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Fighting discrimination in the courts

Thanks to you, we’ve achieved an historic legal win that has the potential to open doors for hundreds of thousands of renters, previously locked out of the private sector by ‘No DSS’ discrimination. That’s how powerful your support for us can be. 

Rose, in a Shelter office, speaking on the telephone while working on a case.
With your help, solicitor Rose and our Legal team will continue to fight injustice. 

Thanks to the bravery of hardworking mum Jane* and our equally industrious Legal team, we have just won a landmark court ruling. This means that letting agents and landlords can no longer discriminate against people on benefits.  

Jane works, but also receives housing benefit. She had rented privately for 10 years, always paid her rent on time, and had great references from her former landlords. So when a letting agent refused to consider her application, stating an outright ban on those receiving benefits, she wasn’t going to take this injustice lying down.  

She contacted our Legal team and together, we took that agent to court – and won.  

This is a win for every supporter who has campaigned with us to right this wrong. And it’s also a powerful example of how your support leads to tangible progress. 

What’s next? 

While we’d love to believe that this win will finally end ‘No DSS’ discrimination, we know the fight isn’t over. We still need to make sure that all letting agents and property portals play by the rules. 

Everyone needs a safe, secure, and affordable home without the extra hurdle of overcoming discrimination. So we won’t stop campaigning until this, and every other form of housing injustice is rooted out.  

You can read more on this case and all of our campaigning work. And thank you for being part of the solution. You’re helping people like Jane to have the legal representation they need to fight back.  

Our victories are your victories and together, we can and will fix this broken housing system. 

*Please note: we’re using the name ‘Jane’ as our client has asked to remain anonymous. 

With your generosity, we can help more people

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© 2020 Shelter, the National Campaign for Homeless People Limited.
Charity number: 263710 (England and Wales), SC002327 (Scotland).
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