In the Dog house - Can a Landlord refuse a support / service animal

A majority of landlords would think twice before allowing a tenant to rent with a pet and most tenancy agreements have a ‘No Pets clause’ as standard.

However if a prospective tenant or existing tenant requests to have a service or support animal, then the landlord cannot just refuse without a very good reason.

The Equality Act 2010 calls these changes ‘reasonable adjustments’.

Reasonable adjustments only apply if the tenant has a disability as set out under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010

The definition as set out in section 6 says you’re disabled if:

• ·         you have a physical or mental impairment
• ·         that impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities

Some impairments are automatically treated as a disability. You’ll be covered if you have:

• cancer, including skin growths that need removing before they become cancerous
• a visual impairment - this means you’re certified as blind, severely sight impaired, sight impaired or partially sighted
• multiple sclerosis
• an HIV infection - even if you don't have any symptoms
• a severe, long-term disfigurement - for example severe facial scarring or a skin disease

These are covered in Schedule 1, Part 1 of the  Equality Act 2010 and in Regulation 7 of the Equality Act 2010 (Disability) Regulations 2010.

Reasonable adjustments can be changes to policies, practices or terms of your agreement, such as changing a No pet clause.

They can also mean providing extra equipment or support - the law calls this auxiliary aids.

If the changes have to be made, the law calls this the ‘duty to make reasonable adjustments’. It’s covered in sections 20, 21 and 36 and Schedules 4 and 5 of the Equality Act 2010.

If the landlord refuses to make a reasonable adjustment, they may be discriminating against the tenant and could be acting illegally.

This could result in a fine or prosecution.

In addition a Private members bills currently working its way through Parliament which sets to establish a tenants rights to keep dogs and other animals in domestic accommodation, this could see an end to a standard No Pet approach.

In Thomas-Ashley v Drum Housing Association Ltd [2010] the court accepted that it was reasonable that the landlord refused to allow the disabled tenant to keep an assistance dog given the reasons for the landlord’s objection to the dog and the specific terms of that lease. This was despite the tenant’s clear need for the dog on health grounds and the effect that the refusal would have on the tenant’s ability to remain in the property.

From the safety of SA to the shark infested waters of PRS

Serviced accommodation is the fastest growing form of accommodation in the hospitality industry, so it is no surprise that it has emerged as the new business model in the property world.

With the attraction of minimal legislation and great returns you can understand why this would be a great place to start for anyone looking at making it big in property.

But with the shock of a global pandemic swiftly followed by a National Lockdown, the world of SA came to a grinding halt.

Some providers were able to adapt their business model and offer their accommodation to front line works and with key industries staying open such as construction, those who had catered to these markets were able to keep their financial heads above water.

But there are a number of providers for who were unable to adapt and found it impossible to source guests, some of these businesses made the decision to offer their accommodation to the private rental market and try to recover some of the losses that had been felt.

Unfortunately, this has left many with tenants they may never be able to evict as well as the risk of hefty fines or even imprisonment.

Prosecution, Regulation, Statute (PRS)

The Private Rented Sector (PRS) with over 156 pieces of legislation and 400 regulations is a far cry from the more relaxed model of Serviced accommodation.

Safety inspections, Deposit protection and the timely service of pre-tenancy documents are just the tip of the iceberg with regards to the minefield of legislation that the average BTL landlord has to navigate.

The potential for a £5,000 fine for not carrying out a Right to rent check, or £30,000 for not providing an valid EICR certificate or a compensation claim from the tenant for 3 x the value of an unprotected deposit, can come as a shock to those who are unaware of the complexities of the PRS.

Not having these requirements in place can leave providers with a tenant they may not be able to evict, failure to follow pre-tenancy regulations will mean a Section 21 notice commonly used to eviction tenants cannot be issued.

In some cases a provider may have inadvertently created an Assured tenancy rather than an Assured Shorthold, meaning the only means of ending the tenancy will be for the tenant to give notice, or for the landlord to service notice under Section 8 ONLY once a tenant has breached the terms of the agreement.

Many providers are also unaware of the legal requirement to be a member of a property redress scheme and have client money protection as well as correct indemnity insurance and of course permission to let under and AST from a mortgage company if the property is still being paid for.

But most concerning of all, is the prospect that an SA provider unfamiliar with the laws surrounding the private rented sector as a whole, especially those relating to Houses of multiple occupancy (HMO) regulations, may unintentionally create an HMO by providing tenancies rather than short term guest stays.

The ramifications of this, will be that the HMO is not licensed and this alone can incur a fine in the range of £10,000-£40000, and with additional breaches, such as not having the correct fire safety in place incurring fines of £5,000 per breach with possible imprisonment, it is best for any SA provider to safely on the shore to do some extreme research before dipping their toe into the Shark infested waters of the Private rented sector