The first vet elected to the House of Commons since 1884, Dr Neil Hudson, celebrated a long-fought campaign win with new laws entering Parliament which would allow renters more flexibility to keep pets.
This is the culmination of a long-fought campaign from the Epping Forest MP alongside numerous leading animal welfare charities including Cats Protection, Dogs Trust and Battersea.
Dr Hudson spoke in Parliament to welcome the pet-friendly clauses in the new legislation, while also seeking assurances from the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner MP that landlords and their properties will be protected through insurance.
Should the Renters’ Rights Bill pass through the remaining legislative stages, tenants will then be legally able to request a pet and landlords would not be able to unreasonably refuse whilst still giving landlords and their property necessary protection through insurance. Moreover unfair decisions can be challenged so renters will not have to make the difficult choice between a beloved pet or a home.
More than two years ago Dr Hudson joined a cross-party group of 35 MPs and Peers, working with leading pet charities and landlord associations, to pen an open letter to Ministers, urging them to make it easier for responsible tenants to keep pets in rental accommodation. Since then he has spoken on this issue in the Chamber, in Committees and at charity campaign events.
Dr Neil Hudson MP said:
"We are a nation of animal lovers. As an MP and vet I am pleased my ongoing campaign with animal charities for tenants to request pets has been successful.
"I know firsthand the physical and mental health boost that keeping pets brings - something I believe every responsible owner should reasonably be allowed to benefit from too.
"Allowing renters to more easily stay beside their pet companions is the culmination of years of hard work from a wealth of dedicated animal welfare champions and charities.
"Although I wholeheartedly welcome the move towards a more pet-friendly rental market the broader Bill does need more work and must balance the rights of renters and landlords. We Conservatives feel aspects of the Bill may harm the rental market with unintended consequences by driving up prices for hard-pressed young folk, disincentivising much-needed private landlords, and reduce our rental supply."
Full exchange in the Chamber:
Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Epping Forest, asked:
"It is important that this legislation balances the rights of both tenants and landlords. We all know the benefits of pet ownership to our physical and mental health, and indeed to the animals. I very much welcome the fact that clauses 10 and 11 will allow pet ownership in tenancies, but can the Secretary of State reassure the House that those clauses will allow responsible pet owners to ask to keep pets in their property while ensuring that landlords are insured in case of property damage caused inadvertently, or perhaps advertently, by pets?"
Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, replied:
"The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that there is a balance to be struck. We are ensuring that landlords are protected with insurance. It is about reasonableness—so long as it is not an antisocial parrot that speaks all night, I am sure everyone will agree that this is a good thing."
