An undercover report lead by the BBC’s Inside Out programme has revealed that London letting agents are routinely discriminating against black people looking for private property to rent. The heart of the problem lies in North London, but the discovery suggests that similar practises are being used elsewhere, and it’s not necessarily exclusive to the capital.
Lies and False Promises[/b]
The letting agents are unable to openly refuse to take on tenants based on their race, but it was found that many were using other excuses to avoid having to let their properties out to black people. Letting agents were found to be falsely promising to call black people back after a viewing, and were often pretending that the property had already been snapped up by another viewer.
Lack of Action[/b]
In the last three years, only two cases of racial discrimination in the letting market have been investigated as a result of complaints, suggesting that the matter isn’t being taken seriously by the Property Ombudsman or the Equality and Human Rights Commission. In this day in age, when our society has come so far in terms of tackling racist attitudes, the lack of action being taken to combat the discrimination present in the letting market is disappointing to say the least.
Discrimination Runs Across the Board[/b]
However, the revelation has brought other cases of discrimination to the surface. Some Asian landlords have been found to only let their properties out to Asian tenants, and others looking for a new home have been discriminated against for everything from their age to the way they dress, and in some cases even their gender. According to The Guardian, this proves that nobody has clean hands in the matter.
What Can Tenants do to Avoid Discrimination?[/b]
Sadly, there’s very little tenants can do about this discrimination, which is why it’s so disappointing that the Equality and Human Rights Commission have failed to step in. However, tenants looking for private rentals would be well advised to use online estate agents like House Network more prevalently. Most offer unaccompanied house viewings, making it almost impossible for them to discriminate based on race or the way somebody dresses.
Hopefully, in the near future some action will be taken against the discrimination against tenants currently being exercised in the rental property market. The root of the problem lies with letting agents tending to the often racist requirements of landlords, and only a zero tolerance attitude from these letting agents can improve the situation.