The Scottish Companion Animal Welfare Group (SCAWG), which includes Dogs Trust, Scottish SPCA, Cats Protection, Blue Cross, OneKind, Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, and PDSA, said it had seen a large number of pet relinquishments caused by a lack of pet-friendly accommodation. In 2024, around 11% of handover requests received by Dogs Trust in Scotland cited accommodation issues as the primary reason for owners needing to relinquish their dog. In 2023, housing issues made up 5% of the total reasons cited for relinquishment in Scotland for Cats Protection.

Under current law, landlords in Scotland are not legally required to consider tenant requests to keep pets. Proposals in the Housing (Scotland) Bill would require landlords to review such requests for existing tenants in private and social rental housing. Requests could no longer be unreasonably refused. Tenants would also have the right to challenge the decision through the courts if they feel that their request for a pet was unreasonably refused.

While these changes are a positive step forward, SCAWG would like the proposals to go further by eliminating blanket “no-pet” policies entirely. Instead, they are urging landlords to assess pet ownership requests on a case-by-case basis.

Earlier this month, the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee published a report supporting the principle that tenants should have a statutory right to request permission to keep a pet. The report also suggested that the Scottish Government consult animal welfare organisations when drafting related regulations — a move welcomed by SCAWG.

Claire Wilson-Leary, public affairs manager at Dogs Trust, said: “We welcome the proposed measures to strengthen tenants’ rights, and we’re encouraged by the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee’s support. We urge MSPs across Scotland to join the debate on Thursday and back the rights of responsible tenants who wish to own pets.

“The past three years have been the busiest on record for the animal welfare sector. Sadly, one of the most common reasons for pet relinquishment is a lack of pet-friendly housing. This isn’t just heartbreaking for owners but also a significant barrier to adoption for the hundreds of animals in our rehoming centres.

“However, while these proposals address the needs of current tenants, they do not tackle the overall shortage of pet-friendly housing. We would urge the Scottish Government to work with the private and social rental sectors to increase confidence in renting to pet owners so that they are not disadvantaged when seeking to access suitable accommodation.” 

Research conducted by Dogs Trust and Cats Protection revealed that landlords are currently split on whether they currently allow pets, with 48% of Scottish landlords saying they allow pets. However, the number of Scottish tenants saying their tenancy allows pets is much lower than this, with just 28% saying their landlord would allow a dog in the property. 

The same research revealed that, in over a third of cases across the UK, where cats or dogs have not been allowed by a private landlord, the landlord did not proactively decide this based on the individual tenants or pets, but either followed advice from their letting agent or used a standard template.  

Allowing pets in rental properties is not just good for the tenants; there are advantages to landlords too as it could increase the length of time tenants choose to rent a property. Research by Dogs Trust and Cats Protection found that 30% of Scottish tenants would stay longer in a property if they were allowed to keep a pet.