Renting with pets? You must be kitten me…

A new law, the Renters’ Rights Act, came into force in May with the promise that pet owners would no longer be frozen out of rental properties. As we find out, the reality is different.

Over half of households in Oxford are renters – a third privately, and another 20% or so from the council or social landlords. But those with pets risk being locked out of the market.

In theory, the world changed earlier this year, with private tenancies becoming subject to Part 1, Chapter 1, Section 11 (missed opportunity to make it Claws 11) of the Renters Rights Act 2025. This boldly declares:

“It is an implied term of every assured tenancy to which this section applies that—
(a) 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;
(b) such consent is not to be unreasonably refused by the landlord”

This change was campaigned for and supported by Oxfordshire politicians of a range of parties, heralded to great fanfare in the media, and celebrated by organisations such as Shelter. Even many letting agents were on board, with Carter Jonas advising landlords to “Be open to pets if the head lease will allow. Tenants with pets are more likely to be long term and treat your property like a home.”

But something has gone very wrong in practice, to the detriment of tenants, landlords, and, most importantly, pets. Crucially, as legally phrased it appears that tenants can only exercise this right after securing a tenancy – affording no protection to existing pet owners.

99% pet-free

Zoopla has a “pets allowed” filter. There are, at the time of writing, 500 listed properties in Oxford. We might think that some will be unsuitable for pets for legally valid reasons – the head lease of a block of flats forbidding pets is the most common (albeit egregiously blanket) loophole. Short term lets, perhaps. Shared tenancies where one party may have allergies. We might think that of the 500, only, say, 300, would be suitable.

The actual number is 7. 

Properties explicitly stating “Sorry, no pets” (they don’t sound very sorry) include not just small flats and HMOs, but suburban semi-detached houses where it is difficult to identify what the “reasonable grounds for refusal” might be.

In the cases which are silent on the matter, is this mere oversight – a failure to tick the box? Anecdotal evidence suggests not. Pet-owning renters report having the phone put down on them when they declare their pet, being told that regardless of the law, the landlord will not accept pets. Most concerningly, in some cases before they mention the pet, prospective renters have been told that they are a known pet owner by agencies they have never previously contacted, raising issues about the possibility of informal data sharing between agencies.

One renter spoke to the Clarion, saying:

“My husband and I have inquired about roughly 15 properties in the last month and all but one of them have told us they will not consider a small well-behaved house cat. Most did not give a reason, a few were flats and cited the head lease of the development which we cannot independently confirm".

This is not only frustrating, but counterproductive. Landlords are screening out honest and up-front tenants in favour of those willing to sneak a pet into the property and apply for permission retrospectively, or indeed those who do not yet own a pet but may decide they would like to get one after they have moved in. 

Oxford City Council confirmed that the law applied only to existing tenants:

“The pet provision only applies for tenants and does not apply to individuals looking for a property to rent. For existing tenants, the pet provision lays out a process to follow (request in writing permission to have a pet, landlord given 28 days to respond and can ask for more information, tenant has the right to challenge unreasonable refusals by applying to court). There is no definition of what is 'unreasonable' so it will be on a case-by-case basis.”

But even if you do successfully get your pet into the tenancy, this may be storing up trouble for later. The average renter moves once every three years. People who successfully exercise their right to request a pet from their current landlord could be in a sticky situation when they next need to move. There is a very real risk of more pet-owning households – now on landlords' and agents’ radar as pet owners – chasing a vanishingly small number of available properties, with the resulting risks of stress, inadequate housing, abandoned pets, etc.

Mogged?

Oxford West & Abingdon MP Layla Moran, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cats, wrote to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, asking for clarification about how they intend that the law should operate at the application stage. The Ministry’s response is perhaps best described as ‘optimistic’:

“Regarding pet ownership at the application stage, the new rules only apply to existing tenancy agreements. People looking for private rented accommodation can make a request to keep a pet upon moving in, but prospective landlords are not required to consider taking on tenants with pets should they not wish to. The Government believes that the rights of existing tenants to request a pet will lead to an increase in the number of 'pet-friendly' properties over time.

“As landlords gain confidence in renting properties with pets, the Government hope they will be more open to considering prospective tenants with pets when marketing their properties. It is also important to note that while landlords and letting agents may advertise a property as unlikely to be suitable for most pets, a blanket ban policy is unlikely to be enforceable, as landlords are legally required to consider each pet request on the individual circumstances of the case.”

So the problem may simply be that the drafting of the law did not take into account the risk that its intent would be subverted in this way and to this extent. Enforcing the new law has largely not yet been tested, and Oxford City Council confirmed that they have limited powers to do so:

“Our only real enforcement angle for individuals looking to rent with a pet is around rent-bidding. Under the Act, landlords must stick to their advertised rent. If a landlord tries to charge an applicant extra ‘pet rent’ or premium fees above the advertised price to let them bring an animal, they are committing an offence. We can enforce this, and landlords can face fines of up to £7,000 for illegal rent-bidding.”

The Clarion’s requests to letting agents for comment went unanswered.

What can pet-loving renters do? Some have turned to Reddit for advice on amenable letting agents. Specialist websites offer “top 10 tips” including “start looking early” and “write a pet CV”, and template letters to send to prospective landlords. But for now, unless landlords and agents change their approach to avoid missing out on high quality tenants, the new rights appear to be largely theoretical.

Today’s investigative cat correspondent was Cats of Oxford, who you can follow for all the important feline Oxford news.