Pet campaigners have outlined plans for a new Bill to help tenants keep their animals after the failure of Andrew Rosindell’s Dogs and Domestic Animals (Accommodation and Protection) Bill.
The Private Members Bill set out to mandate landlords to take tenants with pets but ran out of steam during the pandemic.
Now, the AdvoCats charity, which gives support and advice to tenants and landlords, is putting together a strategy document as a precursor to a Presentation Bill (a kind of Private Members Bill), working with Rosindell’s office.
It proposes that pet rental insurance premiums should be ‘permitted payments’ alongside deposits, rent and holding deposits to allow landlords and letting agents to charge for pet insurance.
Co-founder Jen Berezai (picture) tells LandlordZONE that it needs an MP to champion it. “We want to tie the proposal in with the Renters’ Reform Bill,” she says. “Andrew’s Bill fell victim to Covid but it’s put the debate centre-stage.
“A lot more people are cottoning onto the fact that something has got to change and there are a number of high-profile names in the PRS who are interested in supporting this.”
“She points to upcoming research that discovered three-quarters of landlords are now in favour of damage insurance for pets.”
Lord Black of Brentwood is another political ally who will be leading oral questions in the House of Lords later this month on ‘Encouraging more private landlords to allow responsible tenants to keep pets in their rented properties’.
The patron of International Cat Care recently pushed the government for an update on how many responses it received to its consultation on the microchipping of cats; last month it promised to make microchipping compulsory under a wide-ranging new animal welfare plan.
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