Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Aeroflotgirl · 27/09/2017 12:31

I suppose the landlord can refuse to rent to anybody they do not like.

27Feb · 27/09/2017 12:33

Aeroflotgirl - well, no. They can't. That is what the Equality Act is all about.

jazzytracey10 · 27/09/2017 12:35

I think the landlord should be able to rent his property to who he wants and feels comfortable with especially if he has had problems before. My husband is not from the UK and if a landlord didn't want to rent to us I wouldn't want to live there and would see it as his loss.

Aeroflotgirl · 27/09/2017 12:39

On Race, sex, religion, and disability,but if you had a bad feeling about a person, they looked scruffy or you had a gut feeling about them, then surely its your perogative to refuse. I seen programmes about renters that refuse to pay, the LL has to go through the courts to evict them, and even then, they dig their heels in. The state that they leave the properties in.

27Feb · 27/09/2017 12:43

But this OP is specifically about race. The LL wouldn't let them view a property because they are Vietnamese. That's racial discrimination.

Aeroflotgirl · 27/09/2017 12:50

It is 27Feb, that is wrong, its like the signs in the windows in the 1960's saying 'no blacks or Irish' That should not be allowed.

CalmanOnSpeeddial · 27/09/2017 12:53

Iranians may go through the same immigration policy but they are certainly not the same as, say, Turks or Saudis when it comes to renting privately. Up until last year they were the subject of stringent economic sanctions which would make it very difficult to rent to them. Even now they require enhanced money laundering checks because Iran is on the EU's high risk countries list. A landlord would need to go through everything in immense detail or risk criminal prosecution.

I don't know whether any universities did give Iranians preferential treatment for residence in halls to reflect these problems but it would seem reasonable if they had.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 27/09/2017 12:56

As a poster above stated, I wouldn't want to rent my house out to anyone without a cast iron British guarantor. It's just too easy to lose an awful lot of money from non paying tennants.

Race or occupation wouldn't bother me.

whatwouldrondo · 27/09/2017 13:07

Calman There are specialist accommodation options to meet the needs of overseas students, often via private providers, though often expensive. I agree that they will probably be rigged up to meet any particular administrative burden for students from particular countries like Iran which has always been a source of a significant number of students. It is clearly a lucrative market as new blocks are going up in all the university cities I am familiar with that have a significant proportion of overseas students.

whatwouldrondo · 27/09/2017 13:54

Tinkly These days sensible landlords require cast iron guarantors for all those renting, the worst tenants I have heard about, trashing houses, not paying etc. were British and knew their way around avoiding their courts etc. to the extent that you just have to cut your losses. That is business, and the law, no need to bring nationality into it. I speak as someone who has been a guarantor for quite a few tenants, and had to pay up when the landlord chased me as the easy target rather than the guarantor for the flatshare who actually didn't pay their rent (she told him I was rich, therefore clearly a source of charity for their lifestyle Hmm) and then had to be the one chasing them through the courts for the rent, and had to settle at a loss to me. They were British too. The system stinks but it is a British system.......

BadLad · 27/09/2017 14:52

My husband is not from the UK and if a landlord didn't want to rent to us I wouldn't want to live there and would see it as his loss.

Good for you, but for most people it's utterly infuriating when it happens to them. It has happened to me a few times in Japan, and it is worse for non-whites here. Iranians and Chinese people in particular face a lot of landlord discrimination.

jazzytracey10 · 27/09/2017 15:01

I didn't say it wouldn't wind me up it would but I wouldn't waste my time and energy on the situation. I would just move on trying to find another property that the landlord would be happy to rent to me. Landlords are bad enough without the resentment of them not wanting you there in the first place.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 27/09/2017 15:26

In many ways the legislation that was put in place to protect tennants, by making it more difficult to evict them, has actually worked against them.

It's so hard to get rid of genuinely terrible tennants that landlord are forced to be ultra cautious about who they rent to.

I rent a house to a family member, but if they ever moved on I would be super careful about references and guarantors.

Cessj · 27/09/2017 19:12

Nuttynoo
Being vietnamese isn’t the issue, owning a nail bar that employs people from vietnam is. Estate agents have to be on the look out for possible money launders / human traffickers and most (not all) vietnamese owned nail bars are very dodgy in this regard

Wow, Nuttynoo...I'd be very interested to know where you get your information from that most Vietnamese people are involved in human trafficking and money laundering in the UK...

scottishretreat · 27/09/2017 19:20

On Race, sex, religion, and disability,but if you had a bad feeling about a person, they looked scruffy or you had a gut feeling about them, then surely its your perogative to refuse.
Yes, you have that right, but, as you also point out, you CANNOT reject someone on grounds of race - that is illegal. The landlord hasn't ever met the potential tenants, so there's no suggestion in this case that his concerns are anything but pure racism.

MummysBusy · 27/09/2017 19:42

That's awful and illegal, but on the brightside at least the family don't have to suffer the humiliation of being turned down after viewing. I've had agents make all kinds of excuses not to rent to me (twice), it's a horrible feeling. Tell them to report it and move on x

SunshineLollipopsRainbows25 · 27/09/2017 20:03

they might aswell have just said they can look at the property and then say they have other people looking at it and then say unfortunately they've not got the property. it's happened to my sister a few times other tenants have been chosen over her, and it's all discriminative as she is a young woman in a same sex relationship they always pick the straight older couple.

FeeLock28 · 27/09/2017 20:17

There are two issues here: preventing, or discouraging, someone to view on the basis of nationality/race; and the worry about potential subletting and illegal trading.

The first is racial discrimination and against the law and utterly reprehensible to boot. The second is understandable, but that's why we have subletting and business trading laws in the first place.

brotherphil · 27/09/2017 20:41

If you knew there was a very strong chance somebody was involved with organised crime would you willingly get involved with them?

If someone presumed that you were likely a criminal because of your nationality, would you think they might be being racist?

PicturesJane · 27/09/2017 21:26

My friend was refused a look at a property as she was a (newly) single Mum. Is that illegal ?

Abbylee · 28/09/2017 02:07

Not saying that your friends are; but human trafficking is often done with nail bars. Also, the chemicals from nail bars are dangerous.

whatwouldrondo · 28/09/2017 08:15

Abbylee The fact that there is a problem with some nail bars does not mean that there is a problem with all, let alone that all Vietnamese nail bar owners will be involved in nefarious activity. As I said downthread it is like refusing to let all blonde white women of a certain age because some run brothels or engage in prostitution ( and people trafficking come to that)

The majority of people involved in human trafficking and modern slavery in this country are British, with Albanians Nigerians, Russians and Chinese also featuring in the statistics. As well as discriminating illegally, by resorting to stereotyping nationalities the Landlord is going to run out of people to rent to.......

mothertruck3r · 28/09/2017 08:22

I saw police arresting a whole load of nail bar workers who didn't have the correct visa's/documents not long ago, so they are probably worried about the more stringent rules around letting and immigration status.

Tweez · 28/09/2017 08:24

As someone mentioned above, unfortunately Nail bars run by people from Eastern countries are known for human trafficking and money laundering. These businesses are shady, I know you said they aren’t, but they usually are.

caringcarer · 28/09/2017 09:48

I have 5 b2l properties and rent to English people with children, Polish, Romanian and can tell you I have to ask to view their passports, pay slip to prove Employment and I always ring employer to check contract is at least six months. I would not consider myself racist however I would be unsure of how to do checks on Vietnamese and to avoid huge fine if I got it wrong I would also refuse to rent to this family. Blame government for making ll act as unpaid immigration official with no training or advice support available just fine if you get it wrong. I also would not rent to people who I could not communicate with so they must speak English. I think this is reasonable law or not. Anyway it is important to have good professional relationship with any tenant so it would not be good to rent to people you did not trust.