My landlord refused my pet — what counts as unreasonable?

A refusal is not the end of it. In England, since May 2026, your landlord has to give or refuse consent in writing within 28 days and must not refuse unreasonably. That second part is a real constraint, and a lot of refusals will not survive contact with it.

Here is how to work out which kind you have got.

First, do you have a refusal at all?

Three things are not refusals:

• Silence. If 28 days have passed with nothing, they have failed a duty. That is a complaint, not a no. It is also not a yes — the Act does not grant permission by default, whatever you have read.
• “We’ll see.” An unanswered request is an unanswered request.
• A verbal no. The Act requires a written answer. Ask for it in writing, politely, and put the request in the same email so the record is in one place.

Get the refusal, in writing, with a reason. A refusal that will not explain itself is the weakest kind there is.

Refusals that are likely to be reasonable

Be honest with yourself about these, because pushing against a good reason wastes months.

A genuine restriction in the head lease. If your landlord is a leaseholder and their own lease forbids pets, they may simply not have the power. Ask to see the relevant clause. If it exists, your argument is with the freeholder, not them.

The property is genuinely unsuitable for that animal. A large working breed in a studio flat with no outside space is a real point, not a pretext.

Other people in the property. In a shared house, another tenant’s allergy or fear is a legitimate consideration.

A documented history with this animal. Previous damage, noise complaints, or an incident that was recorded somewhere.

Refusals that look weak

“We have a no-pets policy.” This is the big one. A blanket policy applied without considering your specific request is close to the definition of not considering it. Ask what about this request, this animal and this property led to the decision.

“Our insurance doesn’t allow it.” Sometimes true, usually asserted. Ask which policy and which clause. Landlord insurance that excludes tenants with pets entirely is unusual.

“The last tenant’s dog wrecked the place.” Somebody else’s animal is not evidence about yours.

“You should have asked before moving in.” Not a reason. The right to ask is not conditional on when you first thought of it.

No reason given. Hard to defend later, and easy to point at.

What to do next, in order

1. Reply calmly and ask for specifics. Something like: “Thank you for coming back to me. So I can understand the decision, could you let me know what it was about this request that led to it? If there is a concern about [noise / damage / the property], I would like the chance to address it.” You are doing two things: genuinely trying to solve it, and creating a record of a reasonable tenant asking a fair question.

2. Fix what you can fix. If the concern is real, answer it with specifics — a dog walker booked, a reference from a previous landlord, an offer to meet the animal, a trial period. Send it in writing.

3. Escalate to the agent’s complaints procedure. If you are dealing with a letting agent, they must belong to a redress scheme, and that scheme is your route.

4. Get free advice before you spend money. Shelter and Citizens Advice both help renters in England. They will tell you honestly whether your case is strong, which is worth more than a paid opinion telling you what you want to hear.

What not to do

Do not move the pet in anyway. It converts a strong position into a breach of your tenancy, and everything you were right about stops mattering.

Do not describe your pet as an assistance dog if it is not. Presenting a pet as a trained assistance dog can be an offence. An emotional support animal is not an assistance dog under the Equality Act 2010, and no certificate — ours included — changes that.

Do not lean on an ESA certificate. It carries no legal weight in this argument and using it as though it does will damage your credibility on the points that do.

The uncomfortable truth about timing

Nobody has litigated “unreasonable refusal” under this section yet, because it is new. Anyone telling you exactly where the line falls is guessing.

What is not a guess is the shape of the duty: your landlord has to actually consider your specific request and give you a written answer within 28 days. Most weak refusals are weak because that did not happen — and a polite, specific, written reply asking them to do it properly resolves more of these than any argument about case law.