Man faced online racism trying to find room to rent - this is what he had to do

A tweet on went after a Black man posted his experience contacting a landlord about an advertisement for a room on the SpareRoom website, revealing the ethnic minorities face from online renting websites.

The tweet, which garnered over 750,000 views, included two images: the first showed the man inquiring if the was still available, to which the landlord responded negatively. The second image depicted the same individual, but with his display picture changed to that of a white man, asking the landlord the same question. This time, the landlord responded affirmatively. Izuchukwu Egbuiba, 27, spoke to The about his experience.

X users responded with outrage and disbelief, many sharing their own experiences of discrimination when searching for properties online. Izuchukwu, who began using in July 2023, tweeted about his experience with the platform.

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The Mirror spoke to the 27-year-old about the situation, he explained: “I've rented out two apartments from SpareRoom in the past, but it's not been easy. I have to continually search for months and it's been really difficult.

“Sometimes, you subscribe to the premium service, but even after a month, you still haven't found anything. So, you end up settling for more expensive options or less desirable accommodations because they're willing to accept you,” he added.

SpareRoom wasn’t Izuchukwu’s only option when looking for a place to rent. “I'm a single person, and for me with sites like it feels like it’s mainly for people looking to live in a house. So I use SpareRoom mainly because it's kind of easier to get shared apartment majority,” he said.

Regarding the viral incident on X, Izuchukwu explained: "I've received several rejections similar to this. When you see a house posted recently, and then the landlord tells you it's taken, but I've not gone to the extent I did with this particular landlord. I thought, let me give it a try because not all houses can be taken.”

"I went back to my original account and asked him, Is this room still available and to this day got no response. When I went back to the fake account I created to ask him the same question he responded immediately,” he said.

When asked if lanlords can justify not being honest with renters the 27-year-old said: "Some suggest the landlord may have had previous issues with Black tenants, but we can't justify that. It implies any landlord could be racist by using that excuse.”

Despite reporting the incident to the police and alerting SpareRoom, Izuchukwu remains skeptical about change. “It's going to get worse with the current immigration crisis,” he said. “The government plays a role by pushing negative narratives that blame immigrants for things, leading to questions such as about our ability to pay rent, if there's a change, it has to start from the top as well,” he ended.

SpareRoom is the UK’s leading flat-sharing platform, with more than 10 million registered users. Renters can sign up, search for available flats, contact landlords directly, and attend viewings. Launched in 2004, it has facilitated countless connections between renters and landlords.

The Mirror reached out to SpareRoom for comment and Matt Hutchinson, Director at flatshare site SpareRoom, said: “It’s illegal for anyone renting property in any form to discriminate based on race or nationality and we take a zero-tolerance approach. We will always take action to close the accounts of anyone who breaks the law and prevent them from ever returning to our platform."

“We ask users to report behaviour like this, which is really easy to do through our platform. Although racist language is flagged by our systems which scan messages for certain language, it’s much harder for those systems to detect discrimination when it’s not overt. User reporting helps us gather information so we can ban offenders who discriminate in less easily detectable ways," he continued.

Under the Equality Act 2010, discrimination based on race, , or in housing is prohibited. This includes right-to-rent checks carried out by landlords or letting agents in England to ensure potential tenants can legally reside in the UK.

The Renters (Right to Rent) bill also prohibits discrimination, and that renters in the private sector are entitled to a decent home and should be considered on an individual basis. The Race Equality Foundation, a national charity addressing racism in , , and since 1995, has been actively involved in this issue.

Jabeer Butt OBE, chief executive of the charity, commented: “This practice has unfortunately been going on for at least the last 40 years, if not longer. Despite seeing it revealed on social media, it's been demonstrated time and again over the years” he said.

“Since 2010, there have been specific things that have been done that have perhaps made the situation worse. In particular, one of the immigration acts introduced controls on who was allowed to rent, and effectively made private landlords immigration officers," he said.

“So, they had to check the status of those people applying to rent their properties and what was discovered is that what landlords did to avoid having to go through that rigmarole was to on the basis of your name, then decide whether or not they would even offer you an opportunity to view the property,” he continued.

“It's an illegal practice and it contradicts the Equality Act. This act applies equally to landlords and online platforms. But the issue is an enforcement which is difficult to do. Unless somebody is willing to make a complaint and follow it through, enforcement remains a significant challenge," he added.

On the housing market and the increase of homes Jabeer said: "More people will end up living in the private rented sector because they can't afford to buy. Social housing is in short supply, so private renting is the only solution for many, especially young people.”

On the effectiveness of the Equality Act of 2010 Jabeer said: “We advocated for changes to the equality legislation because we believe it hasn't worked as intended. Without a system of enforcement, the laws won't make a difference.”

One whether there is hope for online renting spaces, he added: “Young people in the private rented sector are making it clear they won't tolerate discriminatory practices. I suspect over time as private renting becomes the experience of more and more people that it will challenge the way the system is operating and people are going to become more loud, making it hard for politicians to ignore,” he ended.