent for the previous period except by virtue of—” Source
• Healthy Housing briefing, Financial impact of pet ownership in the PRS — “Nearly half of private landlords (49%) reported charging a pet rent surcharge to pet owners.” Source
• Healthy Housing briefing, Financial impact of pet ownership in the PRS — “On average, landlords charged an additional £29.10 per month.” Source
• Welsh Government Renting Homes FAQ — “As elsewhere in the UK, we have not legislated to create a statutory right to keep a pet, landlords and contract-holders are able to agree additional terms covering the keeping of pets.” Source
• Scottish Government tenant rights and protections — “A date for this change coming into force has not been set.” Source
• Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 — “An Act to amend the law relating to private tenancies.” Source