Discrimination when buying, renting or living in property

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Overview

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.
• You can ask your landlord or manager of the property to make reasonable adjustments for you.
• 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 information was published in December 2017. We will revise it in 2019.

References are available on request. If you would like to reproduce any of this information, see our page on permissions and licensing.

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