Equality and Human Rights Commission

In general, it is unlawful for anyone responsible for selling a residential or commercial property to discriminate against you because of your gender, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, or disability in selling a property to you.

Buying a property means entering into a legal contract. It is unlawful to discriminate against a buyer for any of the above reasons, with two exceptions:

• You have not yet reached the age of 18 years and so cannot yet enter into a legally enforceable contract.
• You are a disabled person who is not capable of entering into a legally enforceable contract, or of giving informed consent.

Refusing to allow a disabled person to buy a property because of incapacity must be reasonable. Unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, sellers of property should assume that a disabled person is able to enter into the contract.

The above prohibitions on discrimination do not apply to an owner-occupier who is selling the property privately (without using an estate agent) and who do not have an advert published.

Example

A woman is selling her house through an estate agent and refuses to accept an offer from a same-sex couple because of their sexual orientation. She instructs the agent to refuse the offer.

The instruction amounts to discrimination against the couple on grounds of their sexual orientation. The woman is liable to legal action for giving the instruction to discriminate. If the estate agent accepts this unlawful instruction, they will also be liable to legal action.