6th January 2020 1 Comment 668 Views
The government’s model rental contract that is used by many letting agents to issue tenancy agreements will soon be changed to encourage landlords to take on more tenants with pets.
At the moment it says tenants must not keep any pets at a property without the prior written consent of the landlord but prevents landlords operating a blanket pet ban and requires them to turn down requests only ‘with good reason’.
The current model contract only gives one example of a ‘good reason’; that a large dog would be likely to damage property.
Given the vague nature of the model contract,very few landlords allow pets; only 7% of rented homes are advertised as suitable for pets, the government claims.
On Saturday housing secretary Robert Jenrick said the model contract would now be revised to encourage more landlords to make room for responsible owners of moggies and doggies.
To keep landlords happy, Jenrick also said the rules will be amended to ensure their properties are protected from damage by badly-behaved pets.
But these new measures do not go as far as Labour’s plans. It recently proposed that pets should be allowed ‘by default’ and that landlords and letting agents would then have to ‘prove’ a pet was likely to damage a property.
“Pets bring a huge amount of joy and comfort to people’s lives, helping their owner’s through difficult times and improving their mental and physical wellbeing,” he said.
“We will be listening to tenants and landlords to see what more we can do to tackle this issue in a way that is fair to both.
“This is part of this new government’s mission to improve life for tenants, recognising that more are renting and for longer in life.”
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