Some of our adverts may state that a ‘Landlord prefers no children’ but never state ‘no children’.
Landlords are free to discriminate against (or prefer) one person over another when choosing who should occupy their property as a tenant as long as it is not (directly or indirectly) in respect of one of the ‘protected characteristics’ which are:
- age
- gender reassignment
- being married or in a civil partnership
- being pregnant or on maternity leave
- disability
- race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
It is against the law to discriminate against a person in respect of one of these characteristics.
The tenant characteristics a landlord ‘prefers’ are clearly stated on all our adverts. None of our adverts stipulate an outright prohibition of children but may state a ‘preference’ for a tenant with no children.
Reasons why a landlord may ‘prefer’ a tenant without children are varied:
- Risk assessment has identified a health or safety risk for children – lots of steep stairs, a pond or swimming pool, windows with low window sills not at ground level, river or stream at bottom of garden etc.
- Property located on busy traffic laden road with narrow footway to property.
- Little or no outside space for children to play.
- Concern that noise generated by children will affect the enjoyment of the occupiers of an adjacent property e.g. Floorboards with no carpets with poor insulation between units.
- Potential for overcrowding – as children grow so too do their space needs.
- The higher risk of damage children may cause has not been factored into the asking rent – this could be mitigated by the tenant offering and paying a rent higher than the asking rent
- Restrictions in a head lease e.g. Unit in a retirement block.
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