To be worried about this accusation of age discrimination?

[HeritageQuay]

So I rent out rooms in my house and because I am working a long way away I get a female friend to meet the applicants and show them around. We do our best to keep the property in a good condition and over the years we have developed a series of characteristics that we look for in prospective tenants. One of the criteria we have is that all the tenants have to be of similar ages. Ultimately it's a modern house and there is not much privacy.

I use SpareRoom and there is a section on their website for "New flatmate preferences" and I have put "Female, 21-30, professional, references required"

A lady messaged me last week wanting to view the room. Her profile said that she was a professional 30 year old and so I let her view the room, and my friend showed her round. Turned out she was 50. She said that she had made a mistake when registering on the website and did not know how to change her age. Otherwise she was perfect, and she wanted the room. However my friend was against letting her have the room because she was "too old".

Anyway I asked the existing tenants what they thought, and they politely said that they too thought this lady was too old. Specifically, they felt that the location of the empty room, opposite the downstairs toilet and next to the kitchen, would result in this lady making of lot of complaints about the noise in the house.

So I politely messaged the lady saying that the room was right by the kitchen and I was worried that she would find the house too noisy, and it was probably best that she looked somewhere else.

However, unbeknownst to me, the lady had also phoned my friend and my friend had straight out told her "Sorry, you are too old for the house!"

Now the lady is threatening to report me for age discrimination. My reply was, no, not at all, it is just that the other housemates did not think you would fit into the household. In any case, the advert specifically said ages 21-30. The lady is still not happy and is saying she will take this further.

I appreciate that there is a law against age discrimination but surely a landlord has to right to choose who he wants to let his property to?

Anyway, the reason for posting is, should I be worried about this, and what should I do differently in future to prevent this happening again?

Sorry it appears that in this case it isn't. I'd stop your friend doing the viewings though.

And we know it won't do her any good, don't we as no one has acted illegally?
Its not her right to the room, which we know she doesn't have, as much as the wider issues it raises of the assumptions made by all concerned.
A 50 year old woman is going to want a quiet life with no noise from socialising.
A 50 year old woman is going to be intolerant of young people and complain.
A 50 year old woman needs the decision made for her, because despite a half century on the planet, she lacks the wit to understand a room close to communal areas may be noisy.
Its perfectly possible to select a tenant who is a good fit without using ageist steteotypes, so rather than under 30, what's wrong with 'a tenant who doesn't mind being part of a lively noisy household.' That avoids getting a quiet complaining young person too.

If you want to live with people of similar ages that’s ok. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with having different age groups either.

It’s so important that everyone in a house share is comfortable and can relax at home so you can have a criteria that fits with you and it can be as narrow or broad as you want.

I do feel for the woman though. I think she might be having trouble finding accommodation because of her age and when you are facing possible homelessness that can make a person a little desperate. I wouldn’t be hard on her for lying about her age or for applying for ads that specify younger age. She’s probably hoping that some people might change their mind upon meeting her.

I think her threat to report you for age discrimination is coming from stress, anxiety, frustration and desperation.

I wouldn't have been that worried about the age personally as it can make a nice demographic but in a shared house it must be a joint decision with the existing tenants.

What would concern me is that she was untruthful about her age and I don't believe her registering the wrong age - she saw what the advert had said. And her threatening to "report" you. Its not a protected characteristic so tell her to bog off. With the lie about her age and the threats, she sounds like a bit of a troublemaker.

I once had a prospective lodger threaten to report me to the Council (!) for not letting him view a room I had for rent in my home. I had exchanged a few emails with him and it turned out that he had a son whom he shared custody of and who he expected to also live in my home, sharing the room with him when he was there. It was a tiny house and it just wouldn't have worked - I wanted a preferably female flatmate of a similar age and demographic to me. Goodness knows what he thought the council was going to do about a single woman not letting a man she didn't know into her house! He knew the address of my property so I did feel quite uncomfortable and he sent a couple more emails so I actually ended up "reporting" him to his employer. Who were very nice about it and wrote back saying he didn't realise he had over-stepped the mark!

Those giving out that the poor woman etc.

I remember looking for house shares with 25+, 30+ age restrictions on the adverts. It works both ways!

Also it is highly unlikely she would have fitted in. Different life stages. I called about renting a room when I was about 22, the woman had listed is as living with another woman in her 20s. Turned out her DH and their kid also lived in the apartment. She was fairly pee'd off when I didn't even want to view it. I wanted to live with people at my life stage

"a tenant who doesn't mind being part of a lively noisy household."

Thanks for the wording suggestion @5128gap !

You're welcome! Clear to everyone then what they're getting.
My former neighbour would bang on the walls if we sneezed after 9pm, and he was only 26.

These rare 55+ places exist

do you not live in the uk? These places are rife here, retirement villages, sheltered housing etc, it’s very common to market and limit to one demographic in the uk, from student housing, or gender specific or even religious beliefs. etc.

your friends a twat though op. She could have just made an excuse as to why the woman was unsuitable.

Your friend wasn’t very diplomatic but the lady lied about her age and is already causing upset.

Why would she still want to move in if she thinks that you are discriminating against her and she is threatening you. I wouldn’t want to live somewhere that I wasn’t welcome (no offence to you).

It is not age discrimination. Age is Protected but not when it comes to renting. It is legally not age discrimatory.

england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/housing_options/discrimination_in_housing/direct_and_indirect_discrimination_in_housing

I don't think there's anything wrong with this. I'm in my late 20s and if I was living in a house share with other people my own age and then all of a sudden a 50-year-old woman showed up, I'd probably leave. It's just not the same dynamic at all and I would automatically be walking on eggshells, making sure I didn't make too much noise, get too drunk etc which isn't the lifestyle I'd be looking for. At 23 I'd be wanting to stumble home at 4am, eat a kebab in the kitchen with my housemates and play music. Some 50 year olds would love this, most probably wouldn't. It's fair enough.

I think you have ‘dodged a bullet’ here. She sounds like she will be difficult irrespective of age.
My tenant preferences for shared accommodation are now for age 35 plus, as I have found that works best for my properties.
It does depend on the individual though. When I let to younger people before I met a 41 YO woman who looked and acted younger. She became the most liked and respected person in the household.
I more recently let a room to a woman within my current age preferences and she was a nightmare, driving out 2 very long tenants.
With the ending of Section 21, etc, it is even more important to try not to let to someone who will upset the dynamic in the property, for the sake of the other tenants. Current tenants’ views are very important when taking on a new tenant.

These rare 55+ places exist

They are everywhere. I'm in the process of helping my godmother move back to the UK at the moment and she's looking for somewhere for a year while she decides where she wasn't to be pre permanently and there are loads of places for over 55s.

These rare 55+ places exist

This is absolutely not true countrywide, here in the South East there are loads!

It may not be true elsewhere obviously, I don't know what it's like in other areas but here there are loads and when I'm looking on Rightmove etc they always trick me if I forget to filter them out from the start!

I think it's not surprising if she's angry. The comments do come across as ageist and that has negative consequences for her. Even though your decision not to rent to this person isn't unlawful discrimination, her complaint is now taking up your time and energy.

Next time, I'd vet the prospect over the phone. IME people don't read ads carefully. They'll respond to anything that might work for them. So go over the requirements in your ad and make sure they meet all of them before you see them in person. If you don't want someone over 30, don't show the house to anyone over 30.

... they politely said that they too thought this lady was too old. Specifically, they felt that the location of the empty room, opposite the downstairs toilet and next to the kitchen, would result in this lady making of lot of complaints about the noise in the house.

So I politely messaged the lady saying that the room was right by the kitchen and I was worried that she would find the house too noisy, and it was probably best that she looked somewhere else.

Here's why I think she'll have reacted especially badly to this. To have people she's never met say I've decided this would be too noisy for you when she herself has seen the room/house, heard your friend's explanation about the noise, considered the situation, and decided she was still interested would can easily come across as belittling. Infantilisation (I know better than you what's best for you, you're not competent to decide) is a common sensitivity for older people as it's so often a part of harmful age bias.

And it is obviously based solely on her age. (I strongly suspect you'll find many 21-30yos who would also find it too noisy, but you'd figure that out from their reaction to seeing the place and being told/shown it's noisy). If the room is by the kitchen and bathroom and so too noisy, why would you rent it out to anyone? The issue isn't the room or the noise, it's that you don't want a tenant over 30. That's OK, but be clear and direct. As its a shared house with the owner resident, I don't think you need to give any explanation up front of why someone isn't the best fit and you're renting to someone else. Don't tell a rejected candidate that you've decided she won't be happy there, tell her she's not moving in.

I’d have pitched it a different way - telling her that the first time you met she was seriously dishonest and therefore you would be unable to trust her as a tenant.

She sounds loopy, and like she’s trying to bring a claim (unsuccessfully).

The thing is it’s perfectly legal to say to someone you cannot rent here as you are too old. It is not discrimination legally and is legally a perfectly acceptable reason to refuse..

im surprised so many folks think it is and suspect gender plays a part.

If the op posted that this was a fifty year old man who had lied about his age, pretended to be thirty, and tried to make a case and threatened her so he could live with three twenty something year old women, the responses would be very different. no one would be saying “oh that poor man it is age discrimination, he must be desperate” people would be saying report the dodgey fucker to the police.

The law doesn’t differentiate by circumstance or gender. It simply says if you feel the person isn’t suitable due to age it’s perfectly fine to refuse and it’s not discrimatory.

because if it didn’t, then you’d defo be dealing with middle aged pervy blokes trying to get into house shares with young women and other unsuitable living arrangements.

Well, you are discriminating based on her age! She's not wrong about that.

But luckily for you, there's not a thing she can do about it! You are allowed to rent a room in a private house to whoever you like, and if a tenant doesn't fit your preferred characteristics... tough titty for them really.

All the pp moaning about age discrimination, what if she’d lied about her sex instead?

Of course the landlord of an HMO with communal spaces needs to be discerning in who they choose to rent rooms to. Everyone living there needs to feel comfortable and safe.

Otherwise it would just be another loophole for pervy old men to ‘accidentally’ hang around outside the bathroom hoping for a glimpse of young female flesh.

Yes you absolutely should be worried, and rightly so. I hope the poor woman gets some justice here! Appalling attitude and behaviour

There is always someone who shows us why it is important to at least skim read threads

She really shouldn't 'absolutely be worried' because she's done absolutely nothing illegal and absolutely nothing that would be the basis of a civil dispute either.

Not sure why you've suggested otherwise when even a quick Google about renting and protected characteristics would tell you otherwise.

"Age is not a protected characteristic for property rentals, so it’s not illegal to specify a desired age range for the new tenant."

She’s trying it on. I don’t believe that “made a mistake” stuff for a second. It’s perfectly acceptable to be seeking people at a similar life stage to join a shared household this way. You could always say you’ve reassessed and you’re not rejecting her because of her age, you’re rejecting her because of her personality.

Also, the 55+ retirement places are not built because older people are being discriminated against by young house shares. And there are bloody loads of them.

Justice for what? Someone not wanting her in their house share?

For those who think it's discriminatory, do you really want the state to be telling you that you have to live in a home with someone when you have differences that matter to you?

In a lot of places when you are talking about sharing a home you can discriminate in any way you like. You could ask that the flatmate or lodger have a particular age, be the same ethnicity as you or speak the same language, be a particular sex.

I used to have a university professor who was a very devout Catholic. They used to rent out some rooms to students, and after a few years they came to be willing only to rent to young Catholic or other observant religious people - usually the former who were often happy to have a place in a Catholic household. They just found that there were too often frictions with more secular students. I've known Orthodox Jewish students to do the same quite often because it's the only way they can find a household where being kosher wasn't seriously difficult.

Why should people have to live in a house with someone whose lifestyle is not compatible?