Pet advocacy charity AdvoCATS has successfully helped a tenant challenge her landlord who turned down a request to keep a cat following the introduction of stronger tenant rights.

Days before the Renters’ Rights Act came into force, her landlord told her not to make any pet requests as “one-bedroom flats are too small for pets”.

Suspecting that this might not be the case, and anxious to have her cat join her, she contacted AdvoCATS, which provides a free pets in lets support and advice service, for help. It advised her that a landlord could no longer make such sweeping generalisations, talked her through the new legislation – tenants have a legal right to request a pet which landlords cannot unreasonably refuse - and what information she should include in her request.

Although the landlord’s lettings agency then granted permission to have her cat at the address, it told her she needed to take out pet damage insurance and also agree to have the property professionally cleaned, using the landlord’s chosen contractor at the end of the tenancy.

Draft

AdvoCATS helped the tenant draft a robust response explaining that the conditions did not comply with either the Renters’ Rights Act or the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

Founder Jen Berezai, (pictured above) says landlords and letting agents can’t legally require tenants to buy this insurance or reimburse them for the same as a condition of having pets. “The tenant can choose to take out insurance voluntarily, and, in this case, the tenant had already offered to explore that option, but it cannot be enforced.”

AdvoCATS also highlighted that requiring professional cleaning through a landlord-approved contractor is not permitted under the Tenant Fees Act.

Permission

The tenant was subsequently given permission to have Marshmallow in her flat and says: “Having my cat with me means far more than simply being allowed a pet, he is family. I hope my experience encourages other tenants to seek advice and support if they find themselves in a similar position.”

Berezai explains that this was a classic example of neither party quite knowing where they stand with the new legislation. She tells LandlordZONE: “Early indications lead us to believe it is going to represent a significant percentage of our casework going forward. I’ve corrected several landlords and ‘property professionals’ on LinkedIn already, as well as via casework - and that’s just what I and the team have come across. Scale that up and I think there’s a lot of confusion out in the PRS, which wasn’t helped when the insurance provision was removed from the Bill last summer.”

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