Planned changes to the Renters’ Rights Bill will mean landlords will be required to shoulder the risk of damage to properties by pets.
Amendments proposed by the government will reverse plans to enable landlords to require tenants to have suitable insurance to cover potential damage by pets. It comes as the House of Lords prepares to debate the Bill at Report stage next week.
The changes come despite the housing secretary having previously argued that enabling landlords to request tenants have insurance would mean “no one is left unfairly out of pocket.”
Whilst landlords will no longer be able to require tenants with pets to have suitable insurance, there will remain a presumption that they will accept tenants with pets, unless there is a good reason not to. Ultimately it will be for the courts, and the planned Ombudsman for the private rented sector, to rule on these matters.
The NRLA warns this move will make it far harder for tenants with pets to access rental housing.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “This is a shoddy and outrageous way to make law. Ministers keep talking about how the Bill works for responsible landlords and yet they seem incapable of speaking to those representing them.
“Yet again the government simply expects responsible landlords to shoulder even greater risks without any consultation about the likely impact.
“It comes on top of plans which allow tenants to build higher levels of rent arrears, expect landlords to shoulder the cost of delays to an already sclerotic courts system, and make it harder for tenants with poor or no credit ratings to demonstrate their ability to sustain a tenancy.
“Whilst the government might say that they are fighting their corner it is tenants who will lose out as landlords become more risk averse.”
Renters’ Rights Bill to undergo further scrutiny in the Lords next week
RRB EPC MTD looks like we need another acronym maybe TIT (Tenant in Tent).
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Another disgraceful example of this government’s disregard for proper democratic process. Sneaking in last-minute changes to the Renters’ Reform Bill—undermining years of consultation—is not just shoddy, it’s a betrayal of millions of renters. Lawmaking should be transparent and accountable, not dictated by vested interests behind closed doors.
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I will never accept pets into any of my flats as the flats are totally unsuitable. But this did not stop 2 of my tenants from bringing in cats. As bins are only emptied fortnightly and the cats are house cats I shudder to think where they store used litter trays. Although we can all refuse tenants with pets there is nothing to stop them being brought in once the tenancy has begun. Taking this to court would be too costly and a pet loving judge would never uphold the landlords right for the pet to be removed. No deposit could ever cover the cost of pet damage by uncaring pet owners.
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Soon we are going to reach a point where it will end up more cost efficient for landlords to take matters into their own hands when problems arrise, as the fines will be cheaper than the costs involved if they don’t!
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That would clog the courts up.
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The people making these decisions are so out of touch with the real world.
If you think stopping the insurance requirements on pets will actually help tenants with pets then you are a million miles from the truth. It will just make it harder for them.
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The NRLA has woken up too late.
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