How to Word a Pet Clause in a Tenancy Agreement After the RRA

Getting the wording of a pet clause in a tenancy agreement after the RRA right is now one of the trickiest drafting jobs an England landlord faces, because the clause you used last year is almost certainly unlawful. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (RRA), in force from 1 May 2026, has quietly rewritten the rules: a flat “no pets” ban is no longer enforceable, tenants have a statutory right to request a pet, and you must respond in writing within a strict deadline. This guide shows you how to draft a clause that reflects the new right-to-request regime, stays on the right side of the Housing Act 1988 (as amended), and still protects your property.

Why the old “no pets” clause is now dead

For decades the standard assured shorthold tenancy carried a blanket prohibition: “The tenant shall not keep any animal, bird, reptile or fish at the property.” That single sentence is now a liability rather than a protection.

The RRA inserts new sections 16A and 16B into the Housing Act 1988. Together they give an assured tenant the right to request consent to keep a pet, and they prevent the landlord from unreasonably refusing that request. A clause that purports to ban all pets outright cannot override a statutory right, so a court or the future Private Rented Sector Ombudsman would simply treat it as ineffective. Worse, relying on it could expose you to a complaint that you have unreasonably withheld consent.

The practical consequence is that your agreement should no longer try to prohibit pets. Instead it should describe the process by which a tenant asks for one and you decide. The clause becomes procedural, not prohibitive. For the wider context of what changed, see our complete guide to the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.

What the law actually requires you to do

Before drafting, you need to be clear on the obligations the clause has to sit alongside. The statute does the heavy lifting; your clause cannot contradict it.

• The tenant must request in writing. Consent is only triggered by a written request. A verbal “can I get a cat?” does not start the clock.
• You must respond within 28 days. From receipt of a written request, you have 28 days to give or refuse consent in writing. You can extend this by a further period (commonly described as up to 7 more days) where you have asked the tenant for further information, but you cannot simply let it lapse.
• There is no deemed consent. Contrary to a persistent myth, silence does not equal a yes. Missing the deadline is a breach of your statutory duty, not an automatic grant. The safe course is always to respond in time and in writing.
• You can only refuse on reasonable grounds. “I just don’t like dogs” is not reasonable. A leasehold superior-title prohibition, a property genuinely unsuitable for the animal, or a request for a large dog in a tiny studio may be.
• You cannot require pet insurance. This is the change landlords most often get wrong. New sections 16A–16B do not permit you to make consent conditional on the tenant taking out pet damage insurance, nor can you take out a policy and recharge the premium to the tenant. That route, floated during the Bill’s passage, did not survive into the Act.

Because you can no longer demand insurance, your protection against pet damage rests on the deposit, the inventory and your repairing covenants, which makes a robust check-in inventory more important than ever.

How to word the pet clause

A compliant clause has three jobs: acknowledge the statutory right, set out a clear request-and-response procedure, and capture reasonable conditions you may attach to consent. Here is a model you can adapt. Treat it as drafting guidance, not certified legal advice.

Pets 1. The Tenant may keep a pet at the Property only with the Landlord’s prior consent, requested in writing. 2. The Landlord will not unreasonably refuse consent and will give or refuse consent in writing within 28 days of receiving the Tenant’s written request (or within any extended period permitted by law where the Landlord has reasonably requested further information). 3. Where consent is given, the Landlord may attach reasonable conditions, which may include: that the pet is the specific animal described in the request; that the Tenant keeps the Property clean and free from pet odours and damage; that the Tenant remedies any damage caused by the pet; and that the Tenant has the Property professionally treated for fleas at the end of the tenancy where a pet has been kept. 4. Consent relates to the specific pet described and does not extend to additional or replacement animals without a fresh written request. 5. The Landlord will not require the Tenant to take out, or pay for, pet damage insurance as a condition of consent.

Two things to notice. First, the clause never bans anything; it routes the decision through the statutory process. Second, clause 3 collects only conditions that are genuinely reasonable and enforceable through the deposit and your repairing terms, not an insurance requirement. If you want a full walkthrough of how this clause sits inside the rest of the document, see how to write a tenancy agreement in England step by step.

Old clause vs RRA-compliant clause

The contrast between the pre-RRA approach and the lawful 2026 wording is stark. The table below summarises where the old drafting fails and what replaces it.

If your current template still reads like the middle column, it needs replacing before your next let. Generic free templates are a common trap here; our explainer on what free tenancy templates get wrong covers why so many circulating online are already out of date.

Worked example: a request for a Labrador

Priya lets a two-bedroom terraced house in Leeds on an assured periodic tenancy that began in May 2026. Her agreement uses the model clause above. The monthly rent is £1,100 and the annual rent is therefore £13,200, so under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 her deposit is capped at five weeks’ rent, about £1,269.

In September her tenant, Marc, emails: “I’d like to get a one-year-old Labrador. Is that OK?” That email is a valid written request, so Priya’s 28-day clock starts the day she receives it.

Priya does three things:

1. She replies within a few days, not on day 27. She acknowledges the request in writing and asks two reasonable follow-up questions: whether the dog is house-trained and whether Marc will arrange flea treatment at check-out. Asking for this information can extend her decision window slightly, but she does not use that to stall.
2. She checks for genuine grounds to refuse. The house has a small enclosed garden and no superior-lease pet prohibition. A house-trained adult Labrador in a family house is not unreasonable, so a refusal would be hard to defend.
3. She grants consent in writing with conditions. Her letter confirms consent for “one Labrador, named Biscuit,” requires Marc to keep the property free from damage and odours, and requires professional flea treatment at the end of the tenancy. Crucially, she does not ask Marc to buy pet insurance, that would be unlawful.

When Marc moves out, a chewed skirting board costs £140 to repair. Priya cannot fall back on a pet insurance policy, but she does have a detailed check-in inventory with photos and a £1,269 deposit. She proposes a £140 deduction, evidences it against the inventory, and the deposit scheme’s adjudicator agrees. The clause did its job without ever banning the dog or breaching the insurance rule.

The lesson: post-RRA, your protection is procedural and evidential. The clause channels the request, the inventory proves the condition, and the deposit funds the repair.

Conditions you can, and cannot, attach

Clause 3 of the model lets you attach “reasonable conditions.” The dividing line matters, because an unreasonable condition can itself amount to an unreasonable refusal.

Reasonable conditions usually include:

• Limiting consent to the specific animal described.
• Requiring the tenant to keep the property clean and free from odours and damage.
• Requiring the tenant to repair any pet-related damage at the end of the tenancy.
• Requiring professional flea or carpet treatment on departure where a pet has been kept.
• Requiring the tenant to comply with any superior lease or freeholder restriction you are genuinely bound by.

Conditions you cannot impose:

• A requirement to take out pet damage insurance, or to reimburse a policy you take out.
• An additional non-refundable “pet fee” or higher rent dressed up as a pet premium, both fall foul of the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
• A demand for an extra deposit that pushes the total above the five- or six-week cap.

If you decide the request genuinely should be refused, do it properly and in writing. Our step-by-step guide on how to refuse a pet request without breaking the law walks through defensible grounds and wording, and the landlord’s pet policy checklist for 2026 gives you a repeatable process so nothing slips past the 28-day deadline.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still refuse a pet under the new pet clause rules?

Yes, but only on reasonable grounds and only in writing within the deadline. A blanket ban is unenforceable, but a specific, justified refusal, for example a freeholder prohibition you are genuinely bound by, or a large dog in a property with no outdoor space, can be lawful. The test is whether a reasonable landlord in your position would refuse. See can a landlord refuse a pet in England in 2026 for the detail.

What happens if I miss the 28-day deadline?

Missing the deadline is a breach of your statutory duty to respond, and it leaves you exposed to a complaint. Importantly, silence is not deemed consent, but neither is it a deemed refusal. The only safe approach is to diary the deadline and always respond in writing, granting or refusing with reasons. Treat the 28 days as a hard limit, using any permitted extension only where you have genuinely had to ask for more information.

Can I require the tenant to pay for pet insurance?

No. The Renters’ Rights Act did not preserve the pet insurance route that was discussed while the legislation was going through Parliament. You cannot make consent conditional on the tenant buying pet damage insurance, and you cannot take out your own policy and recharge the premium. Your protection comes from the deposit, a thorough inventory and reasonable end-of-tenancy conditions instead.

Does the pet clause let the tenant keep any number of animals?

No. Consent attaches to the specific pet described in the request. A well-drafted clause makes clear that additional or replacement animals need a fresh written request, which restarts the 28-day process. This lets you assess each animal on its merits rather than signing a blank cheque for an unlimited menagerie.

Do I need to change agreements for existing tenants?

The statutory right to request a pet applies to assured tenancies regardless of what the written agreement says, because all assured tenancies became periodic under the RRA. So even if an existing tenant’s document still carries an old “no pets” ban, that ban is unenforceable and the tenant can make a valid request. For peace of mind, reissue or vary the agreement with the compliant clause at the next opportunity. Background on the new tenancy structure is in our Renters’ Rights Act overview.

Is a verbal pet request enough to start the clock?

Strictly, the statutory process is triggered by a written request, so a casual verbal conversation does not start the 28-day period. In practice, if a tenant raises it verbally, the courteous and safe approach is to ask them to put the request in writing (an email is fine) and then treat that as the trigger. Document everything, when post-RRA disputes go to the future Ombudsman, your written trail will be the evidence that matters.

Coming soon

Tenancy Pilot is launching soon, and our document generator will build RRA-compliant tenancy agreements, pet clause included, that reflect the right-to-request regime and the insurance ban out of the box, so you never paste an outdated “no pets” ban into a new let again. If you want to stop tracking 28-day deadlines and clause updates by hand, join the waitlist to be first in when we open the doors.

Disclaimer: This guide is general information for England landlords and reflects the law as we understand it to be in force on 18 June 2026 under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. It is not legal advice. Pet clauses, refusals and tenancy drafting can turn on specific facts and superior-lease terms, so check current GOV.UK guidance and take advice from a qualified solicitor before relying on any wording here.