The short answer
Since 1 May 2026, landlords and letting agents in England must not do anything to make someone less likely to rent a property because they receive benefits. The same applies to families with children. "No DSS" adverts are gone, but the bigger risk now is inconsistency: one applicant asked about their income, another not, with nothing written down. The fix is a short set of fair questions, asked the same way of everyone, with the answers kept. Voco's tenant questions do exactly that, and never refuse anyone on the call. This guide explains what changed and how to set that up. It is general information, not legal advice.
What changed on 1 May 2026
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 brought in its first set of changes on 1 May 2026. One of them makes it unlawful in England to discriminate against someone who wants to rent because they receive benefits or have children. The government's guide to rental discrimination puts it plainly: you must not do anything to make a tenant less likely to rent a property because they get benefits. It says fines can reach £7,000 for each offence, and sets out limited exceptions.
That covers more than adverts. It reaches the whole path an applicant takes: how a call is answered, which questions are asked, who gets offered a viewing, and how quickly people hear back. Plenty of applicants still search for "DSS accepted" because it was the term in use for years. The term is out of date, and so is the practice of filtering people out on the phone.
Why does consistency protect you?
Most agencies that welcome tenants on benefits are not the problem the law is aimed at. Their risk is different. On a busy Saturday one negotiator asks a caller about their job, another forgets, and a third makes an assumption. None of it is written down. If a complaint arrives months later, there is no record of what anyone was asked.
The answer is dull and effective:
- The same questions for everyone, in the same order, whatever the caller sounds like or says first.
- Only what you need to arrange the let: where they are living now, who will live there, when they want to move.
- Nobody turned away on the phone. Decisions are made later, by a person, against the same criteria for every applicant.
- The answers kept, so you can show what was asked and when.
What should you not ask applicants?
Some questions should never be part of an enquiry call, whoever asks them and however well meant. Avoid anything about health or disability, age, nationality, race, religion, sex or sexuality. These are the areas the Equality Act 2010 protects, and they have no place in arranging a viewing.
Questions about which benefits someone receives need care too. An answer such as PIP, DLA or ESA tells you something about the person's health. If you ask, you need a lawful reason to collect that answer and to keep it, and you should hold it as carefully as any other sensitive record.
How do Voco's tenant questions work?
Voco has a setting called We welcome tenants on benefits. When it is on, the receptionist asks your chosen questions before going any further, on the phone, in your website chat and on WhatsApp.
The questions start from one opening question and branch:
| When | Default question |
|---|---|
| First, for everyone | Are you working, or on benefits? |
| If they are working | Are you renting at the moment? |
| If they are working | How long have you been renting, and how much is the rent? |
| If they are working | Can you show the rent is paid on time? For example, a standing order. |
| If they are working | If you are not renting: where are you staying at the moment? |
| If they are on benefits | Is it just you, or will someone be staying with you? |
| If they are on benefits | If someone is staying with you: what benefits are you all on? |
| Everyone (off until you switch it on) | When are you looking to move in? |
| Everyone (off until you switch it on) | How many adults and children would be living there? |
| Everyone (off until you switch it on) | Do you have any pets? |
Every question can be reworded, switched off or moved to another group, and you can add up to five of your own. Voco will not save a question that asks about health, disability, age, nationality, race, religion, sex or sexuality. If you type one, it tells you which area the question touches and asks you to reword it or leave it out.
You also choose two things about the conversation:
- When the questions are asked. By default, once the caller says they want to view. Or as soon as they ask about a property.
- What happens next. By default, Voco offers viewing times or texts a link to book one. Or it takes their details so your team can call back.
Nobody is refused on the call
This is the part that matters most. Whatever the caller answers, Voco carries on to the viewing or the call back you chose. It does not judge the answers, score them or hint that someone is unsuitable. The answers wait on the applicant's card on your Lettings board, next to the property they asked about, for a person in your team to look at. How Voco answers questions about that property is covered in can an AI receptionist answer questions about my properties?
That keeps decisions where they belong, with you, and gives you a record of exactly what each applicant was asked and what they said.
The statement you accept first
The questions are yours, so Voco will not ask them until the account owner has accepted a short statement. In summary, it confirms that you:
- choose the questions and are responsible for them, including any you reword or add
- will follow letting law, including the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and the Equality Act 2010, and will not refuse anyone or treat them less favourably because they receive benefits, have children, or because of any protected characteristic
- are the data controller for the answers, with Voco handling them under its data processing agreement
- have a lawful reason to collect answers that are health information, such as PIP, DLA or ESA
- understand Voco does not give legal advice
The acceptance covers the exact questions you saved. Change them, and Voco stops asking until the statement is accepted again, so what it asks is always something you have signed off.
Setting it up
Switching the questions on takes a few minutes: read the defaults, untick or reword anything that does not fit your agency, add your own, accept the statement and save. Ring your own number afterwards and play an applicant on benefits, then one who is working, and check both conversations sound the way you want.
The questions work alongside the rest of Voco's lettings tools, which the full set of Voco's lettings tools covers. For how calls are answered and qualified generally, see how Voco handles calls for letting agents. Voco costs about 29p a minute with no monthly fee and no contract.
To hear a lettings call end to end, ring the property demo.
