I couldn’t find anywhere to rent with my dog. The Renters’ Rights act is a joke

When Tallulah Grace moved into her flatshare with her six-year-old springer spaniel Byron, she thought she had hit the jackpot. She had a generous sized room, a garden, the rent was reasonable – and more importantly, she was told pets were allowed and had it agreed in writing. The 29-year-old moved into the flatshare in north west London in May this year when the new Renters’ Rights Act came into effect. The property, part of a block of four flats, had been advertised as being “pets suitable” and she had it confirmed in writing and agreed by the landlord that she would be living there with her dog. However, Tallullah found herself facing a stressful situation where even though she was not in breach of her tenancy agreement, her landlord was in breach of the building’s lease preventing pets in the building – so he told her she had to move out. “It has been horrendous and incredibly difficult and I have had months of headache and stress trying to find somewhere else to live,” said Tallulah, who is a digital marketing manager. “People wrongly believe the Renters’ Rights Act has made things better for pet owners – but this couldn’t be further from the truth. “All it actually means is that you have the right to request to have a pet. And that right to request means very little when landlords keep saying no. “We are facing a rental crisis so most of the time, people aren’t going to reply to the person with the dog when they can have their pick of whoever they want to rent the property.”Under the Renters’ Rights Act – which came into force in England on 1 May 2026 – private tenants have the legal right to request to keep a pet. Landlords cannot refuse without fair reason, but government guidance warns: “If you’re a leaseholder, you may need to ask for permission from your freeholder. You’ll need to check the terms of your lease.” With a type of home ownership called leasehold, owners have the right to live in or use a building and its property for a fixed number of years, while a freeholder owns the building. Freeholders can and often do ban pets in leasehold properties Tallulah explained that shortly after she moved into her flatshare, her landlord received a noise complaint concerning her dog from the man living in the flat above hers. She thought it was strange as she says Byron is “not a barker”, so she went to the flat to try and smooth things over. “I went to knock on their door and said that my dog doesn’t make a noise and the man said no, there was no noise issue and that he and his partner were scared of dogs,” she said. “Then when he didn’t get anywhere with the landlord with that, he claimed his son was allergic to dogs – but he didn’t provide proof to my landlord and he refused to ask for any proof,” she added. Tallulah discovered that the owners of all four flats – including her landlord – jointly owned the freehold. And her landlord had been in breach of the head lease which prevented pets. “It’s an old house split into flats and the owners of all four of the flats own the freehold,” she explained. “My landlord didn’t do his due diligence and check the head lease before letting the property out as pet suitable and he then made that into my problem.” The situation was further complicated by a new Renters’ Rights Act change where a joint tenant who gives notice automatically ends the contract for all named parties on the tenancy. When Tallulah’s two flatmates gave notice to leave, the landlord refused to create a new tenancy agreement for Talullah, leaving her desperately seeking for a new place to live. “My landlord jumped at the chance and told me I now had to go. It was the most horrendous search and I was spending every single day sending messages to any mildly feasible property listed as pet friendly,” she said. She added: “I kept getting approached by people asking if I was interested in their spare room. But their advert clearly said no pets while my advert clearly said I had a dog. It was exhausting.” Tallulah kept getting rejected from flats as soon as she requested the right to have a pet Tallulah came very close to securing new accommodation five times, but in every case, the housemates she was hoping to live with mistakenly believed pets are now automatically allowed and did not realise people only have the right to request. In every case, the landlord ended up rejecting her. “Renters are treated like second class citizens in this country anyway, but for people with pets, it is particularly tough,” said Talullah. “I have been really upset by the whole thing. Do I not have a right to dignity and to enjoy my life? Do I not have the right to feel fulfilled and have a pet just because I am renting? “Up until my partner and I got together, my dog was my whole world. Now I have my family unit of me, my partner and my dog. Byron is the sweetest dog and I have had him since he was nine-weeks-old.” Talullah added: “As a pet owner, I have found it increasingly hard to find anywhere to live as landlords and tenants say no to dogs and simply claim ‘allergies’ if pressed. “It’s all well and good having regulations, but when no one is enforcing them and there aren’t any regulatory bodies that are able to assist, how helpful is it actually? It is a joke. “Private lawyers are largely out of reach for most and there is a distinct lack of clarity on how the regulations for pets should and can be applied.” Tallulah has finally found a new place to live which accepts pets and is now moving to east London. Tallulah and Byron have finally found a pet suitable place to live – but it means moving to east London Figures from a survey carried out by flatshare site SpareRoom reveal that since the Renters’ Rights Act came into effect in May, only 5 per cent of flatsharers have requested to move a pet in, and close to half of these requests were denied by landlords. Those on joint tenancies were both more likely to request pets, and more likely to be granted permission, than those with room-only tenancies Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, said: “The pet rule change in the Renters’ Rights Act was widely praised but the reality is pets aren’t as welcome as you might think, especially in shared rentals. “Tenants now only have the right to request a pet, rather than automatically have one. And in flatshares, even landlords who aren’t restricted by their freehold could reasonably deny a request, as the presence of a pet could limit their ability to let a room in the same property to someone with allergies, or push existing tenants out. “That’s why it’s still so hard to find pet-friendly accommodation in the rental market.” A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Pets are part of the family and bring joy and companionship to many people, which is why we strengthened rights for pet-owning tenants in our landmark Renters’ Rights Act. “Thanks to our reforms, landlords must consider requests for pets and tenants will be able to complain to the Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman or go to court if their landlord unfairly refuses.”