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Rules on discrimination: Tenants receiving housing benefit / DSS

 

SpareRoom does not allow landlords to screen out tenants who receive benefits or to reference this in their ads e.g. “No DSS applicants”, or similar. 

This is because, in July 2020, a court ruling determined that blanket bans against renting to anyone in receipt of housing benefit were unlawful and people with disabilities were being unfairly and disproportionately disadvantaged. 

The rulings don't mean you can't choose who you want to let to (the ruling doesn’t stop that in any way), but they do mean that you can no longer advertise rooms as automatically unavailable to people receiving benefits.

We'd always encourage people to consider every applicant on their individual merits and on a case-by-case basis, but the important thing to remember is that you still have complete control over who you let to.

It may be that you are restricted from accepting housing benefit tenants under the terms of your mortgage or insurance. In such cases, we'd simply ask that you communicate any restrictions to the enquirer at the point of contact, rather than in your ad.