servodude wrote:How about from the horse's mouth
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/can-my-landlord-prevent-me-from-keeping-a-pet/- not that a horse would be appropriate normally
Clause C3.5 prohibits a landlord from exercising a blanket ban on pets. A responsible pet owner will be aware of their responsibilities in making best efforts to ensure their pet does not cause a nuisance to neighbouring households or undue damage to the Property. A landlord should take steps to accommodate written requests from responsible tenants with pets. They should only turn down a request in writing within a 28 day period if there is good reason to do so, such as large pets in smaller properties or flats, or otherwise properties where having a pet could be impractical. Landlord consent is therefore the default position unless otherwise specified in writing by a landlord.
What you are quoting as Clause C3.5 is a clause in the Government's model tenancy agreement. There is no obligation on a landlord to use this as the tenancy agreement and at 55 pages in length I suspect that few do. I certainly don't.
Bearing in mind that the Commons Library webpage is aimed at helping and guiding MPs with their constituency casework, it starts by saying that what is contained in the tenancy agreement is important and is, in effect, pointing MPs to the tenancy agreement as their starting point. It notes that a blanket ban on pets may fall foul of the "unfair terms" provisions of the Consumer Rights Act. None of this will be news to experienced landlords.
The actual text of clause C3.5 puts, perhaps, a slightly different spin on things to the interpretation given by the quote from the Commons Library webpage. That text is:
A Tenant must seek the prior written consent of the Landlord should they wish to keep pets or other animals at the Property. A Landlord must not unreasonably withhold or delay a written request from a Tenant without considering the request on its own merits. The Landlord should accept such a request where they are satisfied the Tenant is a responsible pet owner and the pet is of a kind that is suitable in relation to the nature of the premises at which it will be kept. Consent is deemed to be granted unless the written request is turned down by a Landlord with good reason in writing within 28 days of receiving the request. A Landlord is prohibited from charging a fee to a Tenant who wishes to keep pets or other animals at the Property. Permission may be given on the condition that the Tenant pays an additional reasonable amount towards the deposit, but the deposit must not breach the deposit cap requirements under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 (see section B10).Earlier this year, I turned down a request from a tenant. The request was to keep a large-ish dog in a small 2-bed terraced house with front door onto the street and a small year yard. The response given included:
We have the following reservations related to keeping a dog as you have requested:
- No garden with green space and rear yard is not big allow to allow any form of exercise for a dog
- Complaints from neighbours about noise (barking and/or howling)
- Damage to furniture and woodwork (doors, doorframes, skirting boards, etc) from scratching
- Marking of walls and wallpaper caused by oils on dog's coat from habitual brushing past
- Damage to carpets and soft furnishings from biting and pulling with mouth
- Retained smells within carpets, mattresses and soft furnishings at the end of the tenancy
- Infestation of fleas and other parasites in carpets, mattresses and soft furnishings at the end of the tenancy
These concerns are based on our experience in the keeping of dogs in domestic premises.
Had you signalled you intention to keep a dog prior to being offered the tenancy we would have declined to offer it to you and would have instead made the offer of tenancy to alternative applicants.
We note that both you and your co-tenant are undergraduate students. In consequence and given your degree subjects, it is likely that during term time there will be parts of each week (and probably significant parts of each week) when neither of you will be on the premises. In our experience it is when a dog is left alone and unsupervised that the type of problems noted above can occur.
There was no pushback about the decision not to give landlord's consent to the request once the tenant received our response.
modellingman