From May, the Renters Rights Act will give tenants far greater scope to keep a pet in their home. Even so, the shift in the market has been minimal, with only a slight rise in the number of properties advertised as pet-friendly.
Fresh analysis of rental listings suggests that just 8.2% of homes in England currently allow pets — an increase of only 0.6 percentage points compared with this time last year.
The new analysis shows the North East has the highest share of pet-friendly rentals, with 11.5% of listings allowing animals. It also recorded the strongest year-on-year growth, rising by 2.6 percentage points.
In the South West, 9.1% of properties explicitly welcome pets. Several other regions sit above the national average too, including London (8.8%), the South East (8.6%) and the North West (8.5%).
At the opposite end of the scale, the East Midlands remains the least accommodating region for pet owners. Only 5.6% of listings there permit animals, a figure that has actually fallen by 0.5 percentage points over the past year.
From 1 May, private renters will gain a new legal right to request permission to keep a pet, with the rule becoming an implied term in every private tenancy agreement — even where the contract currently says nothing about animals.
Landlords will no longer be able to reject requests out of hand or simply because they dislike pets. Any refusal will need to be reasonable and supported by a written explanation. Valid grounds could include situations where the home is too small for a large animal, or where another resident has a medical condition such as an allergy.
Tenants must make their request in writing and provide details of the pet they want to keep and once the request is submitted, landlords will have 28 days to issue a formal response.
And because of the ban on Section 21 evictions, it is also going to be harder for landlords to evict tenants even when they are found to be keeping a pet without the required permission.
This is because landlords will have to provide solid proof that a pet has been kept in the home, which could be easier said than done.
If a pet has caused damage to a property, the landlord might be able to use grounds 13 or 15 to force an eviction (these grounds cover where there has been deterioration in the property and/or its furniture).
And of course landlords will not be allowed to charge extra rent or fees specifically for having a pet.