Four in five county landlords won’t rent to benefit claimants
Calls to end ‘outdated’ discrimination after ruling
MORE than four in every five landlords in Leicestershire won’t rent to people on benefits.
In July, a judge ruled that blanket bans on renting properties to people on housing benefit were unlawful and discriminatory.
However, research from the BBC Shared Data Unit has found that most landlords specify on their listings that they will not accept people with DSS income.
DSS stands for the Department of Social Security, which was replaced in 2001 by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and is still used as a shorthand reference to mean benefits claimants.
In a county court case last month, the judge ruled that “No DSS” rental bans were against equality laws.
Following this, the BBC Shared Data Unit took a snapshot of rental listings on the website OpenRent, which allows landlords to say yes or no to “DSS income accepted”.
They found that of the rental listings in Leicestershire on the site on August 5, 86 per cent said they did not accept DSS.
That figure ranges from 94 per cent in Charnwood, to 100 per cent in areas such as Leicester.
In fact, landlords across Leicestershire were more likely to accept pets and smokers than they were benefit claimants, with only 69 per cent saying pets were not allowed, and 69 per cent also not accepting smokers.
In comparison, 59 per cent did not accept students and 15 per cent did not accept families.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “No DSS discrimination is outdated, grossly unfair – and it’s unlawful under the Equality Act, as our recent landmark legal victory confirms.
“This is because it overwhelmingly prevents women and disabled people, who are more likely to need support paying their rent, from finding a safe home.
“Last month’s ruling should be a wake-up call for landlords and letting agents to clean up their act and treat all renters equally.
“We won’t stop fighting DSS discrimination until it’s banished for good.
“OpenRent should ban landlords from advertising their properties as ‘DSS not accepted’ and remind them of their legal duty not to discriminate.
“Otherwise, they are putting themselves and their landlords at risk of serious legal action.”
The ruling is particularly pertinent at the moment as a rising number of people are relying on benefits due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Separate figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show that 79,982 people in Leicestershire were claiming
Universal Credit in from 76,694 in May.
It means one in every 11 people over the age of 16 are currently claiming Universal Credit - with women and people with disabilities particularly affected.
A spokesman for the Equality and Human Right Commission, said: “These figures show there is still some way to go before we can truly end the discrimination against women and disabled people who claim benefits.
“The recent ruling will go a long way to ensure all renters’ rights are equal, regardless of their life situation or background.
“If landlords and estate agents don’t change their policies and practices, they will be at risk of claims of discrimination from would be tenants.”
June, up
Nationally, the BBC found that 76 per cent of rental listings on OpenRent said they did not accept DSS income – and those with pets, smokers, students and families were all more likely to be accepted.
That comes against a backdrop of nearly 5.5 million people claiming universal credit in June – up from 5.3 million in May, and working out as one in every 10 people over the age of 16.
Adam Hyslop, founder at OpenRent, said: “We fully support Shelter’s call for landlords to treat all renters fairly.
“That’s exactly what we tell our landlords on all our guidance: assess each prospective tenant on their own merits.
“OpenRent does not ban any group of tenants, and in the past year we have let more than 25,000 properties where applications from benefit claimants were explicitly welcomed by the landlord.
“This is more than any other agent in the UK.
“We also know many local authorities’ housing teams actively refer claimants to OpenRent as a good place to find suitable properties.
“As such, to characterise us as somehow hostile to benefit claimants - or worse, lumping us in with agents who have a blanket ban on benefit claimants - is simply unfair and inaccurate.
“It also ignores the significant work we put into changing perceptions among landlords and ensuring they consider the widest range of tenants as possible for their properties, which is in everyone’s interest.”