‘No DSS’ Discrimination Ruled Unlawful In Landmark Case

The practice of refusing to rent homes to those in receipt of housing benefit has been ruled unlawful in the first ‘No DSS’ discrimination case to be heard by a UK court. In a case that was heard at the York County Court, a 44-year-old disabled single mother of two challenged a letting agent for rejecting her application for a privately rented property on the basis of her being in receipt of housing benefit. District Judge Victoria Elizabeth Mark found that the letting agent was in breach of the Equality Act for operating a policy of refusing to rent to individuals on benefits. The defendant ceased operating this policy in June 2019. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/no-dss-discrimination-ruled-unlawful-in-landmark-case--67157

Jewish Housing Association Beats Discrimination Challenge

A housing association set up to house Orthodox Jews has again seen a discrimination claim against it dismissed in court. The legal battle between north London-based Agudas Israel Housing Association (AIHA) and two non-Jewish families has been going on for almost a year. The families argue that Hackney Council should not have a nominations agreement with AIHA because its policy only to house Orthodox Jews is “discriminatory”. It was argued in the High Court that Orthodox Jews do not face any disadvantages that are not faced by other applicants for social housing in the borough but were being allowed to “jump the queue”. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/jewish-housing-association-beats-discrimination-challenge-at-appeal-62097

Leadership Hopefuls Told Right To Rent Must Be Scrapped

Conservative Party leadership candidates Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt are being urged to scrap the controversial Right to Rent scheme. A coalition of organisations made up of the Residential Landlords Association, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and the3million, which represents EU citizens in the UK, have united in calling on both candidates to scrap the policy after the High Court ruled it causes discrimination against British ethnic minorities. Following a Judicial Review of the policy secured by the JCWI and supported by the RLA, the presiding judge concluded that discrimination by landlords was taking place “because of the Scheme.” Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/leadership-hopefuls-told-right-to-rent-must-be-scrapped/

MPs Hear Evidence On 'No DSS' Adverts

The Work and Pensions Select Committee heard from three panels of witnesses on the subject of the ‘No DSS’ adverts in the private rented sector. The Committee, made up of cross-party MPs, questioned industry experts, consumers and representatives of mortgage providers. In a response to media reports in late 2018 that mortgage lenders were restricting buy-to-let landlords from letting their properties to tenants in receipt of benefit, the Committee began the inquiry into No DSS: discrimination against benefit claimants in the housing sector in March 2019. Read more on the ARLA website.

https://www.arla.co.uk/news/may-2019/mps-hear-evidence-on-no-dss-adverts/

High Court Rules Right To Rent Breaches Human Rights

The High Court has ruled that the government’s Right To Rent scheme breaches human rights law in a damning verdict on government immigration policy. Mr Justice Martin Spencer ruled that the scheme breached the European Convention on Human Rights on the basis that it led to discrimination against non-UK nationals with the right to rent and British ethnic minorities. Referring extensively to argument and evidence provided by the RLA, Justice Spencer concluded that discrimination by landlords was taking place “because of the Scheme”. He went on to conclude that “the government’s own evaluation failed to consider discrimination on grounds of nationality at all – only on grounds of ethnicity”. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/breaking-high-court-rules-right-to-rent-scheme-breaches-human-rights-law/

Attitudes Harden On Right To Rent

As the High Court hears a Judicial Review of the government’s Right to Rent scheme, new stats show 44% of private landlords are less likely to rent to those without a British passport. Revealed in research released by the RLA, the percentage is up from 42% last year and comes as the High Court today begins a Judicial Review of the government’s flagship Right to Rent scheme. The RLA wants Right to Rent policy to be scrapped altogether, arguing it discriminates against those unable to easily prove their identity and foreign-born nationals who have documents unfamiliar to landlords. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/attitudes-harden-on-right-to-rent/ 

MPs Blast Banks For Discriminating Against Tenants On Benefits

MPs have slammed banks for “discriminating” against tenants on housing benefit and suggested the government may need to ban them from operating “no DSS” policies. NatWest was criticised in October after it emerged that the bank prohibited many of its buy-to-let landlord borrowers from having tenants on housing benefit. The Commons work and pensions committee has intervened, saying the government must address the “housing blacklist” created by mortgage lenders’ “no DSS” policies. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/nov/20/mps-blast-banks-for-discriminating-against-tenants-on-benefits

Most Buy-To-Let Lenders Refuse Loans When Tenants Are On Benefits

Urgent action is needed to tackle discrimination against benefit claimants by mortgage providers, according to the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), which has found lenders representing 90% of the buy-to-let market refuse a loan where a tenant is on housing benefit. Research carried out by the RLA’s mortgage consultants found that two-thirds of lenders representing 90% of the buy-to-let market did not allow properties to be rented out to those in receipt of housing benefit. About 4.2 million people in the UK claim housing benefit. The RLA has called on the government to use the influence it has in banks in which it has shares to end these discriminatory practices. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/oct/21/buy-to-let-90-percent-of-lenders-refuse-loans-to-benefit-claimants

Undercover Check Finds Discrimination Against Tenants On Benefits

An undercover investigation by housing charity Shelter has found routine discrimination by letting agents against tenants on housing benefit, with national chain Haart named as the “worst offender”. Working with the National Housing Federation, Shelter researchers called 149 letting branches around the UK, and found that one in 10 had a blanket ban rejecting any applicants on housing benefit. While “no DSS” bans – a reference to the now defunct government department responsible for benefits – are not illegal, Shelter is planning a court challenge arguing they breach the 2010 Equality Act, as they disproportionately affect women and disabled people who are more likely to need a housing benefit top-up. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/22/undercover-check-finds-discrimination-against-tenants-on-benefits

Shelter Report Misses Target And Offers No Solutions

The report from Shelter and the National Housing Federation, pointing the finger at agents and private landlords for discriminating against tenants claiming benefits has infuriated many working in the sector.  Just like statistics that claim the ending of private tenancies, not the rent arrears that led to serving notice, are the leading cause of homelessness, rather examining the underlying causes, we get a sensational headline that fails to scratch the surface of the issues. Worst still, it offers no solutions, other than seeking to prosecute agents and landlords and have the practice outlawed as indirect discrimination.  So, what is the reality of the situation? In truth, there a host of reasons landlords and agents are reluctant to take on tenants claiming benefits. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/blog-shelter-report-misses-target-and-offers-no-solutions/

‘Right To Rent’ Rules Discriminate Against Non-UK Nationals

Plans to force landlords across Britain to check the immigration status of potential tenants will be challenged in court this week after claims that they are causing serious discrimination. Landlords, politicians and immigration lawyers have all raised concerns about the “right to rent” policy, a key branch of the government’s attempt to create a “hostile environment” for illegal immigrants. Under the rules landlords face fines, or even prison, should they house people with no right to be in the country. However, there is now evidence that landlords are ignoring tenancy applications from people with “foreign-sounding” names, from ethnic minorities, and from those without British passports. Choosing someone with a British passport means landlords do not have to carry out additional online checks. Read more on the Observer website.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/02/legal-challenge-rent-rules-discriminate-non-uk-nationals

Housing Group Facing Discrimination Legal Challenge

A leading Jewish housing association is being taken to court over its policy of providing homes only for Orthodox Jews, with its chief executive vowing to fight the case “tooth and nail”. The judicial review case, which will be heard by the High Court, has been brought by two non-Jewish families against the Agudas Israel Housing Association (AIHA) and Hackney Council. The case challenges the council’s decision not to allocate housing in AIHA properties to the claimants, and alleges Hackney’s arrangements are discriminatory in allowing AIHA only to allocate housing to members of the Orthodox Jewish community. Read more on the Jewish Chronicle website.

https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/charedi-housing-group-in-stamford-hill-hackney-facing-legal-challenge-1.463966

Private Rented Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent representations his Department has received on the advertising of private property lettings explicitly to exclude people in receipt of housing benefit.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Department has received correspondence on this issue. The Government appreciates the problems that some housing benefit claimants can face in finding accommodation in the private rented sector. We strongly encourage landlords and agents to look at all potential and existing tenants in receipt of housing benefit on an individual basis. We will shortly be publishing a new How to Let guide to help landlords better understand their responsibilities. Legislation exists to prohibit acts of discrimination against individuals in terms of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-03-05/130788

Government Appeals Against High Court Benefit Cap Ruling

The Government has launched an appeal against a ruling that its controversial benefits cap unlawfully discriminates against lone parents with children under two. The cap, which came into force last year, limits the total amount of benefits a household can receive to £23,000 a year in London and £20,000 elsewhere. But in June, a High Court Judge said the benefit cap was disproportionately affecting lone parents, and causing “real misery to no good purpose". Read more on the Independent website.

Benefit Cap On Lone Parents Of Under-Twos Is Unlawful

The government’s policy of imposing the benefit cap on tens of thousands of lone parents with children under the age of two is unlawful, discriminatory and has resulted in “real damage” to the families affected, the high court has ruled. The benefit cap, which limits the total amount households can receive in benefits to £20,000 a year, or £23,000 in Greater London, was envisaged as an “incentive” to persuade unemployed people to move into work. However, Mr Justice Collins said in his judgment that the policy visited “real misery to no good purpose” on lone parents with very young children who were subject to the cap despite there being no official requirement for them to find work. Read more on the Guardian website.

JCWI To Challenge Home Office Over Right-To-Rent

The Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) has written to the Home Office to call for a halt to the rollout of the scheme of the Government’s Right-to-Rent scheme awaiting a full evaluation of its impact in England. The Joint Council is threatening to take legal action if the Government continues to implement the policy, which is yet to expand beyond England. Saira Grant, Chief Executive of JCWI, said: “In the face of clear evidence of discrimination under Right-to-Rent, the Government must show it is not acting illegally before it presses ahead with a rollout to the rest of the UK.”Read more on the NLA website.

DWP: Homelessness Presents ‘Significant Barriers To Employment’

The DWP has said in a new report that “homelessness can present significant barriers to employment”. The report states “without a stable home, most families struggle” and these struggles can make finding employment difficult. The lack of a permanent address is also highlighted as a problem, with communication from employers and the inability to open a bank account turning many employers off. The report also found those in temporary accommodation or rough sleeping are subject to “employer discrimination” – both during hiring and dismissal once their homelessness is discovered. Read more on 24housing.

No DSS: Most Flat Shares Refuse Benefit Claimants

Landlords are more likely to accept potential renters who own pets than people claiming benefits, a BBC investigation has found. Analysis of some 11,000 online listings for spare rooms found all but a few hundred stated benefit claimants were not welcome. Campaign groups say it is "naked discrimination" and are calling for a change in the law. Landlords say more social housing needs to be built. Read more on the BBC website.

Right To Rent Not Working

Right to rent checks are not working, with more and more landlords afraid to rent to those without British passports, according to a new report by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI). It shows that the Government’s crackdown on illegal immigrants is creating a climate of fear amongst landlords. The charity is calling on the government to abandon the scheme. JCWI’s research suggests that landlords who have no wish to discriminate are being forced to do so by the scheme – with people who have a full right to rent a home in the UK being disadvantaged, along with others who should be able to access housing. It claims the scheme creates ‘structural incentives’ for landlords to discriminate unlawfully against foreigners and ethnic minorities. Read more on the RLA website.

Supreme Court’s Rulings Mean Bedroom Tax ‘Will Still Unfairly Hit Thousands’

The government’s “bedroom tax” discriminates unlawfully against some disabled people who need an extra bedroom because of their impairment, but not against others, the Supreme Court has ruled. The Supreme Court ruled that ministers’ decision to apply the bedroom tax to disabled people who need an extra bedroom for a clear medical reason, and to families who need an additional bedroom for a disabled child who requires overnight care, was unlawful discrimination. But other disabled people who need an extra bedroom for impairment-related reasons lost their battle against having to pay the bedroom tax, after the court ruled in favour of the DWP. Read more on the Disability News Service website.