Are property rentals legally allowed to advertise as "no children"?

[Rachel_C]

If people can say 'no pets' I think it's perfectly reasonable to say 'no children'. My cat has never scribbled on the wall, peed on my carpets or smooshed poo into the gaps between the floor boards!

It's definitely worth asking if the landlord would make an exception though. My mum rents out our old family house and allows children but the agents gave her their standard description to agree to and it said no pets. She queried it as it's a 5 bed family house, there are bound to be pets! The agent wasn't keen to change it but she made them. I bet most people just don't bother but probably would be open to it, for kids as well as pets.

 

[Mrs Doddy]

Yes they can. Wear and tear with children is higher as I've realised myself with little hands up the stairs !

Their property

 

[monkee12]

I don't think its disgusting either, their house, their rules I guess x

 

[magicwhisper]

i dont think it is disgusting but i can see were you are coming from though

most places around were i live are no kids, pets or dss but maybe because we were lookig at flats

but as the agent said to me it is easier for them to put no pets ect and then the landlord can change there mind when they speak to you

our flat is no kids, dss or pets and once we lived here for a couple of months we asked if we could have a rabbit and he said yes as long as he dosent chew the carpet which is fair enough. he said he alows most pets it was more pets that would destroy things he didnt want which is also fair .... he also knows we are pregnant (because my oh got excited and told him) and he is happy for us

it depends on the landlord what he/she counts as acceptable

 

[Lauraxamy]

I've not seen it much round here on houses tbh. I don't think it's disgusting really I can see why they say it, I mean the amount of times my two have scribbled on walls and got stuff on my carpets - I know it's easily fixed but still.. if it was privately rented I'd feel awful!

 

[Floralaura]

I know growing up, my brother was a little hellion. Putting holes in walls, breaking windows, etc.

I don't think its right to discriminate against ALL families, but I'd be much more willing to rent to a family of one or two girls than one with a half dozen boys. Then again, it still just depends on the family itself.

In my area, you have to fill out an application for almost every rental, and the landlord can accept or deny you at their own discretion, just like a job application. Definitely gets them around some legalities, but it helps them protect their property.

Wow, just wow. You don't think its right to discriminate against all Families, just the ones with Boys eh?

 

[LoveCakes]

I don't think it's awful, you have a right to decide who lives in your house. To me it's a bit like insurance companies charging higher car insurance for more inexperienced drivers. You may be the best driver but are paying due to the stastics.

DSS makes no sense to me as someone in a job could lose it but on DSS you are guaranteed an income. I can understand for smokers though as you can always smell it no matter how much you clean.

 

[tallybee]

The DSS thing is unfortunately due to a stereotype of a perceived 'sort of tenant' that are on DSS. Never mind that DSS is an out of date term and it's a stupid generalisation

 

[Foogirl]

I find when looking for holiday properties to rent they often say no children and not accessible. When I query it they say that offering an "accessible" property brings with it a bunch of regulations (most of which aren't relevant to what we need). They same can be true for children. For example if a properly has a balcony most will say "no children" as there can be issues with balcony railings etc. It's usually to protect the landlord from being sued in the case of an accident.

 

[Foogirl]

DSS makes no sense to me as someone in a job could lose it but on DSS you are guaranteed an income. I can understand for smokers though as you can always smell it no matter how much you clean.

Not always the case. I had DSS tenants who didn't pay up. Their benefit was stopped and I had to legally evict them. And now the government is moving towards paying housing benefit directly to tenants it's only going to get worse.

That said, I've also had tenants who are not on DSS not pay up so I never saw it as a good reason to reject someone. Anyone who was coming to rent my flat was met and interviewed by me and if I got the feeling they were not likely to look after the place I said no.

 

[RachA]

I think that the property owner has a right to say who they will or won't rent their property out too. At the end of the day it's the owners property and not the person who is leasing it.

 

[amann]

This is very illegal, the Equality Act makes this very clear.

The only way to be certain though is for it to be tested in a court of law. The higher the court the better. Someone should test it.

As it would be a discrimination case not benefits many of you would get legal aid. I'm not saying you have 100% chance of success but the equality act has a specific section about age discrimination and this includes indirect discrimination against people you have an association with like family members.

You could take a landlord to court but you could also apply for a judicial review, where several senior Judges examine your case, examine the law then decide whether the discrimination is unlawful or not.

 

[amann]

Here you are,

Equality Act 2010 - discrimination and your rights
When are you protected from discrimination?

Discrimination means treating you unfairly because of who you are. The Equality Act 2010 protects you from discrimination by:

employers
businesses and organisations which provide goods or services like banks, shops and utility companies
health and care providers like hospitals and care homes
someone you rent or buy a property from like housing associations and estate agents
schools, colleges and other education providers
transport services like buses, trains and taxis
public bodies like government departments and local authorities.
There are nine protected characteristics in the Equality Act. Discrimination which happens because of one or more of these characteristics is unlawful under the Act. We all have some of these characteristics - for example, sex or age - so the Act protects everyone from discrimination.

If you’re treated unfairly because someone thinks you belong to a group of people with protected characteristics, this is also unlawful discrimination.

What are the protected characteristics?

The characteristics that are protected by the Equality Act 2010 are:

age
disability
gender reassignment
marriage or civil partnership (in employment only)
pregnancy and maternity
race
religion or belief
sex
sexual orientation.


Discrimination by association

The Act also protects you if people in your life, like family members or friends, have a protected characteristic and you're treated unfairly because of that. This is called discrimination by association. For example, if you're discriminated against because your son is gay.

If you complain about discrimination

The Equality Act protects you if you're treated badly because you've complained about discrimination or stood up for discrimination rights, either for yourself or for someone else.

Further help and information

You can find out more about your rights under the Equality Act on our discrimination pages.
Citizens Advice and the Government Equalities Office have produced two guides to some of your rights under the Equality Act.

To download an online copy of the Equality Act 2010: What do I need to know? A summary guide to your rights, click on Equality Act 2010: What do I need to know [PDF 210 kb].

To download an online copy of the Equality Act 2010: What do I need to know as a carer? click on Equality Act 2010: What do I need to know as a carer [PDF 230 kb].

For information about the Equality Act 2010 and your rights in BSL go to Discrimination advice in BSL

 

[suzib76]

This is very illegal, the Equality Act makes this very clear.

The only way to be certain though is for it to be tested in a court of law. The higher the court the better. Someone should test it.

As it would be a discrimination case not benefits many of you would get legal aid. I'm not saying you have 100% chance of success but the equality act has a specific section about age discrimination and this includes indirect discrimination against people you have an association with like family members.

You could take a landlord to court but you could also apply for a judicial review, where several senior Judges examine your case, examine the law then decide whether the discrimination is unlawful or not.

So are you suggesting that if I want to rent a house and the landlord states no children rather than move on and find one suitable I should apply for legal aid and drag the landlord through court to try and force them to rent to me

 

[hayz_baby]

No she is saying if you wanted you could get it tested to see if it would stand up and therefore set a president.
Eg like when a cake maker refused to bake a cake for a gay couple on the basis of religion so the gay couple tested this in court.

 

[suzib76]

No she is saying if you wanted you could get it tested to see if it would stand up and therefore set a president.
Eg like when a cake maker refused to bake a cake for a gay couple on the basis of religion so the gay couple tested this in court.

I was being sarcastic.

I mean I'm sure someone out there would because some people are offended with everything and out to argue the point. But in the real world, as a landlord, I can choose who I rent my house to.

 

[Geebug x]

I don't think it's disgusting I think it's perfectly reasonable for people to decide what type of tennant they are looking for when renting out their house

This

 

[hanni]

This post is 3 years old, I think the OP has probably found somewhere child friendly by now 😂

 

[amann]

No she is saying if you wanted you could get it tested to see if it would stand up and therefore set a president.
Eg like when a cake maker refused to bake a cake for a gay couple on the basis of religion so the gay couple tested this in court.

I was being sarcastic.

I mean I'm sure someone out there would because some people are offended with everything and out to argue the point. But in the real world, as a landlord, I can choose who I rent my house to.

As someone who provides rental accommodation you must abide by the law.

If a Judge rules that it's illegal for landlords to discriminate against people with children, then you will be breaking the law if you do so and will face pretty hefty fines if it's reported.

In my opinion it's pretty clear that it is against the law from reading the equality act but what's needed is someone to request that senior Judges in the Royal Courts of Justice to rule as to whether it is or not.

This process is called a 'Judicial Review' and anyone who lives here has the right to ask for one. I imagine many people with children who live in rental accommodation would eligible for legal aid which helps. It doesn't actually matter though if you have kids or not. You can still ask for a judicial review.

But as said, once the Judges rule on it, it basically becomes defacto the law.

And by the way, you cannot 'choose who you rent your house to'. That is definitely against the law because that would mean anyone, including the disabled.

 

[amann]

I don't think it's disgusting I think it's perfectly reasonable for people to decide what type of tennant they are looking for when renting out their house

This

Also I'm sure many people here would scream blue murder if a council or housing association refused to let a property to you because you had children, yet there is no difference between a council/housing association and a private landlord in regards to whether they're allowed to discriminate or not. They all have to abide by the Equality Act.