Moving with a pet: eight questions to ask before you sign a tenancy

The right to request a pet under the Renters’ Rights Act applies once you are a tenant. Before you sign, you are not a tenant yet, and the conversation is a negotiation like any other. That is not a disadvantage. It is the moment you have the most information and the most choice, if you ask the right things.

England only, as with everything on this site about the Act.

1. Is there a pets clause, and what does it actually say?

Ask for the tenancy agreement before the day you are expected to sign it, and read the clause about animals. No pets is common. So is no pets without the landlord’s written consent, not to be unreasonably withheld, which is a very different sentence. Whatever it says, you will have the statutory right to request once the tenancy starts, but knowing the landlord’s starting position tells you how the conversation is likely to go.

2. Who is the landlord, and who decides?

An individual with one flat, a company with a portfolio, or a build-to-rent operator with a written pet policy will each answer a pet request differently. Ask the agent who the landlord is, whether there is a written policy, and who signs off on requests. A policy you can read is easier to work with than a preference you have to guess at.

3. Is the property leasehold, and does the head lease restrict pets?

Most flats are leasehold, and a head lease that forbids animals binds your landlord as much as it binds you. If it does, your landlord may need the freeholder’s consent, and the Act gives them a short extension to get it. Ask before you sign whether there is a head lease and whether it says anything about pets. What happens when the landlord has to ask someone else is here.

4. What is the deposit, and is anyone asking for more?

Deposits in England are capped by the Tenant Fees Act 2019, and there is no exception for pets. A request for a larger deposit or a separate pet deposit is not something you have to accept, and once the tenancy has started the Act makes it explicit that a bigger deposit cannot be a condition of consent. The detail on deposits and insurance is here.

5. Is anyone asking for pet insurance?

Nobody can require it. The clause that would have allowed landlords to insist on pet insurance was taken out of the Bill before it became law. If you already hold insurance, it is a fact worth mentioning about how you care for the animal; it is not a term you should offer.

6. Is a higher rent being proposed for the pet?

Some landlords propose a higher rent where a pet is agreed at the outset. The Act does not deal with that, because it is a commercial term of the tenancy you are free to accept or to walk away from before you sign. Read the whole agreement twice, understand what the figure is, and decide with the number in front of you rather than after.

7. Does the property suit the animal?

This is the question you should be asking yourself, because it is the one a reasonable landlord is entitled to ask. Outside space and whether it is enclosed, the floor you are on and whether there is a lift, who is above and below you, where the nearest walk is, and what happens during the working day. If the honest answer is that a large dog would be miserable there, a refusal later is likely to be a reasonable one.

8. Can you get it in writing?

If a landlord or agent says pets are fine at a viewing, ask for that in an email before you sign. A verbal yes at a viewing is not consent under the Act, and it is not much use six months later when the agent has changed. Once the tenancy has started, send the formal request anyway, so the consent exists as a written answer to a written request and not as a memory.

Once you are in

The request route is the same for everybody: a written request, a 28-day clock, a written answer that must not be an unreasonable refusal. The free template does it. The Landlord Pet Request Kit does it with your details filled in and a one-page Pet CV attached, for £49. Either way, the eight questions above are the homework, and they cost nothing.