Landlords and lettings agents are on notice that a blanket policy of refusing to rent to individuals in receipt of benefits could amount to indirect discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, especially against those in receipt of disability benefits.
Some landlords and letting agents have a policy or practice of refusing to rent to individuals who are in receipt of housing benefit or universal credit. Under section 29 of the Act, residential landlords and letting agents are prohibited from discriminating against a person requiring the services they provide or preventing access to the same. In Tyler v Paul Carr Estate Agents (CC, 8 September 2020), the court was asked to determine whether such a policy amounted to a provision, criterion or practice (PCP) that indirectly discriminated against the claimant, who was disabled within the meaning of the Act.
The claimant and his family were in receipt of benefits. The claimant was unable to work because he suffered from a number of physical and mental impairments. In February 2018, the claimant and his family became homeless. By September 2018 they found themselves in desperate need of accommodation.
On 7 September 2018, the claimant contacted the defendant in relation to three properties the defendant had marketed for rent. The rent for each property was affordable for the claimant and his wife. The claimant was informed by an employee of the defendant that it was company policy “not to accept DSS”.
The conversation caused the claimant to feel humiliated and distressed. The claimant sought to clarify the defendant’s policy and followed up his calls with a Facebook post to the defendant asking: “…do you accept housing benefits for rental please?”
The defendant responded by stating: “We can consider applications from applicants in receipt of housing benefit provided the affordability threshold, as determined by the referencing provider, is met. Unfortunately, housing benefit is not considered part of the household’s income for referencing purposes. However, many other DWP payments, for example tax credits, pension, disability living allowance, personal independence payments, carer’s allowance, can be included. The landlord has the final say.”
With the assistance of Shelter, the claimant brought a claim for indirect disability discrimination under the Act. In its defence, the defendant initially denied that the claimant had contacted the agency. This point was conceded at trial in light of the claimant’s telephone records.
At trial the claimant relied on statistical evidence that showed that compared with all occupiers of housing, a “no DSS” policy or practice put disabled persons at a particular disadvantage as they were almost five times more likely to rely on housing benefit, and therefore be excluded by a “no DSS” policy, than non-disabled households.
On the evidence, the court found that the defendant agency had applied a PCP of rejecting applicants who were in receipt of housing benefit. Such a policy put the claimant and other disabled people in receipt of disability benefits at a particular disadvantage when compared with those who were not disabled and in receipt of disability benefits. This amounted to a breach of the Act. The court made a declaration to that effect and awarded the claimant £6,000.
Elizabeth Dwomoh is a barrister at Lamb Chambers
