Council housing - Pets

• Before getting your pet
• Getting permission
• If you get our permission
• Keeping a dog
• Structures in gardens

You must ask our permission to keep any pet in your Council home. Generally, we are happy for you to keep an animal, bird or reptile as long as it is appropriate for the type of home that you live in and does not annoy or disturb your neighbours.

Please note that you cannot have pets in sheltered accommodation.

Before Getting Your Pet

• You must ask us for our permission to keep any kind of pet in your Council home.
• You should consider the cost of keeping the animal including pet insurance.
• You will also need to consider how much exercise the animal may require.
• There are laws about keeping dangerous animals and the protection of some species. It is always advisable to find information about any type of animal, bird or reptile before you acquire it.

Getting Permission

• Contact us to ask permission to keep a pet in your Council home.
• We will only give permission for you to keep a pet if we believe your pet is suitable to be kept in the property.
• We will not normally allow you to keep an animal, reptile or bird in a flat or upper maisonette.
• We will always give permission if the animal is a guide dog or hearing dog for a member of your household.

Request Permission to keep a Pet online

If You Get Our Permission

• If we give permission you must be a responsible owner and your pet or pets must not annoy, disturb, intimidate or attack other people, or cause damage to the property.
• We can withdraw our permission if we believe your pet is causing a nuisance or you are not a responsible owner.
• You can be prosecuted if you allow your pet to cause a nuisance such as a dog barking continually inside or outside your home.
• Pets must not be allowed to foul communal or public areas.
• You may need to make arrangements to care for your pet(s) when you are on holiday.

Keeping a Dog

• If you are given permission to keep a dog in your home it must not annoy other people, for example by barking or being aggressive.
• Dogs must be kept on leads when outside your home or garden, or in any common or shared areas and must not foul public or communal areas.
• The dog must not be allowed to damage your home.
• Visit our Dog Wardens page for more details about keeping a dog.

Structures in Gardens

There are rules about building pigeon lofts and chicken coops in your garden. If you wish to keep a bird outside ask your Tenancy Management Officer for advice first. You will need to apply for written permission to build the structure and may also require planning permission.

You may apply for permission to keep up to a maximum of six hens in a garden hencoop, you cannot keep a cockerel.

Page last reviewed 3 May 2012