Renting to tenants on benefits after the discrimination ban
31 August 2026 · AgentCheck · 8 min read
Part of our UK Landlord Legal Guide
Since 1 May 2026 it has been unlawful in England to make someone less likely to get a tenancy because they have children or claim benefits. The rules sit in Chapter 3 of Part 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and they bind letting agents, referencing firms and anyone else acting for you. You can still test affordability, but it has to be the same test for everyone, and benefit income has to be treated the same as wages. Councils can issue civil penalties of up to £7,000, with further £7,000 penalties for continued or repeat breaches. Here is what actually counts as a breach, and what does not.
Plenty of landlords have spent years quietly filtering applicants. Sometimes it was written down as "no DSS". More often it was a mortgage clause, an insurance condition, or a referencing system that simply ignored Universal Credit when it worked out whether someone could afford the rent. All of that is now on the wrong side of the law in England.
The change came in with the rest of the Renters' Rights Act on 1 May 2026. It is one of the parts of the Act that landlords underestimate, partly because it does not involve a court and partly because the enforcement sits with your local council rather than a judge.
What the law actually says
Landlords, and anyone acting on their behalf, must not take steps intended to make a person less likely to enter a tenancy because they have children or receive benefits. Government guidance spells out three obvious ones: stopping someone accessing information about a property including whether it is available, stopping them viewing it, and stopping them signing.
Two details catch people out. First, a decision based on a belief is still discrimination even if the belief turns out to be wrong. If you turn someone away because you assumed they were on Universal Credit, it does not help you that they were not. Second, the tenant does not have to prove they have children or claim benefits in order to complain.
Who counts as a child, and what counts as a benefit
- Children. Anyone under 18 who would either live at the property or visit it. Targeting particular ages, or particular groups such as fostered children, is covered too.
- Benefits. The definition is wide. Universal Credit, Jobseeker's Allowance, PIP, ESA, Income Support, legacy Housing Benefit, State Pension and Pension Credit, Council Tax Support, Tax Credits, Child Benefit, Guardian's Allowance and Carer's Allowance are all named in the guidance, and the statutory definition is broader still.
That list is worth reading twice. A working couple claiming Child Benefit are benefit claimants for these purposes. So is a retired tenant on the State Pension.
Who is on the hook
The rules apply to landlords and agents in England letting on assured and regulated tenancies. They do not cover social or supported housing. They do cover people acting for you informally, so a relative who shows viewings and turns a family away can create a liability for you.
Websites that only host adverts, or only pass messages between landlords and prospective tenants, are outside the restrictions. Your agent is not. If you use a referencing company whose model discounts benefit income, that is your problem, not just theirs. There is a worked example in the government guidance where exactly that happened and the council found discrimination had taken place.
You can still check affordability
This is the part landlords most want to hear, and it survives intact. You are allowed to set an income requirement and refuse someone who does not meet it, whether or not they have children or claim benefits. What you cannot do is:
- Set a different bar for some applicants. The same income requirement applies to everyone.
- Discount benefit income. All forms of income, including benefits and pensions, must be treated as equal value in the calculation.
- Refuse reasonable evidence. A benefit award letter is proof of income in the same way a payslip is.
- Use it as a tiebreaker. Where several applicants clear the affordability bar, you should not then pick between them on the basis of children or benefits.
Guarantors are not banned. Requiring one from everybody is fine. Requiring one only from benefit claimants is not, and neither is rejecting someone because your usual rent guarantee insurer will not cover them. The guidance is blunt about the reason: keeping your own costs down is not a legitimate aim. Our tenant vetting checklist and the guide to Right to Rent checks both work within these limits.
The children exception, and why benefits do not get one
You can restrict children from living at a property if doing so is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Retirement developments and student housing are the standard examples. A property where a genuine safety risk to children cannot reasonably be mitigated might qualify, as might an HMO licence condition that requires separate kitchen access for children.
The council decides whether your reason holds up, and the First-tier Tribunal can review it on appeal. Two tests apply: is the aim genuine and does someone other than you benefit from it, and is a blanket ban proportionate when a narrower restriction would do. A landlord who banned all children because of a dangerous spiral staircase was told a 16 year old was not the risk they had in mind.
There is no equivalent exception for benefit claimants. None.
Mortgage, lease and insurance clauses are dead
From 1 May 2026, discriminatory terms in superior leases and in buy-to-let mortgages are cancelled outright, whenever they were agreed. You cannot point at your lender's small print as a defence.
Insurance is slightly different. A clause in a policy that was already running before 1 May 2026 keeps effect until that policy ends or is renewed, whichever comes first. After renewal it is of no effect. If you have been relying on such a clause, check your renewal date now.
Penalties
| Situation | Civil penalty |
|---|---|
| First breach | Up to £7,000 |
| Continuous breach, where the conduct is still happening more than 28 days after a final notice or appeal decision | A further £7,000 |
| Repeat breach under the same section within 5 years | Up to £7,000 for the breach, plus a further £7,000 |
This is a civil matter, decided on the balance of probabilities. The council only has to be satisfied it is more likely than not. Councils can also demand information and enter business premises to investigate, and where more than one party is liable they can be made jointly and severally liable for a single penalty.
Tenants have other routes as well. They can go to a letting agent redress scheme or bring civil proceedings, and those routes can result in an apology or compensation on top of anything the council does.
What to change this week
- Audit your adverts. Anything reading "no DSS", "professionals only", "no children" or "working tenants preferred" needs to go, on every portal and every window card.
- Write your income test down. One number, applied to everyone, with all income sources counted. Keep the note.
- Ask your referencing provider directly whether their affordability model counts benefit income at full value. Get the answer in writing.
- Keep dated records. Timestamped messages and dated listings are what both sides rely on if a complaint is made.
- Brief your agent. Their behaviour is your liability. If you are not confident they have updated their process, that is a reason to look at what other agents are doing.
Outside England
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 applies to England. Landlords in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland operate under separate housing regimes and should check their own national rules before applying anything here. Wider protections under the Equality Act 2010, covering things like disability and race, apply across Great Britain and are separate from these measures, though the same refusal can breach both.
One practical point to finish on. Because the Act also caps rent in advance at one month once a tenancy is signed, the old habit of asking a benefit claimant for six months up front is not available as a workaround. It was never a good one.
This is general information, not legal advice. If you are facing a complaint or a penalty notice, take proper legal advice on your own circumstances.
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