Nine in ten landlords have not received a single formal pet request since the right came into force on May 1, says an agency. 

A report by the agency LRG, based on responses from 717 landlords and 860 tenants across England and Wales, suggests the new pet request framework has made little impact so far.

Of all landlords surveyed, 93% have not received a request, 6% have approved one, 0.8% have one under consideration, and fewer than 0.3% have refused. 

LRG says the low volume of formal requests may partly reflect a shift in tenant behaviour rather than a lack of demand. 

Data from Rightmove shows that searches specifically filtering for pet-friendly properties fell 54% year on year in May 2026 and 52% in June, yet pets remained the most searched-for rental keyword across both months. 

The agency says the most likely explanation is that tenants no longer need to filter for pre-approved listings: they can now formally request permission on any property, making the pet-friendly label less relevant to their search.

The agency’s summer lettings market report says: “The underlying demand is real and substantial. Nearly three in ten tenants already own a pet, while a further 19% are either considering getting one or actively planning to do so in the next twelve months. 

“Before the Act came into force, no-pets policies had a direct personal cost for many: 32% of tenants say they were affected in some way, with 15% choosing not to get a pet they wanted, 12% losing out on a property because of their pet, and 5% giving up or rehoming an animal. 

“That experience is reflected in wider research: a Dogs Trust survey found that 25% of renting dog owners had been denied housing because of their pet. 

“The new right to request exists precisely to address situations like these.”

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