15th
Jun 2021
Tory Peer Lord Black of Brentwood is adding his weight to pressure the government to make it virtually compulsory for landlords to house tenants with pets.
Lord (Guy) Black, the former newspaper magnate posed a question to the House of Lords recently (Tuesday 15th June) in a hope to increase the momentum on the government’s new model tenancy agreement with a ‘default’ clause allowing tenants to live with their pets in rented accommodation, to make it compulsory.
Lord Black told the second chamber: “During the difficult and often lonely days of lockdown, pets have been a vital source of companionship, well-being and love for many people across the UK, especially the vulnerable.
“However according to Cats Protection, one million households that would like to have a cat cannot do so because they live in a rental property? I welcome the changes made to the government’s model tenancy agreement … but not all landlords use the agreement as it is voluntary. What action will the government take to encourage landlords to use the model tenancy agreement to allow all those who want to have a pet in their rented property the chance to do so?”
Lord Greenhalgh responded on behalf of the government: “I am aware of the issue that my noble friend raises. The model tenancy agreement is the government’s suggested contract with which to agree a tenancy and is freely available online. We will continue to work with landlords and other stakeholders to ensure its wider adoption for use in the private rented sector.”
A second Conservative peer Baron Howard Flight, recommended that landlords must be allowed to charge higher rent/costs for renters with pets to which Lord Greenhalgh replied: “It is of course for landlords to consider each case own merit.
"The government recommends that the rental deposit of five weeks is a maximum rather than a default. Charging a deposit of four weeks’ rent would provide leeway to expand it to five weeks for such things as pet ownership and also to take up some of the suggestions that we have heard today around insurance or potentially looking at rent levels to accommodate wider pet ownership.”
Richard Merrick or PIMS, said:” The politicians pushing for this to be made mandatory, should actually research the problems that landlords have had with ex- tenants with ‘furry friends’ costing them thousands of hours and pounds to clear up the mess, replace furniture, redecorating, fumigation etc.”
Richard added:” Being a private landlord is a business not a social charity, no other industry offering services and goods to the public is dictated as to which types of clients/customers they must deal/trade with.”
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