12th
Aug 2021
Oxford City Council is now the first English council in passing a motion
stopping agents and landlords ‘discriminating’ against benefits
recipients.
Although under the Equality Act it is illegal to operate ‘No DSS’ practises in the UK, it is still common practice by many Oxford city’s landlords and agents’ adverts saying ‘No DSS’ applicants, with ‘private renters facing a host of challenges, including disrepair and lack of affordable rent’.
Labour Councillor Imogen Thomas proposed a cross-party motion which was unanimously passed calling on the council to stamp out discrimination against welfare recipients, by immediately changing the wording of its landlord accreditation scheme to say : “You must not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, race, language, sexuality or any other factor that might place an individual at a disadvantage.
“This includes indirect discrimination such as ‘no DSS’ or related practices, namely refusing to let prospective tenants on housing benefit or universal credit view affordable properties and requiring guarantors in cases where a prospective tenant’s income is sufficient.”
The successful motion also requests the housing and homelessness panel to follow and report back on actions that are taken to combat and successfully stop the discrimination against those on benefits.
Chris Jarvis, the Green Party Councillor applauds the motion: “It’s incredibly welcome that Oxford’s Councillors have put aside political differences to take a clear stance in opposition to housing discrimination against residents in the city on universal credit or housing benefit. For too long, some landlords and letting agents have been acting with impunity – despite DSS discrimination having been ruled unlawful in 2020.
“We all know that housing in Oxford is only becoming less and less affordable. Additional barriers to people accessing secure housing in the city must be torn down – starting with discrimination against welfare recipients.
“Housing is a human right – plain and simple. This decision starts the Council further down the road of making that a reality.”
Councillor Imogen Thomas said that renters are facing persistent insecurity which has been further heightened by the ending of the eviction ban.
She told a news website: “An estimated 49% of Oxford’s households are privately rented, yet this significant demographic in our city are failed time and again by a national government which has made it perfectly clear that it exists to represent the interests of landlords over those of tenants.
“Precarity in rented housing has been exacerbated by the lifting of the eviction ban this year, with no support for those in arrears. To add to this, more people are claiming benefits as a result of the pandemic’s impact on their livelihoods. This brutal combination threatens to put more people at risk of homelessness unless urgent action is taken to clamp down on the unlawful discriminatory policies of landlords and agencies against those in receipt of housing benefit or Universal Credit.
“The unanimous passing of this motion is an important step towards ending discrimination in the private rented sector.
“Cross-party support put the motion in pride of place on the agenda: it was the first to be heard and passed. Council made it clear that our priority is to champion those hardest hit by the pandemic, and to fight inequality in housing.
“I got into local politics to fight for tenants’ rights, and I was proud to be elected in May on the strength of a Labour City Council manifesto that put tenants at its heart. There is still a long way to go in the fight against the imbalance of power that exists between landlords and tenants, but I for one am ready for the challenge.”
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