Richmond Council is joining forces with Citizens Advice Richmond to help stop discrimination against renters who receive benefits.

Every year large numbers of residents are locked out of the private rental market for homes simply because they receive some benefits to pay towards their housing costs.

Research by Citizens Advice Richmond shows that many landlords and letting agents refuse to consider tenants as soon as they discover that they receive benefits.

No DSS

Residents are often confronted with a blanket ‘No DSS’ (Department for Social Security), ‘No Universal Credit’, or ‘No Benefits’ policy even when they can demonstrate they can afford the monthly rent. This is unlawful.

More than four in ten Richmond residents who receive benefits are working.

But ‘No Benefits’ discrimination forces many residents to remain in unsuitable and unsafe accommodation and can lead to homelessness.

We are calling on landlords and their letting agents to keep an open mind and treat all prospective renters fairly.”

Lorna Reid, chief executive of Citizens Advice Richmond, says: “We know that long-standing myths about tenants receiving benefits are standing in the way of Richmond residents accessing the homes they need and can afford. We are calling on landlords and their letting agents to keep an open mind and treat all prospective renters fairly.”

ABILITY TO PAY

Cllr Jim Millard, Richmond Council’s Spokesperson for Housing, adds: “All residents need fair and equal opportunities to rent local homes and should not be excluded simply because they receive some form of benefits. We are calling on landlords to assess tenants’ ability to pay as fairly as possible and to avoid discriminating against them”

Any agent we do find attempting to breach our rules on this can face a variety of sanctions including the removal of their ability to list properties on our site.”

An investigation by The Neg showed both Rightmove and Zoopla still list properties for sale with ‘No DSS’.

A Zoopla spokesperson told The Neg: “Zoopla was proud to become the first portal to ban ‘No DSS’ and similar language in listings and inspire the wider industry to follow our lead.

“We are constantly updating our systems to ensure any attempts by agents to circumvent our rules are caught and, while we have made strong progress on this, the process is ongoing.

“Any agent we do find attempting to breach our rules on this can face a variety of sanctions including the removal of their ability to list properties on our site.”

A spokesperson for Rightmove adds: “We have technology in place that automatically strips out various terms that would exclude tenants on benefits. We continually refine the terms and keywords in this technology so that these phrases do not appear.”