Underneath the Equality Act 2010, landlords and letting brokers are prohibited from discriminating in opposition to potential tenants on the premise of protected traits reminiscent of faith, race, or gender.
Listings recognized spanned giant areas of east London (Picture: Getty)
Landlords throughout London and the south-east have been caught illegally promoting properties solely for Muslim tenants, in obvious breach of equality legal guidelines. Listings uncovered throughout platforms together with Fb, Gumtree and Telegram embrace phrases reminiscent of “Muslim solely”, “just for Muslims” and “for two Muslim boys or 2 Muslim ladies”, elevating recent issues about discrimination within the non-public rental sector.
The investigation discovered that some adverts went additional nonetheless, specifying most popular nationalities or languages, together with requests for Punjabi or Gujarati audio system, or tenants from areas reminiscent of Kerala and Haryana. Separate listings additionally restricted vacancies by gender, with some job adverts specifying “males solely”.
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Reform UK MP Robert Jenrick (Picture: Getty)
Quite a lot of the posts had been linked to a property agency working on social media, the place a number of listings said “desire Muslim boy”, “one double room is on the market for Muslims” and “appropriate for Punjabi boy”, reported The Telegraph.
In different instances, landlords marketed for “Hindus solely”, whereas some tenants themselves sought lodging alongside spiritual traces, together with requests for alcohol-free and smoke-free houses.
Fb subsequently eliminated one of many pages internet hosting such listings. Nevertheless, comparable adverts stay seen elsewhere, notably on smaller or much less regulated platforms.
Telegram, which mechanically deletes messages after a set interval, was discovered to host dozens of posts specifying faith, nationality, or gender necessities.
Underneath the Equality Act 2010, landlords and letting brokers are prohibited from discriminating in opposition to potential tenants on the premise of protected traits reminiscent of faith, race, or gender.
Promoting a property as “Muslim solely” or imposing comparable restrictions is taken into account direct discrimination and might expose landlords to authorized motion in civil courts.
There’s a restricted exception the place a landlord is renting out a room inside their very own house and shares amenities reminiscent of a kitchen or toilet with the tenant.
Exterior of those circumstances, nevertheless, the legislation is evident: blanket restrictions primarily based on faith or ethnicity should not permitted.
Some landlords try to justify preferences on sensible grounds, reminiscent of dietary habits or life-style decisions. Whereas it might be lawful to request, for instance, a vegetarian tenant to keep away from sure meals in shared areas, framing such preferences in explicitly spiritual or racial phrases crosses into illegal discrimination.
The listings recognized span areas together with Ilford, Newham, Barking, Dagenham, East Ham, Redbridge, Walthamstow, Upton Park, Harrow and Newbury Park, suggesting the observe is widespread fairly than remoted.
In some instances, discriminatory wording was faraway from properties’ listings on formal property company web sites, despite the fact that it had appeared in earlier variations of the adverts.
Direct contact with landlords revealed little ambiguity. One particular person promoting a room in Walthamstow for £450 monthly, described as appropriate for a “Muslim boy or woman”, refused outright to contemplate non-Muslim tenants.
Others responded equally, with one landlord in Chadwell Heath rejecting the thought and one other in Barking dismissing enquiries from these of various faiths.
Reform UK MP Robert Jenrick mentioned: “These adverts are disgusting and anti-British. It goes with out saying that there can be a nationwide outrage if the tables had been turned. All types of racism are unacceptable, and no spiritual group ought to get a particular exemption to discriminate on this method.”
A Gumtree spokeswoman mentioned: “Gumtree has clear insurance policies in place that prohibit illegal discrimination, and we take experiences of inappropriate listings very critically.
:The adverts referenced seem to narrate to non-public rooms inside shared houses, the place present occupants might specific preferences about who they dwell with. That is totally different from renting out a whole property, which is topic to stricter guidelines beneath the Equality Act.
“Nevertheless, we anticipate all customers to promote responsibly and inclusively. We actively monitor listings and have instruments in place for customers to report content material they imagine breaches our insurance policies, which we actively assessment and can take motion on the place acceptable.
“We’re persevering with to assessment listings on this space to make sure they meet each our pointers and authorized necessities.”
A authorities spokesperson mentioned: “Discrimination in opposition to anybody primarily based on their faith or race is unlawful, together with within the rental sector. Any landlord not complying with the legislation ought to face the implications.”
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