Nurse made homeless on Christmas Eve as estate agents wouldn't rent to her because she has kids wins landmark case
23 March 2023, 15:19 | Updated: 23 March 2023, 15:22
A nurse who was left homeless because estate agents wouldn't rent a home to her because of her children has won a landmark case.
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Lexi Levens, 33, and her family had to leave their home when they were handed a Section 21 no-fault eviction on Christmas Eve.
She soon discovered that no nurses and agents would rent a home to her because of her four children, despite the fact bother she and her husband passed affordability checks.
The couple had to register with their local council as homeless.
Neonatal nurse Ms Levens said that the discrimination that she and her family faced was “nothing short of distressing and humiliating”.
She added: "The fact kids could be discriminated against is abhorrent and should never have been able to happen.
"I couldn’t believe this was happening to me, yet the more I talked about it, the more people came forward saying they’d experienced the same or knew someone who had."
She turned to Shelter, who took up the case against the estate agents with the property ombudsman.
The ombudsman found that blanket bans on renting to families go against equality rules because they disproportionately affect women.
Ms Levens said: "My situation was nothing short of distressing and humiliating. Our children were being discriminated against and no one was listening or taking me seriously, so I went to Shelter, and they offered to help me challenge this with The Property Ombudsman.
“I’m so thrilled by the outcome of the challenge, this has never been about money for me, but about putting a stop to families like mine being treated unfairly.
"Sadly, there’s still no direct legislation holding landlords to account, which is why the government needs to bring forward the Renter’s Reform Bill which protects the rights of tenants and puts a stop to this type of discrimination, directly."
Rose Arnall, Solicitor at Shelter who supported Lexi and her family, said: “No one should be barred from finding a safe and stable home simply because they have children. Whether you can secure a home must not be based on a landlord or letting agent’s baseless prejudices about the ‘type’ of tenant you might be.
“Thanks to Lexi’s hard work, letting agents can be crystal clear that blanket bans on renting to families are unacceptable. This is a great step forward in addressing the power imbalance which sees tenants hitting unfair barriers and being forced to jump through ridiculous hoops.”
Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter, said: “The Property Ombudsman finding that blanket ‘no children’ policies are a breach of the Code of Practice is undeniably an important win for tenants, but there is still more to be done to weed out discrimination in private renting.
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"The government’s Renters’ Reform Bill - which will make discrimination explicitly unlawful – is ready and waiting. The government needs to stop stalling and make it law once and for all.”
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Peter Habert, Director of Policy at The Property Ombudsman said: “Whilst rental properties are investments for landlords, they are homes for tenants.
"To be excluded from a significant portion of the homes available simply because you have children cannot be considered as treating consumers equally.
