Benefit claimants face landlord discrimination despite ruling
In August 2020, the BBC Shared Data Unit reported thousands of landlords were trying to avoid renting their properties to benefit claimants, despite a judge ruling a blanket ban was unlawful.
About 75% of more than 9,000 listings on the website OpenRent said the landlords would not accept people on benefits.
It came after the ruling a single mother-of-two had experienced indirect discrimination when a letting agent refused to rent to her. That case established “persuasive authority” in law rather than a legal precedent, so it may have helped guide other courts in reaching future decisions, but was not binding.
OpenRent said it advised landlords to assess tenants “on their own merits”.
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The story was also used by BBC South Today.
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