Tenant Petition Against XL Bully Dog Evictions

The most popular online petition campaign by tenants against landlords concerns the right to own a dog, not Section 21 evictions, rising rents or the state of homes.

So far, dog lover Sarah Foley’s petition to stop landlords from evicting owners of XL Bully Dogs has attracted 5,854 signatures—thousands more than any other housing petition.

Ms Foley’s campaign is on the government’s petition website. A petition garnering 10,000 signatures will receive a written response from the government, while a petition signed by 100,000 supporters will trigger a debate among MPs.

A new law has made owning or rehoming an XL Bully Dog in England or Wales a criminal offence unless the dog has an exemption certificate issued by a court.

Ms Foley says: “I do not think it’s right that good owners who follow the rules of exemption and have well-behaved dogs might face eviction because they own an exempt XL Bully.

“This means owners are worried they will have to choose between having their dogs euthanised, moving home or potentially being homeless. This should be prevented.”

The petition closes on May 29.

What the law says about owning an XL Bully Dog

Landlord calls for housing court

The most popular landlord petition calls for the government to set up a housing court and conciliation service.

The campaign has attracted 91 signatures and closes on May 29.

Portsmouth letting agent and landlord Alwin Oliver is sponsoring the campaign.

He says: “We call upon the government to create a specialist housing court supported by an ACAS-style conciliation service to enable the conciliation and settlement of disputes between landlords and tenants.

“The conciliation service should have delegated authority to order independent reports on disrepair or income statements for rent arrears and make binding recommendations to landlords and tenants.

“The court should have powers in matters of antisocial behaviour to agree acceptable behaviour contracts where appropriate. Where it is in the interest of both parties to end the tenancy, the conciliation service should have the power to recommend that the court make an order to end a tenancy by consent.”

Service charge campaign tops 9,000 signatures

Other landlord and tenant petitions include:

• Create a new body to regulate service charges for residential property - 9,218 signatures
• Set up an independent regulator for leasehold properties to protect leaseholders - 222 signatures
• Impose caps on annual rent rises and additional taxes on vacant properties - 143 signatures
• Ban Section 21 no-fault evictions by December 2024 - 83 signatures
• Require annual property inspections for leaseholders and tenants - 59 signatures
• Require landlords to offer a single-person discount on rent - 37 signatures
• Require all landlords/agencies to accept tenants claiming benefits - 25 signatures
• Allow tenants to end tenancy agreement if the landlord fails to complete repairs - 24 signatures
• Introduce fines for landlords who fail to tackle illegal drug use - 22 signatures
• Incentivise landlords not to sell properties and to charge affordable rents - 22 signatures

Find out more about setting up government petitions and how they work.