Pets Policy 2021 – 2024

Policy Statement

We recognise that pet ownership is a rewarding experience, bringing companionship, good health and social benefits to a growing number of people. We welcome well-behaved looked after pets living in our communities. To encourage these positive benefits, we will allow responsible pet ownership where it is reasonable to do so. This Policy sets out Homes in Sedgemoor’s policy on keeping pets in properties owned by Sedgemoor District Council.

Purpose of Policy

This Policy aims to support the health and well-being of our customers and encourage responsible pet ownership. In setting out this policy we will provide clear and reasonable guidelines that allow a flexible approach to managing pet ownership in our customer’s homes. To that end, we will promote the RSPCA Community Animal Welfare Footprint and support those customers who wish to keep a pet in their home.

Scope of the Policy

This policy applies to all residents living in homes owned by Sedgemoor District Council and managed by Homes in Sedgemoor.

For this policy, we consider the following to be domestic pets:

• Dog
• Cat
• Fish
• Small caged animals such as guinea pigs, rabbits and hamsters
• Small caged non-poisonous reptiles, insects or amphibians
• Small caged birds
• Outdoor aviary birds or fowl

Assistance dogs such as guide dogs for the blind, hearing dogs for the deaf or dogs for persons with a recognised disability. Animal hoarding involves keeping a higher-than-usual number of animals as pets without having the ability to properly house or care for them. See our separate protocol on hoarding.

Non permitted animals

We will not permit certain types of pets and these are:

• Farm animals for example; sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, and horses.
• Animals which should be licensed under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 – a list of animals requiring a license under the Act can be obtained from the website of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) at www.gov.uk/licence-wild-animal.

Dogs of a type specified in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. Up-to-date information can be obtained from the DEFRA website at www.defra.gov.uk.

Principles

We will work with customers to:

• Encourage responsible pet ownership
• Provide guidance support keeping a pet subject to specific obligations and requirements
• Support residents and ensure specific obligations and requirements are adhered to in conjunction with the Tenancy Agreement and guidance provided by the RSPCA
• Ensure that they have pet care arrangements in place should the owner be unable to care for their pet
• Stop the unlicenced breeding and business activity associated with an animal kept in council dwellings
• Work with pet owners to resolve problems associated with pet ownership

Legal Requirements

We will refer to the provisions of the legislation in consideration of the keeping of domestic pets. This includes:

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

Animal Welfare Act 2006

Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976

Environmental Protection Act 1990

Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003

Equality Act 2010

Responsible Persons

Customer Service Advisors (CSA) are responsible for:

• Receiving and processing requests for consent to keep a pet
• Referring discretionary decisions to Neighbourhood Officers (NO)

Housing Officers are responsible for:

• Discussing with the customer and making decisions where consent is required and there is discretion such as keeping a dog or a cat in a flat
• Providing CSA with outcomes from decisions and requesting the appropriate action

Lettings advisors are responsible for:

• Indicating Pet rules in CBL adverts
• Processing requests at the lettings stage
• Referring to NO for discretionary decisions

Performance Monitoring

This policy will be reviewed every three years and updated to reflect any legislative or regulatory changes.

Approval Process – Pet Requests

Customers should register with us when they wish to keep a pet by completing our Pet Registration form which will enable them to identify if consent is needed.

Whether the customer requires consent to keep a pet in their home, initially depends on what is written in the occupancy agreement, for example:

• If the property is a house or bungalow, consent is not usually required to keep normal domestic pets – this means, there’s an assumed consent
• If the property is a flat or maisonette, our consent must be sought in writing before keeping a pet
• If the property is a supported housing short-term let, pets are usually not allowed

Assumed consent

Customers who live in a house or bungalow do not usually need consent from us to keep a reasonable number of normal domestic pets, this is usually up to three dogs, cats or mixed of the two. However, we do encourage our customers to register their pets with us by completing our online Pet Registration form. This should be saved on the customer’s tenancy file. If a customer has been subject to previous complaints about pet(s), this permission request will be passed to the NO to review the request as per the required consent below.

If the customer wants to keep outdoor aviary birds, hens or a pigeon loft, the Neighbourhood Officer should visit the customer and consent will depend on the property location, size of the garden and the likelihood of nuisance.

Required consent

Customers who live in flats/maisonettes must ask for our consent before keeping a pet at their home. We will not unreasonably withhold it and in reaching a decision we will check whether there are:

• Any restrictions contained within Deeds of the covenant, Lease, License or Tenancy Agreement
• Any existing restrictions that apply to a whole block with mixed tenures, such as leasehold and general rented
• Any existing restrictions agreed with current residents
• Any existing issues with pets at the property or neighbourhood

If the answer is yes to any of the above, we will advise the customer that they cannot keep a pet at their home and provide the reasons why. If no to all the above, then consider the following:

• The type of pet and type of property. The table attached as appendix A summarises which type of pet we might permit in which property and whether formal consent is required
• The number of existing pets at the property
• Tenancy conduct relating to nuisance, ASB, pets or animal welfare
• The number of people occupying the property

Discretionary

If the pet is in a ‘discretionary’ box on the table, we will advise the customer that the decision needs to be passed to a NO to discuss and visit the customer if necessary, to decide. The NO will consider whether the needs of the pet can be met especially for the keeping of cats or dogs if the property does not have a private garden or its private access. The customer will be asked how they will exercise their pet and where it will carry out its lavatory functions. We may consider some properties unsuitable for a certain size or type of animal. The customer will be advised of the decision.

Terms of Tenancy When Consent is Required

• Only normal domestic pets are permitted, provided they are micro-chipped and vaccinated, as required by law.
• We may add conditions to our consent.
• We may withhold or withdraw consent for any pet if it could or in our opinion, cause a nuisance, a health hazard or other danger to people in the neighbourhood.
• We may withhold or withdraw the consent if we believe the property is unsuitable for the number or species of animals the customers are keeping. If the customer fails to take steps to remove any animals after we have asked them to do so, we may take legal steps to force the removal of them or end the tenancy.
• Animals are not allowed to be kept in or on any shared entrances, staircases, passageways or balconies.
• Customers are responsible for ensuring that their pet does not cause a nuisance or annoyance on the property or near the home.
• Dogs must be kept on leads in communal areas.
• We may ask that pets are kept in another room when an employee or contractor visits the customer’s home.
• Customers must act responsibly in making sure that they clear up after their pets.
• Where consent has been given to keep a cat, customers will also need to get consent to install cat flaps to external doors.
• Customers should make sure that faeces are promptly cleared up from garden areas and that there is no environmental nuisance caused to others.
• We will not give consent to keep a pet if there has been previous action taken for neglect or if we are concerned regarding the management of the tenancy.
• Customers must make sure that their pet is cared for in their absence and that their daily care needs are met.
• Where we incur a cost for cleaning up or repairing damage due to their pet’s/s behaviour, we will recharge this to the pet owner.

Pets in Flats/Schemes

We may ask for a referee who is willing to take responsibility for the pet should the customer’s circumstances change or if there is an issue and we have asked them to rehome the pet.

This may be particularly useful in older persons’ housing as the customer may spend time away from their home or be taken to the hospital unexpectedly.

Exceptional Circumstances – Assistance Dogs and Therapy Pets

Assistance dogs are exempt from the terms of this procedure as they are considered as working dogs under the legislation. Where customers or applicants for housing have a diagnosed mental health condition and there is supporting evidence from a specialist or mental health professional, we will consider recommendations for a customer/ applicant to have or keep an existing pet. This may include a cat or dog in a property with shared access and no private garden.

We do however retain the right to refuse or withdraw an offer of accommodation where we consider that allowing an animal into a property would hurt our Housing Management function.

Withdrawal of Consent

Our consent to keep a pet will be withdrawn should we receive reports of roaming and unattended animals, excessive animal noise, neglect or fouling.

On the death of a permitted pet; if the customer wishes to have a new pet, they should register the new pet with us and request consent where applicable.

We may report any customer believed to be neglecting or abusing any pet in their care to the Police or RSPCA and we may provide these organisations with any evidence that we hold.

We will seek support from Local Authorities and police on a case-by-case basis, where pets are causing a nuisance or are deemed dangerous.

We will investigate all reports made about pets in line with our Neighbourhood Management policies. If the report relates to nuisance or anti-social behaviour, we will respond in line with our Anti-Social Behaviour Policy.

Where a report is made about the management or behaviour of a pet, we will investigate and decide the most appropriate way forward. We may ask the customer to re-home the pet.

Where a customer is in breach of their tenancy due to the actions/behaviours of their pet, we will initially attempt to resolve matters through negotiation. If this is not successful, we may withdraw our consent and we may ask the customer to re-home their pet within a reasonable timeframe.

Partnerships

In some cases, as a landlord, we will not always be the organisation with the responsibility or powers to deal with allegation(s) that are made. In these circumstances, we will adopt a partnership approach and work proactively with other professional organisations, such as the Police or Local Authority and share information in line with our Privacy Policy. We may refer complainants or witnesses to other organisations as appropriate, whilst always being clear about our responsibilities and capabilities. Where we have an interest, but another organisation is leading, we may decide not to act until the outcome of their investigation is known.

Review

This Policy will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in line with best practices and at least every three years.

Associated Policies/Procedures/Risk Assessment

• Tenancy Policy
• Estate Management Policy
• Anti-social behaviour Policy

Homes in Sedgemoor – Pet Policy

Prepared by: Lindsey Hoggard – Neighbourhood Manager

Date: 30 March 2022

	Flat – shared access and shared garden	Flat – private access and own garden	Flat – private access no garden	House/Bungalow
Fish	Consent not required	Consent not required	Consent not required	Consent not required
Non-poisonous small reptile, insect, amphibian	Consent not required	Consent not required	Consent not required	Consent not required
Hamster, gerbil, other rodent	Consent not required	Consent not required	Consent not required	Consent not required
Cat	Discretionary	Discretionary	Discretionary	Consent not required
Dog	Discretionary	Discretionary	Discretionary	Consent not required
Rabbit	Discretionary	Discretionary	Discretionary	Consent not required
Bird, Pigeon loft/coup	Discretionary	Discretionary	No	Discretionary
Aviary	No	Discretionary	No	Discretionary
Hens	No	Discretionary	No	Discretionary

Note: Pigeon loft/ coup and aviary: consent will be dependent on property location and type, size of garden and the likelihood of nuisance.

Note: We will consent to the keeping of rabbits or hens unless they are considered to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance. This may be inferred where there is no private garden.

Note: We consent to small fish tanks and vivariums in flats however they must not be large enough to cause any structural damage.

We do not set a limit to the number of pets however, requests for additional pets will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Neighbourhood Officer taking into consideration the type and number of additional pets, size of the property, welfare, health, hygiene, and safety of other pets within the household.