Rental Discrimination: Children and Benefits

From 1 May 2026 the Renters' Rights Act 2025 makes it unlawful, in England, to shut a renter out because they have children or because they receive benefits. GOV.UK's guidance calls this rental discrimination. It covers sitting tenants and applicants, and it covers anyone acting for the landlord, including a letting agent and a referencing company.

This is general information, not legal advice. The measures apply in England. The government's rental-discrimination guidance is the document local authorities are using.

What counts as a breach

You can't take a step that makes someone less likely to get the tenancy because they have a child, or because they're a benefits claimant. The obvious cases:

• An advert, listing or portal filter that says no DSS, no housing benefit, no Universal Credit, or no children.
• Refusing to give details, offer a viewing, or go on to an agreement for that reason.
• A tenancy term that prohibits the tenant from claiming benefits, or from having a child live at or visit the home. Those terms have no effect.
• A referencing brief that tells the referencing firm to ignore benefit income. If the applicant then fails an affordability test only because that income was excluded, the local authority can treat it as discrimination.

A decision based on a belief that the person has children or receives benefits still counts, even if the belief is wrong. "Children" includes anyone under 18 who would live at the property or visit it.

What you can still do

You can decide whether the rent is affordable. An income requirement isn't, by itself, a breach, including where the applicant receives benefits, as long as benefit income is allowed to count towards it.

A limit on children can still be lawful where it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Overcrowding is the example GOV.UK gives. The local authority makes that judgement if it's considering a penalty, and the First-tier Tribunal can look at it again on appeal. "We prefer professional couples" isn't that test.

The same Act's bidding ban still applies: you choose between applicants who can afford the advertised rent, not by inviting a higher offer.

Leases, mortgages and insurance

A term in a superior lease or a mortgage that requires you to ban children or benefit claimants was cancelled on 1 May 2026. You can't point at the freeholder or the lender as the reason.

Insurance is narrower. A discriminatory term in an insurance contract agreed before 1 May 2026 can still be relied on until that contract is renewed or ends. A policy agreed or renewed on or after 1 May 2026 can't. Once the old policy has renewed, the exception is gone.

The penalty

A local authority can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000 where it is satisfied, on the evidence, that the conduct was a breach. If the conduct continues, a further penalty of up to £7,000 can be issued. A repeat breach of the same provision in a different case within five years can draw up to £7,000 for the breach and up to £7,000 on top. The landlord and the agent can be made jointly and severally liable for one penalty.

The government's rental discrimination guidance is the practical source, including the list of benefits that count and the worked examples local authorities are using.

Keep your records clean

The best defence against an enforcement query is a record that shows you considered every applicant on the merits. That record sits alongside your compliance certificates - gas, electrical, EPC, deposit protection - which have to be current before a let can go ahead. Vantage tracks all of those in one place. Start a free trial.