The government – which over the weekend made a surprise move to try to stop landlords banning tenants from keeping pets – says the controversial measure is only one of a number of moves being made “to improve life for tenants.”

A statement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says that the overhauling of the tenancy agreement – which will be made public later this year – is merely “part of this new government’s mission to improve life for tenants, recognising that more are renting and for longer in life.”

The MHCLG says measures already undertaken include “banning unfair letting fees and capping tenancy deposits, saving tenants across England at least £240m a year” with the pledge that the government “will continue to take more steps to secure a better deal for renters up and down the country.”

The statement goes on to say: “The government will be bringing forward a bill to update the relationship between tenants and landlords as well as to introduce a Lifetime Deposit scheme, to make moving between properties easier and cheaper.”

Letting Agent Today readers reacted in hostile fashion when we broke the story on Saturday, a short while after the surprise announcement on overhauling the tenancy agreement was revealed by MHCLG. Of thre 30-plus comments made about the story, the overwhelming majority were in strong oppositon.

The ministry says total bans on renters with pets should only be implemented where there is good reason, such as in smaller properties or flats where owning a pet could be impractical. 

You can see the full details of the proposed new tenancy agreement here.