Oct

Campaigners put pressure on Governmnt to solve the ‘pets in lets conundrum’

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Pet rental reform campaigners are hopeful that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is taking their concerns on board following a recent Pets in Lets forum.

The meeting was attended by DHLUC officials who, LandlordZONE has been told, were in ‘listening mode’.

Fifteen groups including AdvoCATS, the Lettings Hub, Propertymark and property redress figures met the ministry officials to discuss ways to support landlords and tenants around the upcoming changes.

As part of the Fairer Renting White Paper, landlords will need a good reason to refuse permission for a tenant to have an animal in their home and if they do say no, tenants will get the power to challenge their decision. Landlords will also be able to request that tenants’ pets are fully insured.

Policy makers

Heidi Shackell, The Lettings Hub CEO, says: “As we open the lines of communication and work with policy makers, we look to continue leading the way on developing solutions which meet the needs of agents, landlords, tenants and pets to ensure the changes within legislation are effectively implemented within the industry.”

Timothy Douglas (pictured), head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, adds: “We are keen to develop a solution that helps ensure more landlords and agents are happy to take on a tenant with a pet and look forward to continuing our work with the Pets in Lets forum to develop solutions to this issue that meet the needs of everyone involved.”

AdvoCATS recently wrote to housing minister Simon Clarke to make sure he was aware of its Heads for Tails campaign – calling for an amended Tenant Fees Act 2019 to allow for landlords to require pet insurance and/or by adding a pet deposit to permitted payments – and ongoing efforts to make proposed reforms work in practice.

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