Government publishes rules for landlords on rental discrimination
7 months ago | 9 comments
Government vows to tackle rental discrimination in PRS
9:31 AM, 24th June 2026, 5 days ago
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The government claims the Renters’ Rights Act provides councils with strong enforcement powers to crack down on rental discrimination.
Under the act, it is illegal for landlords and letting agents to discriminate against prospective tenants who receive benefits or have children, with fines of up to £7,000 for those who break the rules.
The news comes as the government has also announced that landlords will face on-the-spot fines of £7,000 for severe damp and mould.
Councils have strong enforcement powers
In a written parliamentary question, Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi asked: “What assessment has been made of the adequacy of legislative protections against discrimination during the application process for prospective tenants for privately rented residential accommodation?”.
Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said in response the government will continue to monitor rental discrimination in the private rented sector.
He said: “The Renters’ Rights Act provides local authorities with strong investigatory and enforcement powers to bear down on rental discrimination practices in the private rented sector.
“It addresses both overt discriminatory practices, such as ‘No DSS’ adverts, and situations where landlords or letting agents use other indirect practices in order to prevent someone entering into a tenancy.
“My Department continues to monitor trends across the private rented sector and is conducting a robust evaluation of the impact of the Renters’ Rights Act. Evaluation reports will be published two and five years after implementation.”
As previously reported by Property118, the government has announced a new data collection strategy to monitor the private rented sector (PRS).
In a policy paper published by the government, ministers said the strategy is intended to assess how the Renters’ Rights Act will affect the PRS following the legislation coming into force.
Tags:
council enforcement, DSS Tenants, Matthew Pennycook, rental discrimination, Renters’ Rights Act
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Member Since November 2019 - Comments: 174
9:15 AM, 27th June 2026, About 2 days ago
You don`t need to be a Rocket Scientist to know that the Renters Rights Act Will be bad for Landlords and Bad for Tenants. Landlords will now be very careful in choosing tenants. And Tenants that are less than perfect will have to be housed by the Government.
King Burnham will probably make it worse.
Member Since May 2015 - Comments: 2244 - Articles: 2
10:21 AM, 27th June 2026, About 2 days ago
Reply to the comment left by Northernpleb at 27/06/2026 – 09:15
As a retired Rocket Scientist I can confirm that the Renters Rights Act Will be bad for Landlords and Bad for Tenants AND bad for local Authorities.
Member Since April 2020 - Comments: 3
10:57 AM, 27th June 2026, About 2 days ago
Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 24/06/2026 – 08:54
Great idea which I had also thought about. Having run the idea past AI I learn that even if a family member lives in the property I will still fall under the rules of the RRA and will be judged to be a landlord and will need to enter myself into the upcoming database. If I do not adhere to this and the other requirements of the RRA eg: EPC, EIRC, etc then a council investigator can enter the property or my office where the details are kept, and if not entirely to their satisfaction a fine of £7000 will be made. I would have thought your idea would be a possible way to go, but maybe not……or am I in error?
Member Since April 2020 - Comments: 100
12:33 PM, 27th June 2026, About 2 days ago
Reply to the comment left by Person Of The People at 24/06/2026 – 13:21
Oh great whoopee here we go again. It seems that Burnham’s plan would be, slap a land tax on and if they (property owners) cannot stand this and have to sell then catch them with increased CGT. It’s the same as being scammed except with scammers you can say no. Unless we refuse to pay it on mass and protest in this way as they simply do not listen let alone care about anyone invested in property seeing them as prime TT’s “Tax Targets” then that is what appears to be on the cards. They won’t stop until there is no one left alive, let alone in business.
Member Since October 2020 - Comments: 1243
11:46 AM, 28th June 2026, About 1 day ago
Reply to the comment left by Frank at 27/06/2026 – 10:57
Only if you charge them tent or they pay for other things a homeowners would normally pay for.