My understanding is that as an owner of a self-catering property in the UK we can refuse a booking without giving a reason, however at the moment I can’t point to any reliable source to confirm that - I might have to dig deep! It’s different for a hotel.paolo wrote:This is a grey area. According to Visit Britain as a self-catering accommodation provider you can discriminate on grounds of age only if you can objectively justify it, for example "if you can show evidence of problems they have had with that age group in the recent past or where other providers have reported such problems – for example, during large events such as festivals when large groups of younger people tend to gather"
That doesn't really apply to most properties.
But when owners talk about vetting, they are not just talking about groups of youngsters. Some are forming opinions based on names, nationalities, facebook page, etc. For example, where I am in France a lot of French owners will not rent to the French.
I would be interested to know: what is a legitimate reason for refusing a booking? Excluding the above scenario, and assuming they don't exceed the max number of people or have animals.
However, if we give reasons for refusing it has to be within the terms of the Equality Act, so you can’t impose a blanket ban based on age (if over 18 ), gender, race etc etc. You can choose not to accept single-sex groups as long as you apply that both to all male and all female groups, not just one.
So in answer to the question "what is a legitimate reason for refusing a booking?” the only other one I can come up with is “I don’t believe our property would be suitable for you”, end of.
A grey area indeed.