HOUSE-HUNTERS have been left shocked after finding a charming two-bedroom home for just £595 a month – but the property comes with a catch.
The estate agent offering the semi-detached property came under fire for barring unemployed people from renting the house.
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The £595-per-month home is located in the village of Heage near Derby and boasts a big lounge, kitchen, conservatory, and a garage.
The property listing was posted to Right Move by rental agency YourMove in July with some fairly common restrictions such as “no smokers” and “no pets”.
However, the listing also shockingly banned jobless people, students, and those on benefits by claiming that it was available to “employed or retired only”.
The reference to employment was subsequently removed after The Sun brought it to the attention of the letting agency.
David Sykes, manager of this franchise of Your Move, said that “this advert has been amended and the reference to employment status removed.
“It was incorrectly listed with applicant employment restrictions that we do not endorse.
“Having spoken to our Lettings Manager I can confirm this was an administrative error. This property was let by the branch a number of years ago and upon remarketing, the description wasn’t updated.
“As a franchise of Your Move, we operate a policy of inclusion and do not discount potential applicants based on their employment status.”
This policy is commonly referred to as a No DSS policy (referring to the Department of Social Security) and is often seen as a form of discrimination that can be considered unlawful.
In 2018 single mother Rosie Keogh won £2,000 in compensation over a ban on benefit claimants renting in Birmingham and in 2020 a court found that such blanket policies were unlawful.
Agents can demand that prospective tenants pass an affordability check to ensure that they can afford the rent, however, this is different from a ban on all renters on benefits.
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One home hunter fumed at Your Move, saying: “for goodness sake, it is illegal to specify that a prospective tenant is unemployed.
“You cannot refuse to rent a property to someone who is on benefits or who has savings but is not employed. You know this. Take the advert down.”
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
