Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Housing: end rent discrimination

Posted: 01 Mar 2016 02:35 PM PST

digs, #YESDSS, Hackney, landlords, Housing: end rent discriminationCampaigners say the No DSS problem is a nationwide one.

Housing activists picketed a series of east London estate agents over the weekend in a call to end renting discrimination against people on benefits.

Dozens of people picketed letting agents in Hackney as part of the launch of the ‘Yes DSS’ campaign — a reference to the long-defunct Department of Social Security (DSS), which has become shorthand for 'benefits recipients'.

The initiative follows the discovery by members of the housing group Hackney Renters (Digs) that only one studio flat in the whole of the borough of Hackney was listed as available to people claiming housing benefit.

One studio flat.

Out of 50 local estate agents surveyed by the group most argued that, either due to company policy or landlords' preferences, people relying on benefits would not be accepted.

Campaigner Heather Kennedy told the Standard the alleged blacklist affects thousands including professionals who work full time, "disabled people, carers, those fleeing abusive relationships, single parents or those on low incomes".

And Digs said in a statement: "For Hackney's landlords and agents, 'DSS' seems to signify a whole social and moral category of people who are deemed to be undesirable tenants.

"Underneath their stigma is a desire to bring in wealthier tenants who are willing and able to pay the ever-rising rents."

David Cox, managing director of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), told the Standard that while "agents must not discriminate on grounds of any protected characteristics, a letting agent is contractually required to find the best possible tenant for their landlord clients.

"The way in which housing benefits are paid, in arrears, does not correlate to rent payments, which are required in advance."

So clearly that payment arrangement needs to be changed.

And campaigners say the No DSS problem is a nationwide one.

The #YesDSS campaign aims to put pressure on letting agents, landlords, mortgage lenders, councils and the government to make sure that no-one is prevented from renting a property simply because they receive benefits.

The campaign has seven reasons why letting agents and landlords should say #YesDSS:

1. "No DSS" is a form of discrimination.

It stems from an ill-conceived stigmatisation of benefit claimants and reinforces forms of exclusion that people on low incomes already face.

Some solicitors have argued that, in cases where people receive benefits due to disability, "No DSS" may in fact be in breach of the 2010 Equalities Act.

#YesDSS believes this should be legally challenged.

2. More and more people have no choice but to claim benefits.

It is not only people without work who must do so, but also those who cannot work for health reasons or those whose pay is too low to cover their rent.

An estimated eight million people will move over to the government's new universal credit system within the next four years, while increasing numbers of those in work require help to pay their rent due to the rise in insecure, temporary and part-time jobs. Many of these people are denied access to the private rented sector by "No DSS".

3. Social housing is being sold off and torn down under a sustained attack from the government and property developers, and research by the estate agent Savills shows that the government's ludicrous "starter homes" policy will be inaccessible to the vast majority of potential buyers.

More people are therefore being forced into the private rented sector by government policy.

But if people on low incomes have been driven out of affordable social housing, how will they pay the rents in London's grossly inflated private rented sector without help?

In Hackney the number of private rented sector tenants in receipt of benefits has risen by 71 per cent since 2006.

#YesDSS wants to see more social houses not less, and to see a private rented sector that is affordable, accessible and properly regulated.

4. "No DSS" leads to homelessness.

Government figures show that the most common reason people find themselves homeless is the ending of an assured shorthold tenancy by a private landlord.

And as under-resourced councils tighten the criteria for those who can access social housing, the private rented sector is the only option for many.

"No DSS" provides a further barrier to people on low incomes, leaving them with nowhere to go.

The most recent figures show that there are 68,560 households living in temporary accommodation, which means that around 100,000 children were homeless at Christmas.

5. As well as homelessness, "No DSS" exacerbates the extreme levels of stress and anxiety that many private rented sector tenants, particularly families, already face.

According to Shelter, 27,000 families have had to move at least three times in the last five years, while 65,000 privately renting families have been left with no choice but to change their children's school when they last had to move home.

As Emma's story indicates, the struggle to find a Hackney landlord who would accept housing benefit placed her under enormous strain.

"No DSS" inhibits people's ability to lay down roots and build a healthy, stable life for themselves and their children.

Quite simply, landlords and letting agents have got away with too much for too long.

6. Across London, private rented sector tenants pay extortionate rents for properties that are often cramped, damp, poorly furnished and prone to problems with basic necessities like water, heating and electricity.

Landlords are fortunate enough to make their living out of other people's relative disadvantage, yet often don't seem to understand that providing someone with a home is not merely an easy way of making a quick buck, but rather a huge responsibility that has a lasting impact on their tenants' well-being.

Letting agents blame "No DSS" on landlords; landlords blame it on council bureaucracies, mortgage lenders and insurers.

Yet the truth is that all of these people need to take proactive responsibility for ensuring that no-one is denied a decent, secure and affordable place to live simply because they don't earn enough money.

Over the coming months, the #YesDSS campaign will target everyone responsible for saying 'No DSS'.

7. #YesDSS is only one part of a longer and broader struggle to achieve a housing market that genuinely meets the needs of everyone.

#YesDSS wants to see an end to Section 21 and ‘no fault’ evictions, the removal of letting agent fees, more social housing, rental rates that reflect local wages rather than financial speculation, and an end to caps on local housing benefit levels.

And #YesDSS wants housing policies that prioritise the needs of people over the profits of landlords, letting agents and property developers.

And as East End Sisters Uncut member Petra Hussein told the Morning Star, rising rents were leaving victims of abusive relationships particularly vulnerable to their partners.

"The most unsafe time for a survivor of domestic violence is the moment they attempt to leave the perpetrator.

"How can women leave when they have nowhere to go?" she asked.

"There are numerous ways the government and landlords are actively withholding safety from women," she continued.

"These include cuts to refuges and other domestic violence services, a lack of council housing and seemingly infinite obstacles making it difficult or impossible to privately rent, such as landlords not accepting DSS, and the racist, sexist right to rent, in which landlords and lettings agents act as border control to migrant women."