December 2020 – No DSS provisions amount to Indirect Discrimination

Although unlikely to amount to direct discrimination, as income and employment status are not protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, it has long been argued that it could amount to indirect discrimination in some cases.

 

In a recent case, District Judge Victoria Mark considered the case of a disabled single parent who had an application for private rented housing refused by a letting agent based on her receipt of Housing Benefit. This policy put disabled people and women at a particular disadvantage compared to non-disabled people and men. According to Shelter, some 53.1 per cent of female single adult households renting privately claimed Housing Benefit (HB) compared with 34 per cent of male, single adult households.

 

Disabled households were almost three times as likely to rely on HB and thus be excluded by such a policy as non-disabled households.

In this case, the claimant was disadvantaged by the policy in that she could not view any properties and this could not be objectively justified. The Judge held therefore that the policy of rejecting tenancy applications because the applicant is in receipt of Housing Benefit was unlawfully indirectly discriminatory on the grounds of sex and disability and awarded damages of £3,500.

 

This was followed by a case considered in Birmingham County Court, where the Judge held that a letting agency had operated a blanket No DSS policy. In this case the applicant was disabled and in receipt of welfare benefits and was looking for a suitable property to rent. He had good references and had always paid his rent on time. The Judge held that the blanket policy amounted to unlawful indirect discrimination against disabled people and awarded damages of £6,000.

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