Rental discrimination: a guide for landlords
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1. Overview
If you are a landlord in England, you must not do anything to make a tenant less likely to rent a property (or prevent them from renting it) because they have children or get benefits. This is called ‘rental discrimination’.
This includes anyone acting on your behalf, like letting agents, referencing services, friends or family members.
Any part of a tenancy agreement, mortgage or superior lease that could be used to discriminate is not valid and cannot be enforced.
You can be fined up to £7,000 for each offence.
There’s different guidance if you’re:
There’s guidance on the Shelter website if tenants think they’re being discriminated against for other reasons. For example, because they’re disabled or a woman.
What counts as rental discrimination
Rental discrimination can happen when:
- someone is looking for somewhere to rent
- a tenant’s circumstances change - for example, they have a child or start claiming benefits
- a tenant is renting a property that you have chosen to sell
It can include:
- not letting someone access information about a property
- stopping someone from viewing a property
- refusing to let someone rent a property
It’s still rental discrimination if you treat someone unfairly based on something that is not true, for example if you think someone has children when they do not.
Accessing information
Information can include:
- the availability of the property
- the date it becomes vacant
- details of the property, such as the size, location or number of bedrooms
Viewing a property
This can include refusing to let someone view the property or knowingly making it difficult for them to view it, such as by offering unreasonable times.
Renting a property
This can include poor treatment to make it less likely for someone to want to rent the property, for example a rental agreement that puts the tenant at a disadvantage.
Exceptions
There are some exceptions when you may be able to stop someone from renting a property if they:
2. If someone who has children wants to rent your property
You cannot discourage or prevent someone from renting a property because they have a child under 18 who would either live with them or visit them at the property.
This includes if:
- your tenancy agreement, mortgage or a superior lease says that tenants cannot have children
- a tenant introduces a child into the home after they move in - this includes though birth, adoption, fostering or any other means
Rental discrimination can target families with children of a certain age or characteristic. It can also target children in a specific situation, for example children who are being fostered.
Example
A landlord lists a property and specifies that children under 16 cannot live there. There is no reason given.
A parent of a 10 year old child tries to view the property, but the landlord only offers times outside of their availability. The parent reports this to the local council.
The council agrees that this is discrimination. The landlord is issued with a fine.
Exceptions
Your property may be exempt in some situations, for example:
- it’s a shared property, such as shared spaces used in student housing by unrelated adults
- the property is too small and it could lead to overcrowding
- you have to meet certain licensing conditions
- there are safeguarding concerns that cannot reasonably be addressed
Each time you think a property is exempt, you’ll need to show that it’s a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’ (PMLA).
To show a PMLA, you must be able to explain:
- why the restriction is necessary - for example, you cannot set an age limit without explaining why
- why the restriction applies in the tenant’s situation - for example, you cannot refuse all children because of a staircase that could be used safely by an older child
Example
A landlord runs a small housing community for retired people and has a rule that children can visit but are not allowed to live there. A potential tenant who is guardian to her grandchildren tries to rent a home there but is turned down. She reports this to the local council.
After talking to the landlord, the council decides that no rental discrimination laws have been broken. The landlord clearly advertises the housing as being for retirees, and the rule about children is there to genuinely benefit the people who live in the community.
If your insurance contract stops children being at the property
You can only stop children from living in or visiting the property if your insurance contract both:
- says that children are not allowed to live there
- started before 1 May 2026 and has not been renewed since then
Once the insurance contract ends or renews, this exception no longer applies. A tenant can ask to see the contract.
3. If someone who gets benefits wants to rent your property
You cannot discourage someone from entering a tenancy agreement because they get benefits.
This includes if:
- your tenancy agreement, mortgage or a superior lease says that tenants cannot get benefits
- a tenant starts getting benefits at any point after they move in
You cannot do things that exclude people who claim benefits. For example, if you check if a tenant can afford the property, you must include income from benefits in the same way as other income.
The tenant may get benefits such as:
- Universal Credit
- Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Personal Independence Payment
- Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Legacy Housing Benefit
- State Pension or Pension Credit
- Council Tax Support
- Tax Credits (Child and Working)
- Child Benefit
- Guardian’s Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
Example
A landlord refuses to rent a house to someone because they get help with housing costs through Universal Credit. The landlord says their mortgage does not allow them to rent to people who receive housing benefits. The person reports this to the local council, saying it’s discrimination.
The council agrees that it is discrimination and the landlord is issued with a fine. The rules about rental discrimination mean that any part of a mortgage that bans renting to people on benefits does not count and cannot be enforced.
Example
A landlord does not want to rent to someone who gets benefits, so they ask a referencing company to check if the tenant can afford the rent. The company ignores the tenant’s benefit income when doing the check, so the tenant is rejected for not earning enough. The tenant reports this to the local council as discrimination.
Although landlords can say no to tenants who genuinely cannot afford the rent, the council says it is discrimination. The landlord is issued with a fine because the tenant’s benefit income was not treated the same as other income.
Exceptions
There is no exception that can stop people who get benefits from renting a property due to landlords trying to meet a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’ (PMLA).
If your insurance contract stops people who get benefits living at the property
You can only do this if your insurance contract both:
- says that people who get benefits are not allowed to live there
- started before 1 May 2026
Once the insurance contract ends or renews, this exception no longer applies. A tenant can ask to see the contract.
4. If you're reported for rental discrimination
Your local council will tell you that you’ve been reported for rental discrimination.
It’s likely they will ask you to give more details about the situation.
They may serve you a ‘notice of intent’. This will tell you that they plan to issue you with a fine for breaking (or ‘breaching’) rental discrimination laws.
You have 28 days to reply with evidence that shows that the actions you took were reasonable and that discrimination has not taken place. This is called a ‘written representation’.
Evidence can include:
- time-stamped copies of communications - for example, text messages, voicemails or emails
- copies of, or links to, the advert or property listing
- legal documents - for example, the property deed, tenancy agreement, insurance contract or statement of licensing conditions
- other documents - for example, a brochure showing that the property is part of a retirement community or student accommodation
If your local council agrees that rental discrimination has happened, you and anyone acting on your behalf will each be given a fine of up to £7,000. You will be sent a ‘final notice’ which will tell you what you owe and when you have to pay it.
You can still be issued with a fine if the breach was either:
- committed without your consent or knowledge
- because of your neglect
Example
A landlord asks a letting agent to put up an advert for a property specifically stating no children are allowed.
Someone reports this to the local council. The council agrees that it is discrimination. The landlord and letting agent are both legally responsible and given a fine of £5,000.
If you’re reported again
You could be fined for a ‘continuous breach’ or a ‘repeated breach’.
Continuous breaches
You could be fined for a ‘continuous breach’ if you have not resolved an issue more than 28 days after a final notice or appeal decision has been issued. For example, you have not taken down an advert that was reported.
If your local council agrees that a ‘continuous breach’ of rental discrimination has happened, they can issue you with a new fine of up to £7,000 every 28 days until it’s resolved.
Example
A landlord posts an advert saying they would not rent a property to people on benefits. Because of this, they were fined £7,000 for discrimination by their local council.
Because the advert was still online 28 days later, the council fined them a further £7,000 for a ‘continuous breach’. The landlord then took the advert down.
Repeated breaches
You could be fined for a ‘repeated breach’ if you commit the same offence within 5 years.
If you’re fined for a ‘repeated breach’, you’ll have to pay:
- up to £7,000 for the breach on its own
- up to £7,000 if you repeat the same type of breach within 5 years
Example
14 months after getting a fine for posting an advert saying they would not rent to people on benefits, a landlord posted a new advert with the same message.
This time, the landlord was fined a total of £12,000. This includes £5,000 for breaking the rental discrimination rules and a further £7,000 for repeating the breach within 5 years of the first fine (a ‘repeated breach’).
The landlord removed the new advert within 28 days, so they avoided another fine for a ‘continuous breach’.
If you want to appeal
If your local council issues you with a final notice, you have 28 days to appeal. You can appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal.
The final notice will be put on hold until the tribunal makes a decision. They may decide to reduce, increase, cancel or uphold the fine.
Other ways you can be reported
If someone who wants to rent a property let by your agency thinks they’ve been discriminated against they can:
- contact the local council
- contact the relevant letting agent redress scheme
- enter into civil proceedings themselves
Your local council can share their own evidence to support this.
Letting agents must belong to a letting agent redress scheme. Find which redress scheme your letting agent belongs to if you’re not sure.
Letting agent redress schemes and the courts can tell you to make things right, for example, financial compensation or an apology to the person you’ve discriminated against.