I would greatly appreciate some advice as it seems impossible to speak to anyone from Openrent. I have a tenancy which is a fixed two year term and the rent is quite low but that was agreed. The tenants are half way through their term and have asked to get a pet. I cant see anything in the Openrent contract about increasing the rent so does this mean I cannot increase it for the two year fixed term? I was going to introduce a small increase as a pet will cause inevitable wear to a carpet etc and their rent is significantly below current market rent.
You can increase rent if there is a clause in contract dictating this
There is usually a. Pet clause
I would advise on reading by ÂŁ100 pcm
If you can’t refuse the pet as damages may increase costs incurred
I think if you have agreed a fixed term, then there is no rent review clause, so you cant increase the rent until that term has expired.
You can only increase it in the fixed term with the tenant’s agreement. They don’t have to verbally agree. They simply have to pay the increase and this becomes the new rent.
You are doing them a favour and so you should have some leverage to get them to agree an increase if you approach this the right way.
Who persuaded you to do a 2 year fixed term?
You can come to an amicable arrangement to increase the rent, but why would you?
Yiu are assuming that the pet would cause more wear & tear to the carpet but Yiu have no idea if it actually would .. or if the tenants themselves decide to start sliding down the stairs causing more wear & tear.
Even if you don’t agree to them having the pets, once the Renter’s Rights act comes into force, there’s nothing you can do about it… And you won’t be able to charge them extra either.
I’ve agreed with my tenants that they can have pets but on tenancy termination, their can’t be any evidence of pets i.e damage/hairs etc and they have to make good. Obviously, there’s nothing I can do about reasonable wear & tear but that’s why you should never start a tenancy below the market rate… That way you are covered.
Risk is increased without question, especially if a dog.
No so. The proposed legislation states “LL cannot reasonably refuse….”
Hi Piers,
Sorry to hear you’ve had trouble getting in touch. If your tenancy was arranged through OpenRent, the quickest way to discuss this matter with a member of our customer support team is to send us a message via this link: FAQs | OpenRent 
As standard, our Rent Now contract doesn’t include a rent review clause (because different landlords have different approaches). But Rent Now landlords always have the option of adding a rent review clause to the contract, if they wish.
You can read more about how to increase the rent during the fixed term of a tenancy in our detailed guide here and about the rules regarding pets in privately rented properties here (including how these may change once the Renters’ Reform Bill becomes law).
Hope this helps!
Pets do cause distruction, my friend rented my property for 4 years and asked about a small dog - he was due to move out soon so I said ok. Nine months later and an Alsatian, the stink was unbelievable, I would have replaced the Carpits anyways and he did shampoo them all to his credit. I would never allow dogs again. I’ve had two tennents with cats, 3 years renting to both sets, again I replica stairs one change over and downstairs (over washed) next. I don’t mind keeping Carpits updated every 3 years , but the dog smell was right through underlay
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The presumption under the bill is for consent, but one could still refuse in certain circumstances i.e due to the lease of the building. But the exact detail awaits.
The tenant could be required to provide evidence of pet insurance or be willing to cover the cost of the landlord’s pet insurance to mitigate potential damage.
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