Taking legal action for housing discrimination
This page doesn't apply to:
- eviction - if you’re already being evicted or threatened with eviction you need to take action to protect your tenancy quickly, so get help with deciding what to do
- housing allocations - if you want to take action about housing allocations from local councils find out if you can take action about discrimination in public services
What to consider before legal action
You should try to resolve your problem informally before you take legal action - it might be the best way to get a solution. The court will expect you to have tried to solve your problem out of court before you take legal action. Follow our advice on complaining about housing discrimination.
If you think it’s very likely you’ll want to take legal action, you have a strong case and you’re close to the deadline for starting legal action you can start a claim and complain at the same time. You might say in your complaint, “I have started legal action but I am also providing you with the opportunity to put the situation right out of court.”
Work out your main arguments
You should:
- identify your legal rights - check your problem is discrimination and what type
- show how those legal rights have been breached, that is how you've been discriminated against
- know the elements that must be established to prove you’ve got a legal right - this is different for each type of discrimination
- gather the evidence you need
Next steps
If you want to take legal action you’ll need to work through Steps 1-10. The first step is to check the time limits for taking action about discrimination.