Nearly two-thirds of landlords say they will hike rents if they are no longer able to ban tenants from keeping pets under Government shake-up of renters’ rights

Nearly two-thirds of landlords have threatened to hike rents if they are no longer able to ban tenants from having pets under new legislation.

MPs will today consider the Government’s much-delayed proposals to overhaul the rental market.

The Renters (Reform) Bill is due for its second reading in the House of Commons as ministers seek to finally meet Tory pledges made at the 2019 general election.

The proposed legislation aims to ban so-called no-fault evictions, alongside a series of other measures to improve rental conditions for tenants.

These include preventing landlords from ‘unreasonably’ denying tenants from keeping a pet in a rented property.

Nearly two-thirds of landlords have threatened to hike rents if they are no longer able to ban tenants from having pets under new legislation. (file pic)

In a poll of 1,400 UK landlords commissioned by the insurer Simply Business, 54 per cent said they were concerned about the increased risk of property damage from pets

The bill seeks to make it an implied term of an assured tenancy that a tenant may keep a pet with the landlord’s consent unless the landlord reasonably refuses.

If passed, the legislation would end automatic blanket bans on pets by landlords and letting agencies. 

But, in a poll of 1,400 UK landlords commissioned by the insurer Simply Business, 54 per cent said they were concerned about the increased risk of property damage from pets.

As reported by The Times, the survey also found 63 per cent of landlords said they would raise rents as a result.

Just 28 per cent of the landlords polled currently allow their tenants to keep pets.

One landlord, Hayley Lewsey of Essex, told the survey: ‘I have had three tenancies where pets have been allowed. Two were fantastic.

‘One, however, ended up going from one small dog to three, including a German shepherd, and totally destroyed the property.’

Ministers have previously committed to ensuring landlords do not unreasonably withold consent when a tenant requests to keep a pet.

Under the Government’s proposed reforms, a landlord will be required to give or refuse consent in writing within 42 days of receiving a written request for a tenant to keep a pet.

Courts will also be able to rule on whether landlords can ‘reasonably’ deny a tenant’s request.

But landlords will be able to tell the tenant that they must have insurance covering the risk of pet damage, or pay extra for the landlord to take out such insurance.

Animal charities have hit out at the current blanket nature of bans on renters keeping pets and warned some tenants have been forced to give up animals.

The battle between landlords and tenants over pets has intensified since the Covid lockdowns when pet ownership soared.

MPs will have their first chance to debate and vote on the Renters (Reform) Bill on Monday, but Parliament is expected to rise for the end of the parliamentary session, a period known as prorogation later in the week.

Bills that have not passed before the end of a session usually have to begin their journey through the Commons again, but ministers can use a process called a carry-over motion to allow the Bill to continue its passage.

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