What do Black renters’ experiences tell us about the housing emergency?

[Content warning: this blog shares people’s experiences of racial discrimination.]

In 2023 Nora, a student in Hertfordshire, contacted us following an attempt to rent a room in a shared house. As a Hungarian national with settled status in the UK, she had the ‘right to rent’ and was also able to provide a guarantor. But the landlord decided he ‘wasn’t comfortable’ renting to someone who wasn’t a UK citizen.

Nora’s case is just the tip of the iceberg of what Black people are experiencing while trying to access housing. It’s deeply distressing, but also illegal. The Equality Act means that direct discrimination is against the law. But just how big is this problem?

Landlords and letting agents have a huge amount of discretionary power in determining viewings, renting out properties, charging rents and evicting tenants. Racism could be driving worse outcomes for Black people in the private rented sector (PRS).

Because of the lack of transparency in how landlords make decisions, discriminatory behaviour is likely going under the radar. But recent research suggests this is more widespread than we think.

Polling from Shelter showed:

• Black people are more likely to struggle to rent a home after being turned down by a landlord or letting agent
• They’re 4 times more likely to be asked for 6 months rent in advance
• 10% of Black people were told that the landlord has a ‘no family’ policy compared to only 3% of white people

A mystery shopping exercise from Generation Rent on the renting platform SpareRoom showed:

• White profiles were 36% more likely to receive a positive response when applying to rent than Black profiles
• White profiles were 17% more likely to receive any response as compared with Black profiles

Racialised disparities in the private rented sector

While this research shows evidence of direct discrimination, we can see indirect discrimination too. Black renters confront wider inequalities in the private rented sector beyond accessing rented accommodation.

Since March 2023, housing has been the top issue among our advisors. Many of these problems are very familiar: unaffordable rents, Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, disrepair and mould, and getting stuck in temporary accommodation.

We know that racially minoritised groups like Black Africans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are more likely to live in deprived urban areas, in disrepair, and overcrowded conditions. But even within these groups, Black renters experience problems when renting more intensively relative to other racially minoritised people and white people.

Michael from the Midlands came to us after being notified about a rent increase from their letting agent. Having spoken to other residents in the block of flats, Michael found only people of colour were given rent increases. He felt this was in order to drive people of colour out.

Our data also shows a number of acute disparities in the PRS.

1. Black renters are more likely to receive a Section 21 eviction notice than any other ethnicity

2. Black renters are more likely to be made homeless than any other ethnicity

3. On average Black renters are most likely to experience disrepair (including mould) than any other ethnicity

It’s not clear the extent to which these disparities are driven by and/or interact with direct discrimination, relative to factors like being on a low income. But it builds a picture of the structural challenges Black people face while renting.

What can Black renters do?

The Equality Act should provide some remedy for direct discrimination. Renters can apply to the County Court for compensation if they believe they’ve been discriminated against. But there are barriers like having the time and money to do so.

Renters also need evidence. You might suspect discrimination but it can be difficult to prove given the landlord or letting agent doesn’t need to tell why you’ve been turned down.

In 2022/2023, Ahmed contacted us when he was struggling to find affordable rented housing. He had left the family home due to the end of a relationship and needed a property that would allow his 3 children to live with him.

He felt estate agents were discriminating against him given his lack of success in securing viewings or getting replies to his emails. He wasn’t a priority for rehousing by his local authority and was forced to spend a lot of money on hotels.

Ahmed also noted the disappointed reaction of estate agents when he visited their offices. However, he had no written or verbal evidence to support a discrimination claim if he wanted to make one.

Even if renters had the resources and evidence, more effective enforcement of existing legislation isn’t enough. The Equality Act makes structural inequalities like racism into an individual problem.

In the best case scenario a renter would be able to gain compensation for discriminatory treatment. But a legal remedy wouldn’t address the systemic challenges facing Black renters in accessing safe, secure and affordable housing.

Regulation isn’t the answer

The Renters Reform Bill (RRB) would ban Section 21 ’no fault’ evictions, and policies which ban families and people on benefits from renting. We would also see a Housing Ombudsman for the PRS. But would regulation fix the problem of discrimination? Probably not.

As long as landlords and letting agents continue making unaccountable decisions about who they rent to, discrimination will persist. That’s not to say further action isn’t needed. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is responsible for promoting and enforcing anti-discrimination laws and this issue falls squarely within their remit.

The RRB has also shown that regulation can’t overcome the limited political will to regulate landlords. Even if the political context was more compliant, we cannot regulate the more fundamental problem: racialised wealth inequality.

Neither is home ownership

Since 2001, home ownership has dropped from 68.9% to 62.5%, contributing to an increase in the size of the PRS. The charity Positive Money argues this change is largely due to the drop in ownership among racially minoritised households.

This means the housing emergency is partly being driven by wider racialised wealth inequality. Due to lower levels of home ownership, Black people are more likely to rent and are more exposed to what’s gone wrong in the PRS than white people. Only 22% of Black Africans are homeowners, compared with 67% of white people because of broader income inequalities — especially in places like London.

Policies to build more houses and increase home ownership — an approach favoured by both political parties — won’t work for this reason. Racially minoritised people can’t buy their way out of the PRS.

Black people are also among those missing out on the wealth created by being a homeowner through rising house prices. This is contributing to widening wealth inequalities between predominantly white home owners and some racially minoritised groups.

What about social housing?

Social housing is the single most effective long-term measure in providing Black people with affordable and secure homes. It can mitigate some of the racialised wealth inequality that underpins homeownership.

But the long term decline in social housing caused by the right to buy means what’s left of diminishing public resources is fiercely contested. Councils are under financial pressure from spending on temporary housing and rates of homelessness.

In response, the government recently announced it will launch a consultation to guarantee “British homes for British workers”. This would mean ensuring “UK families” have priority for social housing over non-citizens.

But as pointed out, this policy fails to address the problem of demand outstripping supply. Of the little social housing left, 90% of it goes to UK nationals. Immigration controls like No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) prevent most non-citizens from accessing social housing, driving them into poverty.

Framing the housing emergency as a problem of immigration — to be addressed by immigration controls — has a wider chilling impact on racially minoritised renters.

Ola has leave to remain in the UK. She came to us when her landlord sold the property she was renting and gave her 2 months to leave by serving a Section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notice. The landlord sent Ola death threats and told her to ‘go back to her own country’.

Black people who are at the sharp end of the housing emergency are dealing with policies and attitudes that make access to housing even harder.

Our National Red Index showed that 5 million people are living in a negative budget. This means that after spending on all the essentials, they’re in a deficit leading to debt. Rents in the private rented sector are a key driver of this problem. Unsurprisingly, negative budgets disproportionately affect some racially minoritised groups.

Social housing would give people access to secure housing, but it would help arrest the racial inequality generated by the division of homeowners and renters.