London letting agents 'refuse black tenants'


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Letting agents in London are prepared to discriminate against would-be tenants on the grounds of race, a BBC undercover investigation has revealed.

 
Under the Equality Act 2010, it is illegal for businesses to refuse to provide a service based on ethnicity.
 
But 10 firms told a reporter posing as a landlord they would not let to African-Caribbean people at his request.
 
A black researcher was denied viewings, yet his white counterpart was welcomed.
 
BBC London was initially tipped off certain letting agents were willing to discriminate against African-Caribbean people on behalf of landlords, with the alleged misdoing rife in parts of west London.

Source: BBC News

 

It astonishes me that people are so blatant in their racism, especially when such behaviour is obviously illegal.

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Maybe it's the behavior of many blacks -- not their 'race'.

People should be judged as individuals, not on their racial heritage. I would not like to be judged by the actions of other people that share my race.

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People should be judged as individuals, not on their racial heritage. I would not like to be judged by the actions of other people that share my race.

When the bad behavior is the norm for the group of people that you encounter, then it's better to be safe than sorry. Sure you might get an upstanding citizen, but when a vast majority of the people from that group act a certain way, why take your chances?

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People should be judged as individuals, not on their racial heritage. I would not like to be judged by the actions of other people that share my race.

I agree.

 

But there are many white groups in this area, who will steal, vandalize, use constant foul language, be rude to people, careless with their smoking, druggies, etc.

 

After a while of being around such people, you tend to think they are 'all' like that -- and I would not want to rent to such people, reguardless of race.

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When the bad behavior is the norm for the group of people that you encounter, then it's better to be safe than sorry. Sure you might get an upstanding citizen, but when a vast majority of the people from that group act a certain way, why take your chances?

So white people should be denied housing because of chav culture? It's concerning that you would defend racism on the basis that it's "better to be safe than sorry".

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It's not racism when you're discriminating against different subsets of culture. I wouldn't rent to white trash baby popping druggies as I would try to avoid renting to other groups of people from other races for the same reason. 

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So white people should be denied housing because of chav culture?

Sure, why not. It's their property, let them do what they want with it. From the way you talk, they might as well let government force who lives in your property if you decide to rent it.

What's with the race baiting tonight? Better yet, what's your plan on making the world a better racist free place?

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When the bad behavior is the norm for the group of people that you encounter, then it's better to be safe than sorry. Sure you might get an upstanding citizen, but when a vast majority of the people from that group act a certain way, why take your chances?

I don't think majority much less vast means what you think it does. Had you said the majority of certain crimes had been done by black you MAY have had a case, but even then there are others where whites are more prevalent.

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Wow, it's 2013 and people still support racial discrimination? Can someone show me a society where legalized racism works and doesn't create social chaos?

 

I think it's more a result of racial profiling though. but by people who don't understand it and assumes what the media says goes for everyone, like the guy up here who think the vast majority of blacks are criminals.

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I agree.

 

But there are many white groups in this area, who will steal, vandalize, use constant foul language, be rude to people, careless with their smoking, druggies, etc.

 

After a while of being around such people, you tend to think they are 'all' like that -- and I would not want to rent to such people, reguardless of race.

 

everyone hates chavs.

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When my parents were selling a house in Sutton, Ontario, Canada - the neighbours begged them to sell the property to anyone but the Chinese.

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i would suggest they are NOT being denied for being black, but rather the majority of the people that are applying and not being qualified enough just happen to be black....

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To be honest, I find the fact that the act was enacted in 2010 to be more offensive.

 

 

They didn't pass that law until 2010?  :s

 

It's an amalgamation and the most recent revision of the acts enacted in the past, such as: the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995

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