Pet requests from tenants after 1 May: how letting agents should set up a compliant process now

On 2 May 2026, your agency could receive its first formal pet request from a tenant. Under the Renters’ Rights Act, you will have exactly 28 days to respond. If you do not respond in time, the request is automatically approved.

That means if you do not have a process for handling pet requests before 1 May, you are effectively running a policy of blanket approval. Here is how to set up a workflow that is fair, compliant, and manageable.

What the law actually says

From 1 May 2026, tenants in England have the right to request permission to keep a pet in their rented home. The request must be made in writing. The landlord (or their agent acting on the landlord’s behalf) must respond within 28 calendar days.

The response must be one of three things:

1. Consent. The tenant can keep the pet.
2. Consent with conditions. The tenant can keep the pet, but the landlord requires pet damage insurance at the tenant’s cost.
3. Refusal with reasons. The landlord does not consent, and must explain why.

A blanket “no pets” policy is no longer lawful. Every request must be considered individually, and refusal must be based on reasonable grounds specific to that request.

What counts as a reasonable refusal

The legislation does not provide a definitive list, but guidance from the government and early legal commentary points to these as likely reasonable grounds:

• The property is too small for the type of animal requested (a large dog in a studio flat, for instance).
• The building’s freehold or head lease contains a prohibition on pets that the landlord cannot override.
• The specific animal poses a genuine health or safety risk (venomous reptiles, for example).
• The property lacks outdoor space and the animal requires it for welfare reasons.

These are unlikely to be considered reasonable:

• “The landlord does not like pets.”
• A blanket breed restriction with no evidence of risk.
• Concerns about property damage alone, without offering the insurance option first.
• “We have never allowed pets in this property before.”

The key principle is proportionality. The landlord must show that the refusal is justified for this specific animal in this specific property, not that they prefer pet-free tenancies in general.

The 28-day timeline

Day 1 is the day you receive the written request. Not the day you read it. Not the day you forward it to the landlord. The day it arrives.

This matters because if the request comes in by email on a Friday afternoon and nobody reads it until Monday, you have already lost three days. Your process needs to capture requests immediately.

Here is a suggested timeline:

• Day 1: Request received and logged. Automatic acknowledgement sent to tenant.
• Days 1 to 3: Forward to landlord with a summary of the legal position and your recommendation.
• Days 3 to 14: Landlord reviews and responds. If the landlord does not respond, chase at day 7 and day 10.
• Days 14 to 21: If the landlord consents with conditions, draft the pet addendum and insurance requirement. If the landlord wants to refuse, review the grounds and check they are reasonable.
• Day 21 to 28: Formal response sent to the tenant with the decision and reasons.

Build in a buffer. If you are drafting a refusal, you want time to check the reasoning before it goes out. A poorly worded refusal that does not stand up to scrutiny is worse than a late response.

What to collect from the tenant

When a pet request comes in, you need enough information to make a reasonable decision. Ask for:

• Type of animal (dog, cat, rabbit, fish, reptile).
• Breed and approximate size (if applicable).
• How many animals.
• Whether the animal is housetrained (if applicable).
• Vaccination and microchip status (for dogs and cats).
• Whether the tenant has pet insurance or is willing to take out pet damage insurance.

Create a standard form for this. Do not rely on tenants volunteering the right information in a freeform email. A structured form speeds up the process and makes your audit trail cleaner.

Briefing your landlords before May

Many landlords will instinctively want to refuse every pet request. Your job as their agent is to explain the legal position before the first request arrives, not after.

Send a communication to your managed landlord clients covering:

1. The law has changed. Tenants have a legal right to request a pet.
2. Blanket refusals are not lawful. Each request must be assessed individually.
3. The landlord can require pet damage insurance at the tenant’s cost.
4. If the landlord wants to refuse, they need a specific, reasonable reason.
5. Silence for 28 days means automatic approval.

Frame it positively. Research consistently shows that pet-owning tenants tend to stay longer, reducing void periods and re-letting costs. A well-managed pet policy can actually benefit the landlord.

Create a pet addendum template

For approved requests, have a standard pet addendum ready to attach to the tenancy. It should cover:

• The specific animal approved (type, breed, name).
• A requirement for pet damage insurance naming the landlord as an interested party.
• Behavioural expectations (noise, waste disposal, not leaving the animal unattended for extended periods).
• A clause allowing the landlord to revisit consent if the animal causes damage or nuisance, with a clear process for doing so.

This protects the landlord while keeping the approval structured and professional.

Tracking and record-keeping

Every pet request needs a complete audit trail: date received, information gathered, landlord consulted, decision made, reasons documented, response sent, and tenant acknowledgement.

If a dispute ends up at tribunal, you need to show that the process was followed properly and the decision was reasonable. A case management system like OdjoAI can log each request, set automated deadline reminders, store all correspondence, and flag overdue responses before the 28 days run out.

Set up the process now. The first requests will arrive within days of 1 May, and you do not want to be building the workflow while the clock is already ticking. For help getting started, visit odjoai.com.