Equality Act 2010: Anti-Discrimination Guide for Landlords

The Equality Act 2010 consolidated nine separate anti-discrimination statutes into a single framework. It applies to residential letting — landlords and letting agents cannot discriminate against applicants or tenants on the basis of nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 reinforced the framework with specific tenancy-context prohibitions on discrimination against tenants with children or in receipt of benefits. This page covers the protected characteristics, the four types of unlawful conduct (direct and indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, failure to make reasonable adjustments), the limited exceptions, and practical compliance for landlords.

What the Act does

The Equality Act 2010 consolidated nine separate anti-discrimination statutes into a single comprehensive framework. It applies to almost every commercial transaction in the UK, including the letting of residential property by landlords and letting agents. A landlord refusing to grant a tenancy on grounds related to a protected characteristic — race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity — commits an unlawful act of discrimination. The same applies to less favourable treatment during the tenancy itself.

The 2010 Act's relevance to landlords has grown over time. The original framework reflected concerns about overt discrimination — "no Irish, no blacks, no dogs" was within recent enough memory in 2010 to be the framework's explicit target. Fifteen years on, overt discrimination is rare, but indirect discrimination — selection criteria that disproportionately disadvantage particular groups — remains a substantial issue. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 has reinforced the framework by adding specific tenancy-context prohibitions on discrimination against tenants with children or in receipt of benefits.

A landlord operating professionally needs to understand the Act's framework, the difference between direct and indirect discrimination, the limited circumstances in which different treatment is permitted, and the practical steps to ensure selection processes are defensible. The cost of getting this wrong is meaningful: civil claims by rejected applicants, regulatory action under the Renters' Rights Act 2025's reinforced framework, and reputational damage that affects future lettings.

The protected characteristics

Section 4 of the Act lists the nine protected characteristics:

• Age. Protected from age discrimination — though there are specific defences for treatment that is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
• Disability. Protected from unfavourable treatment because of disability or something arising from disability. Landlords have a positive duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled tenants and prospective tenants.
• Gender reassignment. Protected on grounds of gender identity transition.
• Marriage and civil partnership. Protected from unfavourable treatment on these grounds.
• Pregnancy and maternity. Protected during pregnancy and during a defined "protected period" after childbirth.
• Race. Includes colour, nationality, ethnic origin, and national origin.
• Religion or belief. Includes lack of religion or belief.
• Sex. Protection covers both men and women.
• Sexual orientation. Includes gay, lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual orientation.

All nine characteristics are equally protected. The Act does not rank them or give special status to any. Where multiple characteristics intersect (a disabled woman from an ethnic minority background, for instance), the Act treats each independently — and discrimination on multiple grounds can compound the unlawfulness rather than balance it.

What discrimination means in practice

The Act recognises four types of unlawful conduct:

1. Direct discrimination

Treating a person less favourably because of a protected characteristic. The most overt form. Examples:

• Refusing to let a property because the prospective tenant is from a particular ethnic background.
• Refusing to let to a same-sex couple because of their sexual orientation.
• Refusing to let to a Muslim tenant because of their religion.
• Refusing to let to a wheelchair user purely because of their disability.

Direct discrimination is unlawful regardless of intent.

2. Indirect discrimination

Applying a criterion or practice that disproportionately disadvantages people with a particular protected characteristic, where the criterion is not justified by a legitimate aim. The criterion may be neutrally phrased but operate discriminatorily in practice. Examples that have been found to constitute indirect discrimination in housing contexts:

• UK-only employment history requirements — disadvantage recent migrants and may constitute indirect race discrimination.
• UK home-ownership-only guarantor requirements — disadvantage applicants without UK-based family.
• Income multiples that effectively exclude benefit recipients — now also prohibited directly under the RRA 2025.
• "No children" policies — both directly prohibited under the RRA 2025 and likely indirect discrimination on grounds of sex.
• Strict English language requirements — usually constitutes indirect race discrimination.

Indirect discrimination is lawful only where the landlord can show the criterion is "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim". The legitimate aim must be specific, the criterion must actually achieve it, and there must be no less-discriminatory alternative. The bar is meaningful — many criteria that initially appear justified fail under examination.

3. Discrimination arising from disability

Treating a disabled person unfavourably because of something arising from their disability, where the unfavourable treatment cannot be justified. The protection applies even if the landlord did not know of the disability, where they ought reasonably to have known.

4. Failure to make reasonable adjustments

Landlords have a positive duty to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled tenants. The duty arises in three situations:

• Where a provision, criterion, or practice puts disabled tenants at a substantial disadvantage.
• Where a physical feature of the property puts disabled tenants at a substantial disadvantage.
• Where the absence of an auxiliary aid puts disabled tenants at a substantial disadvantage.

"Reasonable" depends on the cost of the adjustment, its practicability, the impact on other occupiers, and other relevant factors. A landlord cannot be required to make adjustments that are unreasonably expensive or that would substantially alter the property's character.

Common adjustments that are typically reasonable:

• Allowing a guide dog or other assistance dog in a property where pets are otherwise prohibited.
• Providing tenancy documentation in alternative formats (large print, accessible electronic format).
• Adjusting communication methods for tenants with sensory disabilities.
• Installing minor adaptations (grab rails, lever taps) at the landlord's expense or with the tenant contributing.

Application to lettings

The Equality Act's application to residential lettings covers:

• Selection of tenants. Marketing, vetting, references, the decision to grant or refuse a tenancy.
• Terms of the tenancy. Different terms cannot be applied to different applicants on the basis of protected characteristics.
• Conduct during the tenancy. The landlord cannot treat tenants less favourably on grounds of protected characteristics.
• Termination. Discriminatory termination is unlawful regardless of whether the landlord has otherwise valid grounds for possession.

The Act applies to landlords directly and to letting agents acting on landlords' behalf. A landlord cannot avoid liability by instructing an agent to discriminate; both are liable. Conversely, an agent who discriminates without the landlord's knowledge is liable in their own right.

Limited exceptions

Resident landlord exception

A homeowner letting a single room in their own home has limited exemption from some protected characteristic provisions — sex and sexual orientation primarily. It does not extend to race, disability, or religion discrimination, which remain unlawful even in lodger arrangements.

Small premises exception

Limited exceptions apply to small premises where the landlord lives in the same building. The scope is narrow and has been restricted substantially by modern application.

Genuine occupational requirements

In rare cases, a property let for a specific purpose may have a genuine requirement for the occupier to have particular characteristics — for example, accommodation reserved for people of a particular religion provided as part of a religious organisation's purposes.

How the Renters' Rights Act 2025 reinforced the framework

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 added specific tenancy-context prohibitions that go beyond the Equality Act 2010's general framework:

• Discrimination on grounds of children. Refusing to let to applicants with children, or applicants who live with children, is now specifically prohibited.
• Discrimination on grounds of benefits status. Refusing to let to applicants in receipt of benefits — Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Personal Independence Payment — is specifically prohibited.

Both prohibitions are enforceable by local authorities through civil penalties of up to £7,000 per tenancy and by individual applicants through civil claims.

Practical compliance for landlords

Selection criteria

Document selection criteria in writing before viewings. Apply consistently to every applicant. Common defensible criteria: income threshold (e.g. 30× monthly rent gross annual income), no active CCJs or substantial unsecured debt, contactable previous landlord reference, right to rent in the UK, affordability evidence.

Avoid criteria that specify particular nationalities, require UK-only employment or rental history, effectively exclude benefit recipients, or refuse children or benefit recipients explicitly.

Process and documentation

Reference all suitable applicants in parallel where possible. Decide on the references, not on appearance or impression. Document the decision in writing.

Reasonable adjustments

Where a disabled applicant or tenant requests an adjustment, consider it seriously. Most adjustments are inexpensive.

Training and awareness

Where letting agents act for the landlord, brief them on the framework and ensure their selection processes are documented and defensible.

Penalties and remedies

Discrimination claims can be brought:

• By individual applicants or tenants in the County Court — typical awards £1,500-£15,000 for direct discrimination, more for cases involving substantial financial loss or repeated conduct.
• By the Equality and Human Rights Commission in cases of systematic or substantial discrimination.
• Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 for the children and benefits prohibitions specifically — civil penalties of up to £7,000 per tenancy.

Authoritative sources

• Equality Act 2010
• Equality and Human Rights Commission
• EHRC: Housing — occupiers' rights
• Our tenant referencing guide — covers selection criteria.