No More ‘No Children’ – What Landlords and Letting Agents Need to Know

Just as many landlords have traditionally been reluctant to accept tenants with pets (see our forthcoming insight about this topic), some landlords have also been reluctant to consider granting a tenancy to tenants with children. Whilst landlords have been wary of falling foul of indirect discrimination rules and have thus avoided expressly advertising that children will not be permitted, those keen to avoid children have often found more creative ways to avoid accepting children with tenants.

However, the Renters’ Right Act will be introducing some important changes around how tenants with children must be treated. If your adverts, policies or decision-making documents still include blanket rules on families, now’s the time to start updating them.

So what are the new rules?

The Renters Rights Act now includes a specific and express provision that states that, from 1 May 2026, a landlord who refuses a tenant simply because they have children will be considered to be discriminating against the prospective tenant.

From 1 May 2026, it will be unlawful to refuse a tenant simply because they have children. Under the act, it will be illegal for Landlords to have a blanket policy that prohibits families with children or those with pregnant members from renting a property, or from introducing a new child into the home after the tenancy commences.

But more subtle forms of discrimination will also be caught; for example, only offering the single parent of a young child an opportunity to view a property at school pick-up time, or after a child’s bedtime, when the parent is unable to leave. Put simply, the starting point is an expectation that the presence of children should have no impact on a tenant’s ability to rent.

However, there are exceptions. Borrowing from the language used in the Equality Act (the leading statute concerning discrimination), the Renters’ Rights Act provides that landlords may be able to refuse tenants with children if the landlord can show that refusal is a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’ (PMLA). What this means in practice is that a Landlord may be able to justify not renting a property to a family with children if you can demonstrate PMLA. Reasons why you might need to demonstrate PMLA include:-

• It is a specific type of property - a shared property (such as student housing), a designated retirement home, for example
• The presence of multiple children could lead to overcrowding
• If there are any specific licensing conditions
• There are safeguarding concerns

Of particular note is that the ‘legitimate aim’ has to be something that benefits a third party -not the landlord.

To keep some ‘teeth’ in the provisions, the Act provides that the local housing authority has the power to impose financial penalties for breach of these provisions – a fine of up to £7000 can be imposed, but possibly more if wrongdoing persists, or if a landlord has faced fines previously for similar wrongdoing.

The new rules are, in essence, about fairness and clarity. Landlords – and lettings agents in particular - need to be familiar with these rules and ensure decision-making is carried out carefully and is documented.

Contact our legal experts