Feb

Adverts that stipulate ‘NO DSS’ could cost landlords up to £5,000 in damages and costs

admin

Housing charity Shelter has helped two tenants on benefits win out-of-court settlements after they were denied accommodation by a letting agent.

Shelter is warning landlords who insist on ‘No DSS’ conditions
within property adverts that they face heavy fines after the charity helped two
tenants win legal victories over letting agents who wouldn’t rent to benefit
claimants.

Amanda
Staples and Emma Loffler both won out-of-court settlements against ‘No DSS’
letting agents, on the grounds of indirect discrimination.

Shelter
used a previously successful case of another single mother, Rosie Keogh, to
successfully argue that blanket bans on claimants indirectly discriminated
against women and disabled people who are more likely to be on benefits.

Ms
Staples, 36, who has three primary-aged children, needed accommodation after
her marriage broke down. Despite offering to pay six months’ rent up-front on a
house, and with an offer of a loan from her father, the letting agent kept
saying the landlord’s insurance did not cover tenants on benefits.

With Shelter backing her legal action, the letting agent
ultimately agreed to write a public letter of apology and to pay £3,000
compensation and the £10,000 legal costs.

The agent in Ms Loffler’s case also issued a public
letter of apology and paid £3,500 compensation and £2,500 towards legal costs.

Shelter chief executive Polly Neate says letting agents
and landlords must not treat potential tenants as second-class citizens simply
because they rely on benefits.

“If they continue to blindly discriminate against those
receiving housing benefit, they risk legal action and a hefty fine,” she says.

“Not only is ‘No DSS’ discrimination outdated and grossly
unfair, it is unlawful under the Equality Act.”

The
housing charity analysed 7,100 adverts on the biggest letting agent websites,
and found more than one in 10 contained phrases such as ‘No DSS’ or similar.

Agents
and landlords could face fines of about £5,000 per advert based on the three
pay-outs made in cases so far, it says.

However, a poll of
1,009 private landlords for the charity by YouGov in December 2019 and January
2020 revealed 86% thought ‘No DSS’ was lawful or were not sure.

View Full Article: Adverts that stipulate ‘NO DSS’ could cost landlords up to £5,000 in damages and costs