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

[Kate&Lucas]

I think legal or not, it's pretty standard practise. I mean either way it's an odd thing to make an account just to drag up a thread from three years ago

 

[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.

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.

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.

Lol

 

[Snow Owl]

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.

Yep this. I've had countless tenants who are on DSS but 'forget to sign on' or 'they've mucked up my claim' and so they just stop paying. You also can't insist HB is paid directly to you.

Unfortunately a few bad eggs ruin it for everyone

PLUS a lot of landlord insurances have extra premiums if your tenant is on housing benefit. So it's not always a choice!

 

[Snow Owl]

Totally legal and VERY common!

I'm in rented and would never let my kids cause damage and if they did I'd fix it. But there are the bad eggs who do let their children trash the place and do a runner!

It makes landlords nervous

 

[Tasha]

Legal aid isn't like that any more. It's tough to get it. Even in custody cases you can only get it if there's been domestic violence. I doubt you'd get it for a review of this law.

 

[SophiasMummy]

I haven't seen many places saying 'no children' mostly very small flats that just wouldn't be practical.

A huge amount of places are no dss or pets though, I have a cat and a dog and was evicted after a big fall out with my previous landlord because he came in to my flat when I wasn't home and scared the life out of my cat (I'm pretty sure he kicked her, she used to love everyone and since that day she will hide if any stranger comes in) then decided he wanted to put my rent up by £100 a month (basically he wanted us out so he could renovate and turn it into a three bed to get more money for it). it took over 6 months to find somewhere that accepted pets, 4 days before we had to be out I finally managed to find someone who accepted pets and dss.

the way i see it any damage or marks my daughter makes i fix them, this is my home for the foreseeable future, I'm even planning on replacing some of the floors because it's carpeted throughout which drives me crazy