When private landlords like me say in rental ads that we won’t accept tenants on benefits, it must seem mean or offensive. It probably looks like we’re saying to the many people who rely on benefits to survive that they’re not good enough to live in our properties. Now homelessness charity Shelter is claiming we might even be breaking the law.
Shelter’s argument is that landlords and letting agents who openly state “No DSS” — short for no housing benefit applicants — or “professional tenants only” in their rental ads could be guilty of indirect discrimination, as most adults claiming housing benefit are women or disabled and it is illegal to discriminate against anyone on grounds of their sex or a disability. Apparently, Shelter plans to take some agents to court to test the law.
I wonder what the charity hopes to achieve. While it isn’t nice to see “No DSS” in property ads, surely that’s better than leading tenants up the garden path and showing them round, only to say at the end: “Sorry, you can’t live here, you can’t afford it.”