The Renters Rights Bill has had its almost final consideration in the House of Lords. There have been many amendments proposed and debated, the majority of which concern the provisions affecting private landlords only. 

The Bill has now finished its Report Stages in the House of Lords on 7 and 15 July 2025 and a third reading of the Bill is scheduled to take place on 21 July 2025 in the House of Commons, where we expect it to pass.  Parliament breaks for their summer recess on 22 July 2025, so we will know by that date the final version of the Bill or if it will be carried over to the Autumn (unlikely).  

Bills usually come into force three months after they get royal Assent, but we have no information yet about implementation dates other than the original plan for abolition of Assured shorthold and all fixed term tenancies and s21 notices/no fault eviction to be introduced for private landlords' first and social landlords later. 

One of the most contentious areas for private landlords has been around pets. The Bill, as drafted on 15 May, would have changed the Tenants Fees Act to allow landlords to take out pet insurance and charge the cost back to tenants. However, the Government has since removed this provision, placing the financial burden of pet insurance back on the private landlord, who cannot then charge the cost of insurance back to the tenant. A landlord could, of course, still take out pet insurance but the following issues potentially arise:

• Claim history – A claim would impact the Landlord’s claim history. A claim would not affect the tenant’s claims history, so there is a risk that tenants may be less motivated to manage potential damage by their pets.  
• Lapse – If the tenant assumes responsibility for taking out pet insurance, the tenant may cancel or let the policy lapse, perhaps due to affordability.
• Higher deposit - Landlords will still be expected to accept tenants with pets, unless there is good reason not to (Part 1, Chapter 1, Provision 11 of the Bill) but landlords cannot ask for a higher deposit to cover this. The House of Lords agreed a final amendment to the Tenant Fees Act 2019 so that landlords could require tenants to pay three more weeks' deposit for granting consent to keep a pet, recognising the extra risks a landlord faces. The Government does not support this change currently, however, so we expect it will not be approved in the final version of the Bill. 
• Market rent – Landlords can still charge a higher ‘pet rent’ but if their rent is already at the market rent level, then this is liable to be successfully challenged by the tenant.
• Impact on property – Given that private landlords cannot refuse a tenant from having a pet (unless it is reasonable to do so), there is a risk of increased property damage and nuisance to neighbours from pets.

We will be running a webinar series over the summer with sessions for both private and social landlords. Dates to follow shortly. 

Do see our Renters Rights Bill Hub for all our relevant resources.