A tenant can ask in writing for consent to keep a pet. Abide.Rent records the request and counts the days until a written answer is due.
Who this is for: letting agencies, landlords and tenants.
Pet requests: status, who answers and when it is due.
What you are deciding
If you are the tenant: what to put in your request. If you let the property: how soon an answer is due.
Your options
- Send a request. The deadline for a written answer is 28 days from the date of the request.
- More information is asked for. The answer is then due 7 days after the tenant replies, where that is later than the original date.
- Withdraw the request. A tenant can withdraw a request at any time before it is decided.
How to do it
- As the tenant, open your tenancy and select Pets.
- Describe the pet and send the request.
- You are told when you are asked for more information and when a decision is made. The written decision is kept on your tenancy.
A worked example
Nia asks to keep a cat on Monday 9 November 2026. An answer is due by Monday 7 December 2026, 28 days on. On Monday 30 November the agent asks for the cat's age and whether it is neutered. Nia replies on Thursday 3 December, so the answer is now due by Thursday 10 December 2026, 7 days after her reply, because that is later than 7 December. The agent approves on Tuesday 8 December and the written consent appears on Nia's tenancy.
What Abide.Rent does for you
- Counts the days and shows the due date to both sides.
- Shows who is to answer: the landlord, or the agent where the agent manages the property.
- Sends reminders as the deadline approaches, and marks a request overdue if no answer is recorded.
- Records the request, the deadline and the answer. It does not decide whether a refusal is reasonable.
If something goes wrong
- “Further information must be requested on or before the 28th day.”
What to do: Ask for information within the 28 days. - “This request is closed.”
What to do: The decision is recorded. A new request starts again.
Common mistakes
- Asking by phone only. Make the request in writing, here, so it has a date.
- Letting a request for more information reset the clock in your head. The date only moves if the tenant's reply would make it later.
- Answering in conversation and not recording it. The request then shows as overdue.
What to do next
More in The Act
Respond to a pet requestApprove a request, refuse it with a written reason, or ask the tenant for more information.
Repairs and incidents: what to record and who deals with themWho handles a repair depends on the service level for the property. Keep a dated note of each report and what was done.
A tenant's notice to quit, and withdrawing oneA tenant ends a tenancy by giving notice in writing. Abide.Rent records it, checks the end date and records a withdrawal both sides agree.