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AIBU?

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Original poster

Not allowed to view a property based on race / nationality

112 replies

Oysterbabe · 26/09/2017 10:56

A family I know are looking for a property to rent. They are Vietnamese and own a nail bar. They have been told by the agent today that they are not allowed to view a property they are interested in because the landlord does not want to rent it to someone who is Vietnamese. The agent also mentioned that they have had issues with people with nail bars subletting to their family.

Can they do this? It seems incredibly unfair. This is a lovely family who work hard and run a successful business, nothing shady about them at all. It just seems incredibly unfair that they can write them off without knowing anything about them based mostly on their race, I strongly suspect if it was British family who run a nail bar it wouldn't be an issue.

OP posts:
JoJoSM2 · 26/09/2017 12:27

Poor people! And the landlord sounds completely racist. Can't understand why anyone condones the comments - these 'explanations' are based on very far-fetched assumptions.

RavingRoo · 26/09/2017 12:28

Vietnamese nail bars are higher risk of slave trafficking, money laundering, and other financial crime. Banks do extra checks on them that wouldn’t be done for nail bars run by other nationals. The link below explains it a bit better

www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-seeks-stronger-co-operation-with-vietnam-to-stop-modern-slavery-as-new-measures-come-into-force

RavingRoo · 26/09/2017 12:31

There are also other nationalities (non-UK resident Iranians for example) that organisations who have sites in the US or trade in US dollars are not able to have in their supply chain (even as customers of customers). Iranian students often get prioritized for uni accomodation because they can’t get letting agencies to agree to have them on their books.

highonpanic · 26/09/2017 12:37

The landlord will be unable to say they didn't pass financial checks or visa checks because they haven't been done, they wouldn't even let them see it.

If the checks haven't been done and the family wouldn't let the prospective landlord see it then no wonder he won't rent the property to them. He has to make sure he's not breaking the law.

Original poster
Oysterbabe · 26/09/2017 12:39

No I mean the landlord wouldn't let them see the property. They would have supplied any requested documents but he wasn't interested.

OP posts:
Ceto · 26/09/2017 12:48

If the visit was refused purely because they were Vietnamese, this is blatant discrimination and a breach of the Equality Act 2010. However, it will go nowhere without proof. Can the family phone again and record the call?

peterpancollar · 26/09/2017 12:58

Well, landlords are within their rights to choose their tenants i.e no pets, no children and no DSS. They are not obliged to let all & sundry view their property.

We went to view one property (to buy) and the owner insisted to the agent that he would only allow viewings to proceedable buyers i.e no time wasters so the agent had to shift through all the interested parties first.

peterpancollar · 26/09/2017 13:07

Not everyone is a bigot. Make an official complaint, the estate agent might think twice about taking the LL's businessin future. Complain to the local press and move on.

LurkingHusband · 26/09/2017 13:09

Well, landlords are within their rights to choose their tenants i.e no pets, no children and no DSS. They are not obliged to let all & sundry view their property.

Are they also not obliged to obey the law ?

whatwouldrondo · 26/09/2017 13:11

No Landlords are not allowed to chose their tenants if the basis of that choice is ethnicity or gender, that is the whole point of the discrimination legislation. By all means refuse to rent to a Vietnamese Nail bar owner whose papers are actually not in order and are actually engaged in money laundering, trafficking and slavery, however to refuse to let someone see a property because they are Vietnamese and own a nail bar with no evidence whatsoever of them being engaged in such activities means you are discriminating against this family as a result of racial stereotyping. I am sure there are a fair few white blonde women of my age running brothels and engaging in prostitution but I'd be challenging anyone who refused to rent to me on the basis I might.....

Taxminion · 26/09/2017 13:13

I used to work in an EA as a summer job years ago. I came across cases where landlord stipulated 'No Irish, no Nigerians' but this was not passed onto potential tenants. This would be racist and unthinkable now.
Can you complain to the landlords professional body. There is an ombudsman but not sure if this is in scope.

BarbarianMum · 26/09/2017 13:14

It's illegal.

However, I once let to a nailbar owner and ended up in a nightmare situation of illegal subletting, constantly shifting "family" staying and 4 people in each room. Only tenancy I've ever had to end and the flat was wrecked. So although 'Vietnamese' wouldn't bother me, "nailbar" would ring huge alarm bells.

CalmanOnSpeeddial · 26/09/2017 13:19

It's rational for the landlord not to want to be bothered with tenants who will present him with a higher than average risk and compliance burden wrt immigration and money laundering regulations. Unfortunately for him, it might also make him guilty of illegal discrimination.

BeatriceBeaudelaire · 26/09/2017 13:20

Probably because of the modern slavery/ human trafficking associated with viet nail bars

LurkingHusband · 26/09/2017 13:30

This would be racist and unthinkable now.

Given recent events, it's quite thinkable by me Sad

wonkylegs · 26/09/2017 13:39

As others have said it's illegal to discriminate like this.
If the LL or agent had concerns about the paperwork once they proceeded they could make extra checks to satisfy money laundering / subletting / income etc checks but to outright say no is illegal.
It's very hard to prove though and lots of people just move on and find somebody more amenable.

Sunnyshores · 26/09/2017 13:41

I have no experience of letting to Vietnamese, but letting to any foreign national does pose extra risks such as establishing their right to rent, not having an established credit record in UK, no sight of their credit records in their home country and should they end up owing money and fleeing the country there is no chance of court action for recompense.

Add to this the fact that in some cultures several generations chose to live together - overcrowing and excessive wear and tear, I can see why a landlord may view foreign tenants as not ideal. For an Agent to take it one step further and have a blanket ban on them even viewing is discriminatory and presumably illegal.

OP your friends would do better by going direct to a Landlord not via an agent. LL should be prepared to at least meet them and discuss.

specialsubject · 26/09/2017 14:29

BTW landlords have to do right to rent checks on everyone, not just foreign nationals. To do otherwise would be discrimination.

TammySwansonTwo · 26/09/2017 15:39

No, it's not a moral issue. It's a "fear of renting my house out and going back in a month and finding the rooms cut in half, make shift bedrooms in the garage and 18 people sharing a three bed house, and then a protracted and expensive legal battle to get them out" issue. It really fucking sucks and is discriminatory and illegal without a doubt, but if you've seen what happens to people when their properties are turned into illegal HMOs then you can sort of understand the concern. Still not okay and they should assess each applicant on a case by case basis as with any rental.

GwenStaceyRocks · 26/09/2017 16:35

The agent doesn't need to see paperwork. There's at least three stages to letting a property: initial call; viewing; paperwork check.
At the first phone call, the agent will ask you questions. And depending on your answers, you can rule yourself out at that stage eg the mortgage says no DSS but you receive DSS payments; it's a 2 bed flat and you have too many family members for the maximum occupancy; it's a family property but you want to rent it with all your friends (hence turning it into an illegal HMO).

NoKidsTwoCats · 26/09/2017 17:12

It is illegal - on the part of the landlord and also of the letting agent who is not allowed to enforce any requests of their clients if they are discriminatory. I'd be reporting this to the police and also reporting the letting agent to ARLA (or a similar letting agent association if they're registered elsewhere).

GwenStaceyRocks · 26/09/2017 20:15

Income or employment status are not protected grounds so refusing tenants on those factors is not discriminatory. Neither is refusing them for the reasons I listed in my earlier post including if there are visa issues which raise questions about a tenant's right to be in the country.

Trollspoopglitter · 26/09/2017 20:23

They can't do anything because they don't know what the landlord actually said. The agent said it. It's here say.

And no agent ever lies Halo

KingIrving · 26/09/2017 20:26

It happened to us in Switzerland!