Housing minister Eddie Hughes (main pic) has met with two leading ‘pets with lets’ campaigners to hear why they believe the PRS needs a solution to help persuade more landlords to accept tenants who own cats and dogs.
The meeting in London at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities was attended by Andrew Rosindell MP (pictured) and Jen Berezai, the founder of campaigning organisation AdvoCATS.
Until now the Government has rejected calls for legislation to be amended to allow landlords to accept separate ‘pet deposits’, something the Tenant Fees Act outlaws, claiming that landlords can use the five-weeks’ rental deposit limit to mitigate the potential cost of pet damage to their property during a tenancy.
The meeting with Hughes followed Rosindell’s parliamentary question to the Minister at the end of November, which urged the legislation to be amended to make ‘renting with pets easier and fairer for all’.
Hughes, who was sent the #HeadsForTails report from AdvoCATS on the issues facing tenants who own pets in October, was also shown additional data from key organisations including Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Cats Protection, the NOAH, NRLA and the Property Redress Scheme.
Berezai (pictured) says the scale of the problem ‘seemed to resonate’ with the Minister, who promised to look further into the issues that were raised and meet again in the New Year.
“It’s baby steps, but being invited to attend a meeting in person with Eddie Hughes was an excellent opportunity to lay out our case. The door to the DLUHC is open and we’re talking – that’s definite progress,” says Berezai.
Rosindell adds : “Today was a positive step in the campaign to make it easier to bring pets into rented accommodation.
“As the Minister showed in the constructive way in which the meeting progressed, the Government is taking this matter seriously and is genuinely listening to proposals to remedy the situation.”
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