THE GOVERNMENT’S NEW housing action plan seeks to eliminate blanket bans on pets in tenancy agreements. 

The long-awaited new housing plan was signed off by the Cabinet’s subcommittee on housing yesterday evening. It will now go to Cabinet for approval on Wednesday with the full details to be launched on Thursday.

A target of 12,000 new social homes, new provisions for victims of domestic violence and more compulsory purchase orders of derelict houses are all on the cards under the new plan. 

One action point, which might be welcome to some renters, is the plan to remove blanket bans on pets from tenancy agreements.

It is understood Housing Minister James Browne insisted on the measure being included in the new document, which firstly seeks to ensure that Approved Housing Body (AHBs) properties – which are funded through government – cannot specify that pets are not allowed. 

This ‘no-pet policy’ was recently raised in the Seanad by Fianna Fáil Senator Teresa Costello who said she had been contacted many times by people who were “deeply torn” when they receive an offer of housing only to be told that it is on the condition that they do not bring their pet. 

Responding, junior minister for agriculture Michael Healy-Rae said there is now legislation that precludes AHB tenants from keeping pets, stating that the residential tenancies Acts from 2004 to 2022 make no reference to animals.

It is understood the housing minister has a cat and has very strong views on the issue,  insisting that the new plan should state clearly that there should be no ban on pets in tenancy agreements. 

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Sources state that tenants may be open to pay ‘pet deposits’ to landlords in order to offset any damage a pet might cause to a property.

In 2023, Dogs Trust reported an 80% surge in the previous past three years in people having to give up their pets as they cannot be homed in rented spaces.

Under a new legal framework in the UK, tenants now have the statutory right to request keeping a pet in their rented home with landlords no longer being allowed to impose blanket “no pets” policies without first reasonably considering each individual request.