Government vows Renters’ Rights Act will tackle rental discrimination

How can they stop discrimination when they can’t prove it.
Example my rent protection insurance won’t touch anyone with a ccj or IVA so they are out for starters

Anyone renting my house needs to pass a credit check and having a guarantor doesn’t change that, I challenged that twice with my current provider thinking the first one I spoke to might have been a numpty. They said in their experience the guarantor rarely steps up so they have moved away from having any tenant with any issues as long as a guarantor is in place that can pass a credit check.

Therefore you can’t pass a credit check on benefits. S9 that indirectly removed me from being able to accept any (I have a tenant in another house on benefits so I’m not apposed to that at all and she has a guarantor which that provider was happy with) and that provider is way more expensive than the first one I mentioned.

So I’m taking viewings and allowing all to come and see as I can’t directly in plain view discriminate

However I’m aware of who I can and can’t take from the outset due to my rent protection insurance

So in a way maybe I did discriminate but not out of free will

Point being I chose the tenant with the best track record and financial situation and I didn’t have to explain myself (which I would never as I’ll chose who I want and won’t apologise for it)

So how do they prove discrimination?

The choice was down to me, I told the estate agents I wanted around 5 candidates and I’ll choose from them and I did

If the government stepped up and guaranteed to cover in full any non payment of rent by anyone on benefits etc they would probably never be discriminated against. Funny that they would never do that – perhaps they think that the risk would be too high.

Er..just having gone through the huge stress of 2 lots of tenants in serious arrears, i find the RRA discriminates against landlords. The eviction process is ruinous, the tenants sit tight, they know how to work the system. The flats had to br completely redecorated! I will never ever let again without a forensic examination of salaries, references, ccj,s and character refs. Oh and as someone else here wisely said, rent insurance. My advice to landlords, get out as soon as you can if you want to keep your sanity!

Reply to the comment left by Adamufc1 at 03/08/2026 – 00:29
I am with you on this. I have just advertised a let making direct reference to the insurance legal cover obligations that state

“A credit check against the Tenant and any Guarantor obtained from a licensed credit referencing company showing no County Court Judgments in the past three years and no outstanding County Court Judgments, together with copies of two forms of identification, one of which must contain a photograph, and a written employers’ reference on company letter headed paper confirming their permanent and current employment and that their gross monthly salary is at least a multiple of 2.5 of the Tenant’s Rent.

If all of the above are not available or in the case of student Tenants or Tenants receiving any income or housing related government benefit, a full Tenant Reference showing a Pass on the Tenant and Guarantor must be obtained from Arc’s approved tenant referencing company. Details of these companies are available by referring to the Arc Legal website ”

I have just gone back to ARC to clarify if every person receiving benefits has to also provide a guarantor in all cases as wording is not clear (I don’t let to students) and also for them to confirm what constitutes a ‘Pass’ (given referencing companies use different terms).

I think that making this clear on the advert would ‘absolve’ me from any claim of ‘discrimination’ as clearly everyone who wished to apply would been clearly told this information from the start.

It’s got to be difficult to prove…I’ve often been in a situation where 4 people want to rent the house for advertised rent. 3 people have to miss out and I don’t think justification is mandatory.

Reply to the comment left by JamesB at 03/08/2026 – 06:45
That could only happen IF the DWP legally were deemed the one due to pay the rent to the LL directly AND it is the LL which is legally owed that money.

This conflicts with the fundamental gvt belief that a benefit recipient is only eligible to claim state rent assistance when they meet the criteria as it is a means tested benefit, so the only person who can receive it is the claimant.

The system says there is a process in place for a LL to request direct payments IF it is deemed in the best interests of the tenant. That’s the catch out clause to make sure this doesn’t become a ‘standard’.

Remember the DWP don’t actually care if the LL receives the rent or not. Not their problem. They don’t need to balance their books. They are just the gvt admin dept.

If that’s what you believe Labour then all I can say is dream on. I live in the real world and it’s absolutely not as you paint it or want it to be.

RRA Will make it more difficult for less than perfect tenants to obtain a rental property. The Draconian Anti Private Landlord Legislation ensures Landlords cannot take any chances and full references will have to be taken before anyone can get a tenancy.
Also nearly all prospective Tenants will fail affordability because the LHA Rate has been Frozen.

“The system says there is a process in place for a LL to request direct payments IF it is deemed in the best interests of the tenant. That’s the catch out clause to make sure this doesn’t become a ‘standard’.”

Last I checked, payment direct to LL couldn’t be applied for until the authority had been given a copy of the signed tenancy agreement, and even then there was no guarantee that it would have been approved. Needless to say I didn’t go ahead.

Reply to the comment left by Reluctant Landlord at 03/08/2026 – 09:37
Getting the rent paid direct to the landlord for those tenants receiving benefits is not fail safe.

If the tenant is found to be not eligible ie working on the black market, getting cash in hand jobs, having lied on their benefits application form the Lical Authority/DWP can reclaim all the rent back from the landlord.

The landlord then has to claim the rent back from the tenant who hasn’t the money.