Renters' Rights Act
Pet Requests: The 28-Day Rule for Landlords
Tenants on assured tenancies in England have a right to ask to keep a pet. It's an implied term, added by section 11 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 as sections 16A and 16B of the Housing Act 1988. You don't have to say yes. You do have to answer, in writing, and you need a fair reason if the answer is no.
This is general information, not legal advice. It applies to assured tenancies in England, other than social housing.
What the tenant has to send
The request has to be in writing and it has to describe the pet. A pet, in the Act, is an animal kept mainly for personal interest, companionship or ornamental purposes. The term covers an animal the tenant allows to live at the property, whether or not the tenant owns it. Animals that visit and do not live there are outside this implied term, and the tenancy can still deal with them.
The 28 days
You must give or refuse consent in writing on or before the 28th day after the request. Three things can move that date, and only if you act inside the original 28 days:
- You reasonably ask for more information about the pet. If the tenant provides it, you have until the 7th day after they do. If they never provide it, you don't have to answer.
- A superior landlord's consent is required, and you ask for it within the 28 days. You then have until the 7th day after the superior landlord replies.
- You and the tenant agree a later date in writing.
If more than one of those applies, the latest of the dates is the deadline. Silence is not a refusal. GOV.UK tells tenants to complain if there is no written answer within the 28 days.
A refusal has to be reasonable
The Act names two cases where refusal is reasonable. Keeping the pet would put you in breach of an agreement with a superior landlord. Or that agreement forbids a pet without the superior landlord's consent, you have taken reasonable steps to get it, and they have not given it.
GOV.UK's tenant guidance adds practical examples of a fair reason: the home is too small for the animal, someone who lives there has an allergy, or the animal is illegal to own. The same guidance treats a blanket dislike of pets, worry about future damage, or a bad experience with a previous tenant's pet as reasons that are usually unreasonable. An assistance animal, such as a guide dog, is in that second group.
If the tenant takes it to court, the court can order you to comply with the implied term. It isn't a local-authority civil penalty of the kind used for the bidding ban.
Insurance and the deposit
You can't require the tenant to buy pet insurance, and you can't charge them for a policy you arrange. Requiring insurance is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act. The deposit cap doesn't go up because a pet is allowed. You can buy your own cover. You can claim for damage the pet actually causes, from the deposit, if the check-in and check-out evidence supports it.
Keeping track
Keep the request, the date it arrived, any question you asked and when, the written answer, and the reason if you refused. A request you answered on day 30, with no extra-information letter inside the 28 days, is late. The property's safety certificates are a separate record — Vantage tracks all of them with reminders before each deadline. Start a free trial.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a landlord have to answer a pet request?
28 days from the date of the written request. The answer has to be in writing. If the landlord reasonably asks for more information within those 28 days, they then have until the 7th day after the tenant provides it. The same extra 7 days applies after a superior landlord replies, if that consent was requested within the original 28 days.
Can a landlord charge for pet insurance or a higher deposit?
No. Requiring the tenant to take out insurance is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. The deposit cap does not increase because there is a pet. You can claim for actual pet damage from the deposit, with check-in and check-out evidence, and you can insure the risk yourself.
When can a landlord refuse a pet?
Only where the refusal is reasonable. The Act says it is reasonable where keeping the pet would put the landlord in breach of an agreement with a superior landlord, or where that agreement requires the superior landlord's consent and the landlord has taken reasonable steps to get it and not received it. GOV.UK also gives overcrowding, an allergy of someone who lives there, and a pet it is illegal to own as examples of a fair reason.
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