Note: Articles on the Renters’ Rights Bill will be continuously updated as details emerge
Article last updated on 11 October 2024
Read an interactive and user-friendly version of this guide below.
The Renters’ Rights Bill is taking direct action to address rental discrimination in the private rented sector, to make sure everyone has fair access to housing.
This will include outlawing blanket ban notices in advertising – such as ‘No DSS’ - and other indirect practices used by agents and landlords to prevent both those in receipt of benefits and tenants with children entering into a tenancy.
The Government stated:
“Rental discrimination against families with children or people who receive benefits have no place in a fair and modern housing market. Everyone in the private rented sector is entitled to a safe and decent home and prospective tenants should be considered on an individual basis.”
Landlords will still have the right to refuse tenants if they believe they will be unable to afford the rent, or would be unsuitable tenants, but this should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
One of the most contentious issues facing the private rented sector at the moment is the ongoing practice by many landlords of refusing to accept tenants on benefits.
In the English Private Landlord Survey 2021, 44% of landlords canvassed said they were unwilling to accept tenants in receipt of housing benefit or Universal Credit. And thousands of rented property ads on the big portals stipulate ‘No DSS’, referring to the now-defunct Department of Social Security that used to administer benefits in the UK.
Nevertheless, back in 2020, a ruling at York County Court found that a ‘No DSS’ practice unfairly discriminated against a single mum-of-two with a disability, on the grounds of sex and disability under the Equality Act. And the last Conservative Government made it clear it was keen to support landlords in taking “informed decisions on individual circumstances rather than relying on blanket bans”.
But while this is laudable, there is more to the matter than meets the eye and there are valid reasons why approaching half of all landlords are against accepting tenants who are financially supported by the state.
The reality is that most landlords are not banning tenants in receipt of Universal Credit or housing support because they are mean spirited (although some are!). Rather, it’s because the current way benefits are paid to them is unwieldy and highly bureaucratic.
Several years ago, the Government decided it would be a good idea to pay the housing element of Universal Credit directly to tenants, rather than to landlords, in a bid to persuade claimants to take responsibility for their finances.
While this was a good idea on paper, in practice this has created huge headaches for thousands of landlords because the Alternative Payment Arrangement system the DWP set up to pay the housing cost element of Universal Credit direct to the landlord in certain circumstances – including if the council believes the tenant is unlikely to be able to pay the rent or they are more than eight weeks in arrears - often goes wrong.
In addition, councils have the right to try to claw back past rent payments from landlords if it turns out the tenant was claiming benefits fraudulently.
And because Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were, until recently, capped, it is often the case that tenants who rely on benefits simply can’t afford local private rents and would be unable to pass referencing affordability checks, regardless of a change in the law.
For more information on the renting to tenants on benefits, read our article, ‘DSS tenants: Renting to tenants on Universal Credit and housing benefit’.
Our media partner, LandlordZONE, offers exclusive insights and breaking news on the private rented sector. Keep up to date with everything you need to know by subscribing to LandlordZONE, the UK’s largest online landlord property news website.
You can also visit Total Landlord's Renters’ Rights Bill hub which will be regularly updated as the Bill progresses.
