Racial preferences when advertising rental property

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DonKing3

Guest
Hi,

I'm not sure if I have posted in the correct section or if I've attached the URL correctly. Apologies if I've done it wrong!

I was just on DAFT.ie checking out rental prices in Dublin 10 when I came across an ad stating

"......house 25mins by bus from city furnished asian preferable."

Surely this is not something which is acceptable or allowed in a modern society? Does this mean that I can state that I prefer white Irish in one of my ads?

I wouldn't mind following this up with the relevant authority if it is ilegal etc. If anybody knows the legal position and who to complain to I'd appreciate comments.

BTW I wouldn't care about the race of my tenants as long as they looked after my property, paid the rent and had consideration for the neighbours

Thanks


daft.ie/searchrental.daft...=1&s[cc_id]=ct1&s[a_id]=pc11&s[mnp]=&s[mxp]=&s[bd_no]=&search_type=rental&id=315559&print=1
 
Nope, they're not exempt.

The ad would appear to be in breach of the Equality Act which prohibits discrimination of nine separate grounds, of which race is one.
 
I often see ad's in my local paper termed "Lady required". Would these ad's also be breaching the equality act?
 
Yes, they would - unless the service for which the lady was required was something that couldn't be done by a man (which perhaps raises other issues!!!).

If what's needed is a housekeeper, then that's what should be asked for. The skills, and not the gender, of the person should be the issue.
 
The ad would appear to be in breach of the Equality Act which prohibits discrimination of nine separate grounds, of which race is one.

Are you sure that you mean Equality Act? I couldn't find mention of such an act on . Perhaps you mean the [broken link removed]?
 
Certainly on daft there is a tickbox to choose Female Only, Male Only, Either Gender when placing an ad looking for people to share your house. When this appears on the ad though it's says something like Female Preferred - I think you're allowed state a preference but can't outright say you won't take anyone. Mind you, you'll see a lot of the ads saying non-smoking professional females only. It's one thing to not discriminate against a tenant when all you really should be looking for is someone to keep the place tidy and pay rent and bills on time. However, when you're looking for someone to share a house with you there's a lot more to take into consideration - I wonder how the legislation takes that into account.
 
Exactly so Janet

I would suggest that anyone stipulating 'No Dogs' should be given not less than 5 years hard labour
 
The legislation doesn't prohibit discrimination on the grounds of smoking/non-smoking - it's not one of the nine grounds.

www.equality.ie/ninegrounds.shtml

In looking for a housemate you're free to specify behavioural charateristics and qualities ranging from Oscar to Felix. You're just not free to specify gender, race, religion, marital status, etc.

Who you would actually select, however, is your own business (as long as you haven't been shown discrimination in making your selction).
 
Actually, there are a few "get out" clauses which allow you to discriminate on gender grounds, and some of these relate specifically to the area of accommodation-sharing. For example, it is not uunlawful to stipulate :

"the provision of accommodation to persons of one gender where embarrassment or infringement of privacy can reasonably be expected to result from the presence of a person of another gender."

[S 6(2)(e) of the Act]
 
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