Housing Minister supports "principle" of allowing pets in rentals

Friday 08 November 2024

The Housing Minister has thrown his support behind the “principle” of a proposition which seeks to prevent landlords from imposing a blanket ban on pets in their rentals.

Deputy Sam Mézec’s comment paper is the second response to Deputy Catherine Curtis’s proposition this week, after former Housing Minister David Warr yesterday lodged an amendment which would seek to take the sting out of her proposals.

Deputy Curtis is asking for the Housing Minister to bring forward any necessary legal changes before 31 March 2025 to ensure that tenants can keep pets unless the landlord provides a "reasonable reason for not permitting this" – but Deputy Warr wants to amend her words so that the proposition merely asks the Minister to provide "guidance" to landlords about the issue, rather than enforcing legislative changes.

He claimed that legislation would be an "excessive and costly" way to solve the issue and would introduce "unnecessary stress" on the relationship between tenants and landlords.

Pictured: The Housing Minister has been working on new Residential Tenancy Laws since he took office in February.

In comments published yesterday, Deputy Mézec supported Deputy Curtis's position while also reassuring landlords that they would have "inherent protections" in any legal changes.

He said: "Nearly every homeowner in Jersey, if not all, has the assumed right to have a pet live with them in their home. As a matter of principle, it is my view that the thousands of renters in Jersey should not be treated any differently.

"I believe it is important to have a Law that, as far as practicable, removes unfair barriers to pet ownership and creates conditions where all the parties to a tenancy agreement can be confident about supporting pet ownership."

Deputy Mézec said he therefore supported the principle of the proposition and would be "prepared to respond to its intent" as part of his package of measures being brought forward to update the Residential Tenancy Law.

He added that he would seek to make it a legal requirements for tenants to take responsibility for how their pet behaves and if a landlord wanted a tenant to take on reasonable costs such as extra insurance cover, and the tenant refused, this would be grounds for a landlord to withhold consent.

"In a situation where a tenant did not make good on their commitments about their pet, I would treat this as a breach of contract under Law. There would, therefore, be inherent protections for landlords in the Residential Tenancy Law," he said.

However, the Minister added: "In circumstances where, despite the caveats and protections for landlords around pet ownership, a landlord unreasonably withholds consent within a residential tenancy agreement, I believe this should equate to interfering with a tenant's peaceful enjoyment of their property."

Deputy Mézec also highlighted that Deputy Warr carried out a consultation on his then proposed changes to the Residential Tenancy Law during his time as Housing Minister, which showed how pet ownership was an important issue for islanders.

He concluded: "I strongly believe that Members can support the proposition because there is nothing inherently controversial being asked."

Deputy Mézec said he was pleased that the Assembly had the chance to debate this issue before he brings forward detailed Residential Tenancy Law proposals, "for which Law drafting is now well progressed".

Last month, MPs debated the Renters' Rights Bill for the first time in Parliament – a long-awaited piece of legislation which has been described as a "once-in-a-generation overhaul of housing laws".

One key element of the proposals would give tenants the legal right to request a pet in their home, which landlords cannot unreasonably refuse.

Deputy Curtis's proposed changes would affect around half of islanders, with the latest census showing that 33% of households are private rentals and roughly 13% are social housing rentals.