Thousands of rental adverts say no to children or pets

Thousands of adverts for rental homes posted by backstage landlords and lettings agents accidental children oregon pets are not welcome, BBC investigation shows.

There are nary laws explicitly stopping this, but MPs are considering much protections for renters successful England.

Under existing equality laws, broad bans connected children person been shown to indirectly discriminate against women.

A azygous parent of 3 told the BBC she was shocked galore of the properties she looked astatine specified nary children.

"I accidental they deliberation that they're going to person chaotic parties, oregon that they're messy, but my children aren't similar that," said Sara from Sussex.

Estate cause assemblage Propertymark said a authorities headdress connected deposits successful England made landlords much wary of harm - specifically successful narration to pets.

The National Residential Landlords Association said it recognised however important pets were to galore tenants and that immoderate bans connected children reflected "the actions of a number of rogue landlords".

BBC News created bundle that collected backstage rental listings from spot websites OpenRent and Zoopla implicit a four-day play successful May, past removed adverts for rooms successful shared accommodation.

OpenRent - an online cause - allows landlords to tick a preferences container to specify whether children and pets are welcome, whereas Zoopla listings are posted by spot agents and lone sometimes notation the subject.

Housing foundation Shelter said the afloat standard of the contented was not clear, due to the fact that it was lone aft enquiring astir a spot than prospective tenants were told they were not welcome.

Single genitor Sara, who has 3 children aged betwixt 15 and 23, said it was a daze that truthful galore of the properties she was looking astatine adjacent Lewes successful East Sussex stated that nary children were allowed, including teenagers.

The 53-year-old and her lad Jake, 15, person been sofa-surfing - leaving him feeling "very unsettled".

"It's been made precise wide to maine that having teenage sons isn't the ideal," she said.

She said that being successful receipt of lodging payment besides made landlords and agents reluctant to fto to her.

Proposed changes to the instrumentality for renters bash not see immoderate argumentation connected children successful backstage rental housing, though the authorities has promised to bring guardant legislation connected the contented successful England "at the earliest opportunity".

The Scottish authorities said successful a connection that betterment of the backstage rental assemblage was needed and it had consulted connected a caller strategy that included launching a lodging regulator for the sector.

Nearly 200 agents - oregon 2% of the Zoopla adverts we analysed - explicitly said children were not welcome.

The Property Ombudsman, which helps settee rental disputes, said successful March that broad bans connected renting to families breached its codification of signifier due to the fact that they disproportionately impact women, who are much apt to unrecorded with their children.

"It's already unlawful nether the Equality Act to person an outright broad prohibition connected renting to families due to the fact that this is simply a benignant of indirect discrimination," said Rose Arnall, a solicitor astatine Shelter, who represented the tenant successful the case.

Blanket bans connected tenants with children successful Wales and Scotland were besides a apt breach of the Equality Act, Shelter said.

Caroline Brosnan, a elder lawyer astatine Russell Cooke, said a landlord needed to see whether not allowing children would basal up successful court.

While it would beryllium tenable to halt children surviving successful a residence specified arsenic a bedsit successful accommodation with aggregate occupants, justifying a prohibition successful a semi-detached location would beryllium overmuch much difficult, she said.

Renters successful England tin situation a letting cause that says children are not permitted successful backstage rental property, says Shelter.

This is erstwhile an cause refuses to rent you a spot that is suitable and affordable, conscionable due to the fact that you person children.

Before a ailment is made, you indispensable amusement you tin spend the rent, and cheque the spot is simply a suitable size.

If a ailment is unsuccessful, it is imaginable to instrumentality it to the Property Ombudsman oregon the Property Redress Scheme.

Blanket bans connected tenants with children successful Wales and Scotland were besides a apt breach of the Equality Act, Shelter said, portion successful Northern Ireland determination are assorted equality laws that could beryllium relevant.

Those surviving successful Northern Ireland who fishy they person been denied a tenancy due to the fact that of their dependents tin marque a ailment with assistance from the foundation Housing Rights.

About 1 successful six lettings agents successful the Zoopla listings we analysed were advertizing properties that explicitly banned tenants with pets.

Under the Renters (Reform) Bill, being considered by Parliament, tenants would beryllium fixed the ineligible close to petition to support a favored successful their home, which the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse.

Animal person Sarah Plant said she had ne'er encountered problems renting with her 2 cats erstwhile she lived successful France, but struggled successful the UK.

She said that erstwhile she told lettings agents astir her cats she said she would "never perceive back, it's an instant no".

She yet recovered somewhere, but it was a spot that needed immoderate work.

Adam Hyslop, OpenRent's founder, told the BBC that allowing landlords to amusement their preferences helped renters prioritise their searches.

"The determination of who to fto to is wholly with the landlord. We besides bash not forestall tenants from enquiring astir immoderate property," helium said.

A Zoopla spokesperson said implicit 95% of rental listings connected Zoopla "make nary notation to homes being unsuitable to pets oregon children".

"We're incapable to find wide grounds that agents are adopting broad bans erstwhile uploading rental listings to Zoopla which would beryllium successful breach of guidance."

Any cause that lists connected Zoopla indispensable abide by some its codification of behaviour and the instrumentality and the website recommends agents usage "inclusive connection and debar selling homes arsenic unsuitable for a definite benignant of renter", it said.

Propertymark said the BBC's findings showed the value of nonrecreational spot agents due to the fact that "blanket bans connected advertizing materials done a letting cause are demonstrably little erstwhile compared with adverts by backstage landlords".

BBC News created bundle to cod implicit 120,000 rental listings from Zoopla and 11,000 from OpenRent advertised betwixt 26-29 May. We past removed location shares and homes marketed arsenic status properties from some samples.

Our investigation of OpenRent adverts relied connected its tract design, which utilized tickboxes to invited oregon exclude families and pets.

Adam Hyslop, OpenRent's founder, said the BBC's attack of looking astatine a static snapshot of listings "is not apt to beryllium accurate" owed to much fashionable spot listings spending little clip connected the website.

OpenRent is an cause wherever listings tin beryllium cross-posted to Zoopla, truthful earlier analysing Zoopla adverts we removed immoderate cross-posted OpenRent posts. We past utilized lists of communal presumption specified arsenic "no pets" and "no children" to filter listings.

Additional reporting by Maryam Ahmed and Jo Mathys

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