My dog is very beneficial to me and my MI. He comforts me when I'm upset, encourages me to get out of bed and take him for walks each day, and makes me feel safer outside and in my home alone at night. I've heard about the term 'emotional support animal' mainly in the US: if you get a MH professional to certify that your animal supports your MI, then you are allowed an exception to 'no pet' policies in housing contracts, but I can't find out if this is also the case in the UK

I believe that my MI difficulties qualify as a disability under the Disability Discrimination Act and I'm sure that my doctor will write a letter confirming my dog as an emotional support animal, but I can't find anything online stating that this would force landlords to allow me to keep my dog as a 'reasonable adjustment' under the DDA in the UK. I am due to move into rented accommodation in September, but so far have been unable to find any rental properties to rent in that area that will accept pets (I currently live with my parents, but need to move to complete a Uni course).

Ideally I would like to find a landlord that welcomes pets but, failing that, can I legally request my dog/ESA stay with me as a reasonable adjustment under the DDA? Anyone with legal experience in UK housing law, or personal experience of this situation in the UK would be most appreciated.

*Willow*

[LaborIntensive]

Search the rental pages online and I am sure you will find something.

[sabby]

Hey WeepingWillow,

This is the closest thing I could find to helping folks with support dogs in the rental sector. It doesn't seem as though there is a law in the UK but there are things you can do to help your case along. I hope this site is helpful to you!

Support Dogs In Rented Housing

Wishing you well!

[Bark]

FAQs

Scroll to the bottom of the page. Looks like 'reasonable adjustments' do not apply to emotional support dogs.

Try following the suggestions in sabby's link. They might help. Best of luck!

[(JD)]

Here's a link for the UK Psychological Assistance Dogs UK

And another: Assistance Dogs (UK): A voluntary coalition of assistance dog organisations

They aren't called Emotional Support Animals in the UK, so it appears...perhaps "Psychological Assistance Dog" is more correct.

IF for some reason you still can't find how to make this happen under that... why not train the dog as a service dog instead? I'm sure he already does things for you that qualify! Then you can have more freedom.

Good wishes. If you need more help searching, let us all know!

Thanks for taking the time to read and reply

Originally Posted by LaborIntensive

Search the rental pages online and I am sure you will find something.

I've been searching for 3 weeks so far and haven't seen any places that accept pets in the city I'm moving to. I will keep searching, but this is my plan B.

Originally Posted by sabby

Hey WeepingWillow,

This is the closest thing I could find to helping folks with support dogs in the rental sector. It doesn't seem as though there is a law in the UK but there are things you can do to help your case along. I hope this site is helpful to you!

Support Dogs In Rented Housing

Wishing you well!

Thanks Sabby! I will use these tips but it seems to depend on how nice the landlord is, which isn't really fair.

Originally Posted by Bark

FAQs

Scroll to the bottom of the page. Looks like 'reasonable adjustments' do not apply to emotional support dogs.

Try following the suggestions in sabby's link. They might help. Best of luck!

Thanks Bark, that seems to be what I've found too, which is a shame.

Originally Posted by (JD)

Here's a link for the UK Psychological Assistance Dogs UK

And another: Assistance Dogs (UK): A voluntary coalition of assistance dog organisations

They aren't called Emotional Support Animals in the UK, so it appears...perhaps "Psychological Assistance Dog" is more correct.

IF for some reason you still can't find how to make this happen under that... why not train the dog as a service dog instead? I'm sure he already does things for you that qualify! Then you can have more freedom.

Good wishes. If you need more help searching, let us all know!

Thanks (JD) - from my reading a support dog is not the same as an assistance dog because an assistance dog is specifically trained to perform certain tasks to help whatever condition the owner has.

I've only found one website that will assess your pet dog to see if it has the aptitude to become an assistance dog for mental health problems, but I'm not sure my dog has the temperament to pass. I love him to bits and I have trained him to give cuddles on command, which is a task of sorts, and he also voluntarily gives me cuddles if he sees I'm upset, but he has the tendency to get a bit excitable and bark-y whenever he sees another dog that he cannot say hello to. He's also not very good at coming when called unless he wants to. Even if he could pass the training, I don't really need him to come into shops etc with me (or, perhaps more accurately, I would be embarrassed to draw attention to myself by taking him into public places) and I plan to move in Sept so would not get him trained to be an official assistance dog in time.

I saw on some websites that people are buying vests that say 'support dog' on them and are passing their pet off as an assistance dog, which I would never do. Firstly I couldn't lie like that and don't have the confidence to carry it off, and secondly I wouldn't want my dog to start barking or something and give people a bad impression of real assistance dogs or make it harder for others to get their genuine assistance dogs admitted to public places.

It sucks that support animals aren't recognised yet in the UK, and that is going to make it so much harder to find a place to live because mentally I could not manage living alone without him :/

*Willow*