Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord de Clifford Excerpts

Monday 7th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

My Lords, I declare an interest. My wife is the landlord of a number of rented properties. My reason for rising is to invite the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, when she comes to reply, to clarify something that puzzles me about her Amendment 47. It says:

“The circumstances in which it is unreasonable for a superior landlord to refuse consent through the landlord include … a superior landlord’s personal opinion of … specific species”.


I ask her whether this means that the superior landlord would be prohibited from saying that he or she does not think it is reasonable or appropriate for the tenant to keep as pets rats, skunks or tigers.

[Lord de Clifford (CB)]

My Lords, I speak today in support of Amendment 48 in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, and supported by the noble Lord, Lord Trees. I declare my interest with regards to pets, as I own a share of a veterinary practice that cares for pets and I have my own dog. We welcome the Government’s support of a tenant’s right to request to keep pets. Although social housing is not the main focus of this Bill, surely it is fair and reasonable for all tenants to have the same rights to request to keep a pet, regardless of the type of landlord that they rent from, whether it is a private company or a social landlord. As I have said previously on this amendment, it also makes it fair to all landlords. Surely private landlords should not be the only landlords to have to accept pets in their property. I hope that the Minister can find a positive solution today to this issue and that all tenants have the opportunity to keep pets in their homes.

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[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Geddes) (Con)]

My Lords, before putting Amendment 49, I must advise the House that, if it is agreed to, I will not be able to call Amendments 50 to 53 due to pre-emption.

[Lord de Clifford (CB)]

My Lords, I first wish to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Stevenage, and the Government for adding Amendment 49 to this Bill with regard to pet insurance. I know that the Minister and the Bill team, as well as the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, have spent a lot of time on this matter, and the Minister listened and considered the noble Earl’s expert views and spoke to the insurance market before bringing this welcome change to the Bill.

I have submitted Amendment 53A. I originally supported Amendment 51 in the noble Earl’s name, with regards to the pet damage deposit, but it no longer worked within the Bill. As mentioned previously, I welcome the changes in this Bill regarding pets. The Government have acknowledged that pets can potentially cause damage or wear and tear to the property, so there was a need for a pet insurance product to cover potential costs, but that is now not part of the Bill.

The amendment seeks to provide an alternative protection to landlords and tenants from the possible additional costs that may be incurred by keeping a pet, to maintain the condition of a property. The additional three weeks’ rent as a deposit would provide an amount towards those costs. Some would say that the first five weeks would cover all forms of wear and tear; that amount is set aside for human wear and tear and damage.

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Moved by

[Lord de Clifford]

53A: Clause 11, page 19, line 28, at end insert—
“16D Pet damage deposit(1) It is an implied term of every assured tenancy to which section 16A applies that if, at the time of consenting to the tenant keeping a pet, the landlord informs the tenant in writing that the payment of an additional pet damage deposit by the tenant is a condition of the consent, then the tenant must comply with that condition.(2) The additional pet damage deposit under subsection (1)—(a) can be used to make good pet damage,(b) must be of equivalent value to three weeks of rent,(c) cannot be subject to the limits for deposits in tenancy agreements, and(d) is subject to the rules governing deposits in tenancy agreements, for purposes of monies handled.”Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment seeks to introduce a new option of a landlord pet damage deposit.

[Lord de Clifford (CB)]

I thank your Lordships very much for their contributions on my amendment. I will answer just a few of the questions posed. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, that children and, potentially, elderly people can cause extra damage, but pets have their own minds and are uncontrollable. The noble Lord, Lord Pannick, has pointed out a possible slight fault in the amendment, but landlords do not have to make that a condition. If it was just goldfish, I think there could be some negotiation with the tenant.

I have listened to the Minister and her suggestion of a way of reviewing this in time, but that will take time. It could be many years before we see a change. Therefore, I think landlords need a little more protection when it comes to pets—they do cause additional damage—so I would like to test the opinion of the House.