White people are 36% more likely to receive a positive response when applying to rent on SpareRoom than black people

Published

2 years ago

November 8, 2023

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White people are 36% more likely to receive a positive response when applying to rent a home than black people, Sky News has learned.

Exclusive figures provided by Generation Rent show apparent racism currently in the rental market.

The campaign organisation used artificial intelligence to set up two fake profiles, a black and a white one, on the rental website SpareRoom. The only differences in their details were their names and skin colour.

Enquiries were sent out by both profiles to property adverts randomly selected across the UK, within minutes of each other, with different responses.

Analysis of more than 210 adverts found that the white facing profile was 36% more likely to receive a positive response than the black facing profile.

The white profile was also 17% more likely than the black profile to receive any response at all.

In one example the same message was sent by both profiles enquiring about a room in a townhouse.

“Hi there, I’m interested in the property, could I arrange a viewing please?” it read.

The white profile, named Lizzie, received this response: “Hi Lizzie, can you tell me a little about how long you would be looking for the room, do you work local etc. Many Thanks.”

The black profile, called Zuri, received a different message stating simply: “Hello, sorry it’s just been let.”

Paris Williams, 25, has been living in a HMO (house of multiple occupancy) in London for the past two years and describes racism as a barrier to finding somewhere better to rent.

“I’ve had my passport inspected,” she says, “(they asked) ‘is it really a British passport? You can’t be British’, but why can’t I be British?

“And then when you’re going house searching [they] ask ‘do you smoke weed? Because I have black tenants who smoke weed’.

“So you’re stuck. You know that you’ve got bad conditions here but you can’t move.”

Paris says the situation she is living in is “hell”.

The policy adviser sleeps with an alarm under her room door because she feels unsafe as the front door to the HMO is often left open by other tenants.

She has previously found a stranger in her hallway and once discovered an unknown man taking a shower in her shared bathroom.

“He was clearly visibly homeless,” she says. “He was wet, he didn’t use a towel, he had no socks on. [He said] ‘well your door was open so i just thought I could’.”

In the last two years she has applied for multiple rentals, even changing her clothes, “stripping back” her makeup, and tying her hair back for viewings.

She says she can afford to rent somewhere better because the feeling of being unsafe in her own home is “gut wrenching”.

“I describe it as fight or flight, you’re never really calm, you’re tense, you’re always waiting for something to happen.

“Every little noise – is that something? is it not?”

Read more from Sky News:
Average rents in Britain hiked 10% over a year

‘Wild west hostile marketplace’

Tilly Smith, campaigns and partnerships officer from Generation Rent, helped carry out the AI profile research after suspecting discrimination in the rental market.

She describes the knock-on effect it is having, in a broader sense, on ethnic minority groups looking for somewhere to live.

“They’ve been forced into this sort of wild west hostile marketplace where they may or may not be able to find a property,” she said.

“So people become very placid and they feel they have to put up with poor quality housing with poor standards, with mould-ridden properties, with disrepair.

“There is the devastating issue of stress and worry of finding somewhere to live.

“There is also the more long-term enduring issue of people who are black, Asian, or minority ethnic who feel they have to put up with terrible conditions.”

In a statement SpareRoom said their “discrimination policy states nobody can discriminate against or reject someone due to their race.

“We look into every single report of discrimination we receive and investigate thoroughly – if we find that racial discrimination has occurred we’ll remove the user permanently.”

While racism in renting is not a new issue it is believed that it may be getting worse due to the low supply of private rentals available verses demand.

‘The current crisis will carry on’

Jabeer Butt OBE, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, says competition for “a smaller and smaller resource” may be making things worse.

“You can imagine racism is going to be at the forefront of that sort of thing,” he said.

“But then the reality also is that we know what the solutions are, we know what we can do to make it better.

“We know a significant programme of building social housing will change the whole dynamic of the housing crisis that we face…we’re not even managing to build affordable housing to the scale that we’re meant to be doing.

“And until we do that, the current crisis will carry on or potentially get worse.”

UK

Man admits arson after major fire at MP Sharon Hodgson’s constituency office

Published

11 mins ago

September 13, 2025

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Man admits arson after major fire at MP Sharon Hodgson's constituency office

A man has admitted arson after a major fire at an MP’s constituency office.

Joshua Oliver, 28, pleaded guilty to starting the fire which destroyed the office of Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, at Vermont House in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

The fire also wrecked a small charity for people with very rare genetic diseases and an NHS mental health service for veterans.

The guilty plea was entered at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on the basis that it was reckless rather than intentional.

The Crown did not accept that basis of plea.

Oliver, of no fixed address, had been living in a tent nearby, the court heard.

Northumbria Police previously said it was “alerted to a fire at a premises on Woodland Terrace in the Washington area” shortly after 12.20am on Thursday.

“Emergency services attended and no one is reported to have been injured in the incident,” it added.

Drone footage from the scene showed extensive damage to the building.

A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.

“We have worked closely with Northumbria Police as they carried out their investigation.”

Oliver was remanded in custody and will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday, 14 October.

UK

Community voices shock and fear after woman raped in ‘racially aggravated attack’

Published

6 hours ago

September 13, 2025

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Community voices shock and fear after woman raped in 'racially aggravated attack'

Dozens of people have gathered at a Sikh temple to attend an emergency meeting after police in the West Midlands said they are investigating the rape of a woman as a “racially motivated attack”.

The victim, reported to be a British-born Sikh aged in her 20s, told officers a racist remark was made to her during the attack in Oldbury, which was reported to police just before 8.30am on Tuesday.

The Sikh Federation (UK) said the perpetrators allegedly told the woman during the attack: “You don’t belong in this country, get out.”

Jas Singh, principal advisor to the Sikh Federation (UK), was among the group of faith and community leaders responsible for holding the meeting at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara temple in Smethwick, a few miles from Oldbury, following concerns within the community.

“I think if you look at it in the context of the climate, it makes it even more worrying because there is a trend of hatred… the targeting of migrants,” he said.

“Ultimately, what that means is the targeting of people’s skin colour, and as Sikhs we have the most distinct, unique identity,” he added.

“We bear the brunt of all prejudice and ignorance, and hate.”

Similar sentiments were raised at the meeting, with many horrified by the reports of the sexual assault as well as concerns about their own safety.

“People are trying to divide us,” said a woman in her 30s, who did not want to be named but said, as a Sikh woman, she wanted to be present to have her voice heard.

She was not only referencing the sexual assault but also what she believes has been an increase in overt discrimination.

“Let’s call it what it is, this is racism,” she told the meeting, as she broke down in tears.

Reverend Nick Ross, from Smethwick’s Holy Trinity Church, was also in attendance at the emergency meeting.

He commented on “offensive” graffiti that had been left on the side of the wall of the Sikh temple, while saying his Anglican church had also been defaced.

“We cannot just ignore it, it will go on and it will build, and there will be incidents like this,” he said, referencing racial tensions across the country.

Police are still trying to identify the perpetrators of the attack and want to speak to anyone who may have seen two white men in the area.

The first is described as having a shaved head and a heavy build, and was wearing a dark sweatshirt with gloves on, and the second was reportedly wearing a grey top with a silver zip.

Chief Superintendent Kim Madill, of Sandwell Police, said: “We are working really hard to identify those responsible, with CCTV, forensic and other inquiries well under way.

“We fully understand the anger and worry that this has caused, and I am speaking to people in the community today to reassure them that we are doing everything we can to identify and arrest those responsible.

“Incidents like this are incredibly rare, but people can expect to see extra patrols in the area.”

UK

Roadwork levels hit record highs – as expert partially blames Boris Johnson

Published

6 hours ago

September 13, 2025

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Roadwork levels hit record highs – as expert partially blames Boris Johnson

The number of roadworks in Britain has more than doubled in the past two years – and frustrated drivers are more likely than ever to get stuck behind temporary traffic lights.

Exclusive data obtained by Sky News reveals there were 425,524 miles of roadworks across the UK last year. That’s enough to stretch around the world a whopping 17 times.

It marks a 110% increase compared to 2023, when there were 203,000 miles of lane closures.

Part of the reason for the surge is the 2019 pledge by then prime minister Boris Johnson to roll out full fibre broadband to every corner of the nation as part of his “levelling up” agenda.

Causeway Technologies infrastructure director Nick Smee told Sky News: “It’s absolutely true that the rollout of super-fast fibre has caused a huge spike because we all want those facilities.

“The problem is you can’t do it without digging up the roads.”

The original deadline for Johnson’s ‘Project Gigabit’ was this year, but this has been delayed to 2032, meaning drivers could face at least another six years of disruptions.

Meanwhile, the government is hoping another 100,000 public electric vehicle charging points will be installed by the end of the decade, which will inevitably lead to more asphalt being ripped up for the cables to be laid.

Roadworks are now a regular occurrence in large parts of the country, with emergency repairs often needed for leaking Victorian water pipes and other utilities.

In some cases, the same streets are repeatedly dug up in quick succession, leading to misery for motorists and an increased risk of potholes.

Drivers in London trundled through 490,893 roadworks in 2024, the highest number nationwide, averaging more than 1,300 sites across the capital every day.

Kent recorded 134,430 projects, and Surrey had 132,291. Essex and Hampshire complete the list of the top five roadwork hotspots.

In January 2024, the then Conservative government said it would crack down on disruptive street works.

The Labour government stood by the pledge and said it would start charging firms that unnecessarily leave roads closed over weekends, which hadn’t previously been possible.

Officials also planned to double fines for delayed roadworks by this summer. However, the Department for Transport has now told Sky News that won’t happen until next year at the earliest “due to other high priority legislative work pushing it back”.

Clive Bairsto, chief executive of the trade association Street Works UK, said: “If you overfine people, the industry will be forced to use firms of less integrity and you’ll end up with the poor performers being used to do jobs rather than the good performers, which is what we want to encourage.”