You asked your landlord for something small that would make your home usable. A grab rail by the front steps. Permission to fit a ramp. A rent statement in a format you can read. And you got a flat no, or no reply at all.
A refusal like that is not always the end of the conversation, and sometimes it is unlawful. The Equality Act 2010 lets disabled renters ask a landlord to change how they do things, within limits worth knowing before you push. This covers England.
What counts as disability discrimination by a landlord?
Under section 15 of the Equality Act 2010, it is discrimination to treat you unfavourably because of something arising from your disability, unless the landlord can show the treatment is a proportionate way of achieving a legitimate aim. Put simply, they need a good reason, and what they did must go no further than that reason requires.
It does not apply if the landlord shows they did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that you were disabled. Rent arrears that built up because your condition put you in hospital or made it hard to manage payments, or noise caused by a condition, are the kind of thing this covers. Section 35 makes that, and other discrimination, unlawful for whoever manages your home, including in how they run the tenancy and by evicting you.
Since 1 May 2026 a private landlord needs a Section 8 ground and a court order to evict you, and backdoor evictions are harder. Housing association tenancies have not switched over yet. Evicting you because you asked for an adjustment or complained about discrimination can itself be unlawful discrimination or victimisation.
Not every refusal is discrimination. The test is whether the landlord can justify it. For other kinds of rental discrimination, see our guides on renting with children or on benefits and right to rent immigration checks.
What reasonable adjustments must a landlord make for a disabled tenant?
Landlords owe disabled tenants a duty to make reasonable adjustments, applied to rented homes through section 36 and Schedule 4. There are narrow exceptions. The duty does not apply if the home is, or was, your landlord's own main home and they have not used a professional managing agent since letting it, or if you share a small property with a landlord, or their relative, who lives there. For your own let home, that duty has two parts you can rely on.
The first is changing a provision, criterion or practice: a policy, a rule, or the way the landlord does something. A blanket "no alterations" clause, or a refusal to communicate in a way you can follow, is the kind of practice the duty can require them to bend. The second is providing an auxiliary aid or service, such as giving you tenancy documents and rent statements in an accessible format.
For your home itself, the duty does not require your landlord to remove or alter a physical feature. Some small changes do not count as altering a physical feature, so your landlord can be asked to make them, such as a new sign, a lever tap or door handle, an adapted doorbell or door entry system, or a contrasting paint colour. The duty applies once you ask, so ask clearly and in writing.
Can a landlord refuse disability adaptations to a rented home?
Your landlord does not have to carry out physical changes themselves. But the law does stop them blocking reasonable changes you arrange, which are usually paid for with a grant.
If your tenancy lets you make improvements with your landlord's consent, section 190 of the Equality Act applies to an improvement that would help a disabled person living there. Ask in writing. A refusal must then come with written reasons, and if the landlord does not answer within a reasonable time, or attaches an unreasonable condition, consent counts as unreasonably withheld, which means it is treated as given. They can still attach reasonable conditions, such as putting things back when you leave. Section 190 does not cover council (secure) or older Rent Act tenancies. Council tenants have a similar right under sections 97 to 99 of the Housing Act 1985, but there silence counts as a refusal the landlord must show was reasonable. If your tenancy bans alterations outright, the reasonable-adjustments duty can require the landlord to relax that term as far as needed (Schedule 4, paragraph 2). Refusing a funded, assessed adaptation that would let you stay in your home can also raise a discrimination point under section 15 or section 35.
One gap matters. The Equality Act's separate duty to make physical changes to the shared common parts of a building, like a ramp at a communal entrance, has never been brought into force in England. The duty that is in force still covers how your landlord runs shared facilities that come with your tenancy, so you can ask for a change of policy or an adapted door entry system. For a ramp or other building work at a shared entrance, the realistic routes are negotiation with the landlord, a grant, and your council.
How to get a Disabled Facilities Grant as a private tenant
A Disabled Facilities Grant is the main way physical adaptations get paid for and permitted. It comes from your local council under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, with a standard maximum of £30,000 in England. For an adult tenant applying, the award is usually means-tested against household income and savings, so you may need to contribute. Adaptations for disabled children under 18 are not means-tested, as the government grant guidance explains.
Private tenants can apply, and the council will usually arrange an assessment by an occupational therapist to work out what you need, whether that is a ramp, a level-access shower, or a stairlift. The council will usually ask your landlord to sign an owner's certificate for the application, though it can do without one where requiring it would be unreasonable. You will also need your landlord's consent to the works, which follows the consent rules above.
Start by contacting your council's housing or adaptations team and asking for a home assessment. That assessment is also useful evidence if the landlord later resists, because it turns "I would like a ramp" into a professional finding that you need one.
What to do if a landlord refuses a reasonable adjustment
Under section 118 of the Equality Act, a County Court discrimination claim normally has to be brought within 6 months less 1 day of the discriminatory act. Complaints and council assessments do not stop that clock. Continuing conduct and failures to act have specific timing rules, and the court can allow a late claim if it thinks that fair, so work out your deadline as soon as you get a refusal.
Put the request in writing if you have not already, name the adjustment, explain why you need it, and ask for a decision in writing with reasons. A written refusal is the evidence a claim is built on. For a physical adaptation, get the council's occupational-therapy assessment moving in parallel.
If the refusal stands and looks unjustified, the formal route for housing discrimination is a claim under the Equality Act in the County Court. Remedy can review what you asked for and how the landlord responded, tell you whether the refusal looks unlawful, and help you get it in writing and challenge it.
