Thousands of buy-to-let landlords will be have to build ramps and lifts for disabled tenants in their properties under the Government’s proposed new equality law...

The Single Equality Bill would require all landlords to improve access to their premises on request, with a new duty to make alterations to common parts of the property, such as the stairs and halls.

The Bill would also ban private clubs from discriminating against members on the ground of gender if they already admit both men and women. The measure would bring an end to golf clubs restricting women members to certain times of the day or banning them from particular dining rooms or bars.

The Carlton Club, popular with Conservative MPs, could be one of the first institutions affected by the new law. It allows women to be associate members with limited rights to use its facilities. Members voted again last month against giving them full membership.

The Government backed away, however, from banning all-male gentlemen’s or working men’s clubs outright.

New bill will ‘modernise the law’

The Single Equality Bill, which aims to bring up to date all discrimination legislation, is being drawn up by Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary. Officials drawing up the consultative Green Paper, to be published today, say that it would modernise the law and make it easier for people to bring cases to tribunal.

They said, however, that they wanted to make it easier for the estimated 57,000 disabled people who face difficulties getting around communal areas of their homes. Under the Bill, landlords would lose the right to refuse permission for a ramp, handles or a lift to be installed on their property.

But the Bill would make clear that the landlord would not necessarily be required to pay for the alterations.

Until very recently buy-to-let was an investment almost entirely free from red tape, with a valuable tax break on rental earnings. In the past few years, however, several regulations have been introduced.

Larger properties must now all be registered with local authorities, for which a fee of up to £1,400 is charged. Gas and electricity must also be checked regularly. Most recently, deposits must all be held centrally with a new agency.

Another blow for investors

Investors received another blow this month when it emerged that the taxman was preparing to clamp down on owners who have not paid enough tax. The Times disclosed that Revenue & Customs has identified 80,000 landlords who may have claimed too much tax relief or have failed to declare the amount of rent they receive from the property or a capital gain made on the sale of the property.

The Disability Rights Commission welcomed the move, but said that landlords would not be expected to foot the bill.

The Single Equality Bill would also make it illegal for companies to refuse to sell goods and services to people of a certain age. After a heavy lobbying campaign by Saga, the holiday company for the over50s, a government official told The Times that they would consider an exemption for companies who provide benefits to particular age groups.

It is not clear whether the company would still be able to refuse to sell a holiday or insurance to someone under 50.

Source: The Times