Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Lexden Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 6th May 2025 Lords Chamber

This important Bill has the power to transform the experience of private renting for many thousands of families, but only if we act now to strengthen this legislation. Tenants and landlords need clear, fair rules that reflect this reality. Without them, there is a real risk that pet homelessness will only grow. We have the opportunity to unlock millions of homes for pets and pet owners across the country, so that no tenant will ever again have to face the heartbreaking decision of choosing between their home and their pet. I very much look forward to the debate and to hearing the Minister’s reply. I beg to move.

[Lord Lexden (Con)]

I am always glad to support my noble friend Lord Black, with whom I have worked closely on many subjects over many years. Long ago, when we were both in the Conservative research department during a general election campaign, we circulated a briefing note to the party’s candidates telling them what they would need to do to win the support of animals great and small if these marvellous creatures had the vote. I cannot remember whether we included rights for pets in rented property, but it would have been a grave lapse if we had omitted them.

My noble friend’s amendments do not contain a hint of opposition to the Government’s proposals relating to pets; they seek to make the good relevant elements of the Bill even better. The amendments have two objectives: to strengthen the legal protection that the Bill confers on pets and to increase the well-being of people in rented accommodation who want to keep and cherish a pet. These two objectives, as my noble friend has explained, are intertwined. All the research carried out by the wonderful charities devoted to the welfare of pets shows that their owners in rented property not only enjoy greater contentment but lead healthier, better-disciplined lives. The upshot is that tenants who keep pets are likely to seek longer-term tenancies—something that benefits landlords by increasing rental income security.

Surely, through the Bill, we should do all that is possible to prevent responsible people in rented housing being denied unreasonably the opportunity to have a pet or pets, which those who own their homes enjoy automatically, particularly at a time when successive Governments have failed to ensure the provision of sufficient new housing for private ownership.

It is a sad and deeply regrettable fact that a significant proportion of landlords, as my noble friend has explained, are resolutely opposed to the presence of pets in their properties. A 2021 survey by YouGov, on behalf of those excellent charities the Dogs Trust and Cats Protection, found that one-third of private landlords who currently refuse to allow pets in their properties are not prepared to reconsider their opposition. They must be expected to go to all possible lengths to try to flout the pet ownership provisions of this Bill.

Nothing could illustrate more clearly the need for stronger legal protection than the Bill currently provides, which could be achieved through my noble friend’s amendment to define more firmly and tightly the circumstances in which a request to have a pet in rented property could be rejected. In the absence of a more precise definition of what would constitute acceptable grounds for a landlord’s refusal, disputes will inevitably proliferate. A lack of clarity and certainty in the law always leads to problems, as we have seen in various contexts recently. Opaque law cannot be satisfactory law.

I hope that the Government will give very careful consideration to these important and constructive amendments.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Lexden Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 12th May 2025 Lords Chamber

Furthermore, as I have noted before in Committee, figures from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home show that 39% of rehoming applications come from renters, underscoring the direct impact that a lack of housing options has on pet ownership. This demonstrates the risk that pet-owning tenants face in the private rented sector, where landlords can easily reject applications without explanation, often forcing tenants to give up their pets to access housing. Indeed, it is the second most common reason animals are sadly surrendered to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. This clause is essential to tackling the first barrier that pet owners face when they are entering the private rental market: being excluded before even securing a tenancy. Without such a small, proportionate and practical change, the Bill sadly risks falling a little short of its goal of ending the blanket ban on pets in privately rented homes and, more broadly, creating a fairer and more inclusive rental system for all. I beg to move.

[Lord Lexden (Con)]

My Lords, I am glad, as always, to support my noble friend Lord Black, whose commitment to animal welfare is well known. His proposed new clause and his amendments in this group represent a further stage of his determined efforts on behalf of beloved pets and their owners. The principle underlying his proposed changes is simple: fairness in the rental market must apply at the first stage of the process, which is when an application is made for a tenancy.

As my noble friend pointed out, the Bill rightly prohibits pre-tenancy discrimination against those with children or in receipt of benefits. Similar protections should be extended to those who own pets, who at the moment face rejection of an application for a tenancy on that one ground alone. The new clause does not compel landlords to accept pets unconditionally; it simply introduces fairness by ensuring that applications cannot be dismissed out of hand just because a pet is involved.

As my noble friend has made clear, we need to bear in mind the terrible position in which the absence of fairness places pet owners at the moment. The heartbreak of being forced to choose between a home and a companion animal is one that no tenant should have to make. I hope the Government will give very careful consideration to my noble friend’s constructive proposals.

[Baroness Coffey (Con)]

My Lords, I put my name to these amendments. I must confess I did not quite understand Amendments 193 and 198, so I did not put my name to them, but I am grateful for the explanation that my noble friend has given. There is no doubt that the availability of private rental in having pets is considerably smaller. I am conscious that when I moved to Suffolk, I think it was back in March 2010, when I was looking for places to rent—not to holiday rent, but to rent properly as a home—had I not had my dog Rizzo at the time, more than 200 properties would have been available, but when it came to any landlord that would even encounter having a dog, the number was reduced to four, and this in an area of 300 square miles.

It gave me a clear insight into the restrictions placed on people who want to move with their family—and pets are considered often part of that family. As has been mentioned elsewhere, there was certainly a premium to pay, as a consequence of what property was available, for the opportunity to have Rizzo come and visit on a regular basis.

I was struck by one issue in the amendments that my noble friends have tabled, to do with mortgaged premises. I have been pretty horrified to learn, in the variety of casework that I have undertaken over the years, about the artificial restrictions placed on mortgages that people have taken up. They have simply told me, “I’m not allowed to do this”. I felt that this was too good an opportunity to miss; that is why I signed my noble friend’s amendment.

As my noble friend Lord Lexden said, this is plain discrimination against people who have not yet been able to secure a home in a particular area. These are sensible additions to the Bill. I am aware that your Lordships have, overall, welcomed the opportunity to try to remove these exclusions on keeping pets in homes that people are renting. I hope the Minister will look kindly on these amendments to make sure that this part of the potential loophole is addressed and filled.