Section 31: Discrimination: consent for assignment or sub-letting.

Sex Discrimination Act 1975 · 1975 c.65

This provision is repealed
It is retained for historical reference and may not reflect the law currently in force.

Part III: Discrimination in Other Fields

REPEALED on 2010-10-01 by Equality Act 2010.

The text below is from the dated revised snapshot immediately preceding this status change. It is historical and is not current law. View the historical source.

31(1)

Where the licence or consent of the landlord or of any other person is required for the disposal to any person of premises in Great Britain comprised in a tenancy, it is unlawful for the landlord or other person

(a) to discriminate against a woman by withholding the licence or consent for disposal of the premises to her, or

(b) in relation to such a licence or consent, to subject to harassment a woman to whom the disposal would be made if the licence or consent were given.

31(2)

Subsection (1) does not apply if—

(a) the person withholding a licence or consent, or a near relative of his (“the relevant occupier”) resides, and intends to continue to reside, on the premises, and

(b) there is on the premises, in addition to the accommodation occupied by the relevant occupier, accommodation (not being storage accommodation or means of access) shared by the relevant occupier with other persons residing on the premises who are not members of his household, and

(c) the premises are small premises as defined in section 32(2).

31(3)

In this section “tenancy” means a tenancy created by a lease or sub-lease, by an agreement for a lease or sub-lease or by a tenancy agreement or in pursuance of any enactment; and “disposal”, in relation to premises comprised in a tenancy, includes assignment or assignation of the tenancy and sub-letting or parting with possession of the premises or any part of the premises.

31(4)

This section applies to tenancies created before the passing of this Act, as well as to others.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.