Sometimes people are treated worse because of their mental health problem. This is called discrimination and, if you experience it when you are renting, buying or living in a property (or place), you may have a legal right to challenge it.
Quick facts
- The Equality Act 2010 is the law that gives you the right to challenge discrimination. This law may protect you from discrimination when you:
- buy, rent or live in property (covered in these pages)
- are at work, applying for a job, made redundant or dismissed (see our legal pages on discrimination at work)
- use services or public functions (see our legal pages on discrimination in everyday life)
- are in education
- join some private clubs and associations.
- To get protection under the Equality Act, you usually need to show that your mental health problem is a disability. 'Disability' has a special legal meaning under the Equality Act. To find out if your mental health problem is considered a disability, see our page on disability.
- If your landlord is a public authority, they will have an additional duty to eliminate discrimination, called the public sector equality duty.
- If you think you have experienced disability discrimination when buying, renting or living in a property, there are several things you can do to make a complaint.
- This guide covers discrimination from the point of view of a person with a mental health problem.
- This guide applies to England and Wales.
- This guide contains general legal information, not legal advice. We recommend you get advice from a specialist legal adviser or solicitor who will help you with your individual situation and needs. See Useful contacts for more information.
- The legal information in this guide does not apply to children unless specifically stated.
This information was published in December 2017. We will revise it in 2019.
