Fair treatment

It’s important to know if you have been treated unfairly and what actions you can take to make things right.

No discrimination

It is against the law to treat somebody less favourably just because of their:

  • age
  • being or becoming a transsexual person
  • being married or in a civil partnership
  • being pregnant or on maternity leave
  • disability
  • race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin
  • religion, belief or lack of religion/belief
  • gender (whether they are male or female)
  • sexual orientation.

For further information on discrimination, please see:

Take action

If you believe that you have been discriminated against you should:

  • ask for any decisions to be in writing;
  • get the names and job titles of the people involved;
  • make a careful, detailed record of what has happened – including what was said, by whom, with dates and times. Think about why you have been discriminated against and on what grounds, for example, was there another person of a different nationality who was treated more favourably?

Step 1: Informal action

If you feel that you can, talk to the landlord or estate agent informally about your complaint. They may want to put things right.

Step 2: Formal action

If the complaint isn't resolved, you can make a formal complaint.

If the person discriminating against you is an agent, follow their complaints procedure. If there isn't a complaints procedure, go to step 3 below.

If the person discriminating against you is a landlord, put the complaint in writing, tell them what you want them to do, and give them 21 days to respond.

You may also be able to take legal action against the landlord or agent. You may be able to get legal help from a solicitor through Civil Legal Advice (CLA) or a solicitor. You should emphasise that your complaint is about discrimination (not primarily about housing) as you may then be able to get free advice.

Step 3: Complaining to a member organisation or ombudsman

If formal action fails (step 2 above) and your complaint is about a landlord who is a member, you can complain to the National Residential Landlords Association.

If your complaint is about an estate or letting agent, you can complain to:

If the estate agent is a member, you can also complain to:

Report hate crime

Crimes committed against someone because of their disability, gender identity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation are hate crimes and you should report it to the police.

Hate crimes can include:

  • threatening behaviour;
  • assault;
  • robbery;
  • damage to property;
  • inciting others to commit hate crimes; or
  • harassment.