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.

Please note

• 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.