We all need a place to call home, and disabled people who rely on trained assistance dogs should not be discriminated against when looking to rent a new home or when welcoming a highly trained assistance dog into an existing home.
Find out more in our Quick Guide designed to help ensure landlords, letting agencies and housing associations can better understand and meet their legal obligations to disabled tenants with assistance dogs.
Read or download Welcoming Tenants with Assistance Dogs in Rented Accommodation
In the UK, Disabled people have important rights under the Equality Act 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Northern Ireland). It is unlawful for public services, service providers, and local authorities to treat disabled people less favourably, e.g. refusing services or offering less services because a disabled person has an assistance dog.
A landlord or housing provider is legally required to make reasonable adjustments to enable a tenant with a trained assistance dog to live in their property. This could include:
It is important to remember that not every person with an assistance dog has a visible disability. Unless the information is needed in order to make reasonable adjustments, it is not appropriate to question someone about the nature of their disability.
A landlord, letting agent or housing provider cannot increase rent or charge additional fees to assistance dog owners, even if a contract states they charge extra for tenants with pets.
Asking an assistance dog user to pay additional fees or deposit to cover any damage that ‘may’ happen to the property as a result of owning an assistance dog, could be deemed unreasonable and/or discriminatory.
Charges for actual damage caused by the dog could be taken from a deposit. These charges would be made at the end of a tenancy through the relevant tenancy deposit scheme, in the same way that other deductions for any damage would be made.
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