New data from major property portals shows a marked decline in tenants using "pet friendly" as a search filter since reforms giving renters the right to request permission to keep a pet came into force. On the surface, this looks like good news for animal-owning renters navigating one of the most restrictive private rental markets in Europe. In practice, agents report the opposite: a significant proportion of tenants now believe pet ownership is effectively guaranteed under the new rules, when in fact landlords retain considerable scope to refuse. That misunderstanding matters enormously for a private rented sector housing more than 4.6 million households in England alone, and it creates a fresh layer of friction between landlords and tenants at precisely the moment the sector is adjusting to the broader Renters' Rights Act.