Housing (Scotland) Act 2025

Housing (Scotland) Act 2025

2025 asp 13

Crown Application

Part 3 - Keeping Pets and Making Changes to Let Property

Section 36 - Scottish secure tenancies etc.: keeping pets

110. This section inserts section 31A to 31D, and Part 1A of schedule 5, into the 2001 Act—

• Section 31A provides that it is a term of every Scottish secure tenancy that the tenant may keep a pet at the house with the landlord’s consent and this consent cannot be unreasonably withheld. But if the tenancy allows the tenant to do so without consent, no consent is required. Section 31A also says that the provisions in a new Part 1A of schedule 5 have effect as terms of every Scottish secure tenancy.

• Part 1A provides that where a landlord has consented the tenant may keep the pet at the house until the tenancy ends, but the landlord’s consent to keep the pet may be subject to reasonable conditions. It also provides that an application for the landlord’s consent must be in writing and fulfil any other requirements specified in regulations. The landlord must intimate its consent or refusal, and any conditions imposed, to the tenant within one month of the application. Any such conditions must be reasonable. If no such intimation is given the landlord is taken to have consented to the application.

• Section 31B confers a power on the Scottish Ministers to make provision about when it is reasonable for a landlord to refuse consent to keep a pet. The Scottish Ministers must, as soon as reasonably practicable after the power becomes available to them to use (and after consulting in accordance with new section 31D of the 2001 Act), lay a draft instrument containing regulations before the Scottish Parliament and, if the draft instrument is approved by the Parliament, they must make the regulations.

• Section 31C gives a regulation-making power to the Scottish Ministers to make provision about when a consent condition on the keeping of a pet is reasonable.

• Section 31D provides that, before laying draft regulations under section 31B or 31C, the Scottish Ministers must consult persons representing tenants and landlords.