Pets in Rentals and New Rules

Since 1 May 2026, tenants with an assured tenancy in England have a statutory right to ask their landlord for permission to keep a pet. The landlord cannot simply refuse with a blanket "no pets" policy any more: the request must be considered on its merits, and a refusal has to be reasonable. As of August 2026, this is settled law under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, not a proposal, and it applies whether the tenancy is new or one of the existing tenancies that converted to an Assured Periodic Tenancy on that date.

This guide sets out how the request and response process works, what counts as a reasonable refusal, and what landlords can and cannot ask for in return for saying yes.

The request and response process

A tenant must make their pet request in writing. From that point, strict statutory time limits apply:

• The landlord must respond in writing within 28 days of receiving the request, either giving consent, refusing with reasons, or giving conditional consent.
• The landlord can ask for more information about the pet within that same 28-day window, for example about the type or size of animal. Doing so extends the deadline to seven days after the tenant provides that information.
• If a superior landlord's consent is genuinely needed, for example because the property is leasehold and the head lease restricts pets, the landlord can request that consent within the 28 days and then has seven days after receiving the superior landlord's answer to respond to the tenant.

Missing the deadline is not a minor administrative slip. If a landlord fails to respond within the applicable period, consent is treated as having been given by operation of law, and there is no way to reverse that after the fact. Any system for tracking tenancy dates should treat a pet request the same way as a compliance deadline, because in practical effect it is one.

What counts as a reasonable refusal

The Act does not provide a fixed list of acceptable reasons, but guidance and early practice point to a consistent pattern of what is likely to be treated as reasonable:

• The property is genuinely unsuitable for the specific pet, such as a large dog in a small flat with no outside space.
• A superior lease or freeholder agreement prohibits pets, and the landlord has sought but been refused the necessary consent.
• The number of pets already at the property is excessive, for example a request for an additional animal on top of several already agreed.
• A specific, evidenced insurance refusal, where a buildings or landlord insurer has declined cover explicitly because of the pet in question, rather than a general assumption that insurance "probably" would not cover it.
• A genuine welfare concern for the animal itself, such as a property plainly unsuited to the needs of the specific pet proposed.

What is unlikely to hold up as reasonable is a general dislike of pets, a generic reference to "building policy" with nothing specific behind it, or speculative concerns about future difficulty re-letting the property. Each refusal should be able to point to something concrete about this pet, this property or this superior agreement, not a blanket preference.

Deposits, conditions and insurance

The standard tenancy deposit cap, five weeks' rent (six weeks if the annual rent is £50,000 or more), is unchanged by the pet request right, and a landlord cannot ask for a separate "pet deposit" on top of it, since that would be a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

Guidance on whether a landlord can require the tenant to hold pet damage insurance as a condition of consent has been debated as the law has taken effect, and the position is not fully settled in practice. Rather than relying on a fixed answer either way, check the latest GOV.UK guidance before making insurance a formal condition of your consent, and in the meantime focus on what is clearly permitted: recording in writing that the tenant remains liable for any damage caused by the pet beyond fair wear and tear, which you can pursue through the existing deposit or, where the loss exceeds the deposit, separately.

Reasonable conditions that are more clearly within a landlord's rights include requiring the pet to be kept under proper control, capping the number of pets, and requesting reasonable evidence such as vaccination records for certain animals. Conditions that amount to a disguised refusal, such as an unreasonably short response window for the tenant to comply, are unlikely to be treated as genuine conditional consent.

HMO and leasehold situations

In a shared house, a pet request from one tenant can affect other occupiers who did not ask for a pet at all, and their views are a legitimate factor in deciding whether the request is reasonable to grant, alongside the practical suitability of shared space. In a leasehold flat, the timing point set out above matters most: if you need superior landlord consent, request it promptly and keep a dated record of when you asked and when you heard back, since your own 28-day clock is running the whole time.

A worked example shows how the leasehold timing point can go wrong. A tenant emails a written pet request on the 3rd of the month. The landlord owns a leasehold flat where the head lease requires freeholder consent for pets, but puts off contacting the freeholder's managing agent, assuming there is plenty of time, and does not actually write to them until day 32, four days after the original 28-day deadline has already passed. Because the request for superior consent was not made on or before day 28, the statutory extension never applies, and consent to the tenant's original request is treated as having been given automatically the moment day 28 passed, regardless of what the freeholder later says. Writing to the managing agent within the first week or two, rather than leaving it until close to the deadline, is what protects the extension and gives the landlord the extra time the Act actually allows for.

A practical checklist

• Log the date a written pet request is received and start counting the 28 days immediately.
• Decide within the window whether you need more information or a superior landlord's consent, and request it in writing before the 28 days runs out if so.
• Base any refusal on a specific, evidenced reason tied to this pet and this property.
• Record any conditional consent in writing, including what the tenant remains responsible for.
• Never let the deadline lapse without a response, since that results in automatic deemed consent.

How Property HQ helps

Property HQ tracks the date a pet request is received alongside your other tenancy and compliance deadlines, so the 28-day statutory clock is visible the moment it starts running, not discovered weeks later once it has already expired. Our guide to the Renters' Rights Act covers the wider reforms this sits within, and our guides to deposit protection and landlord insurance cover the two areas most likely to be affected once a pet moves in.

Disclaimer

This guide reflects the pet request provisions of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 as understood in August 2026, including areas of practice that are still settling, such as insurance conditions. It is general information, not legal advice. Check GOV.UK or a qualified solicitor before refusing a request or setting conditions on consent.