House hunting couple forbidden from viewing dream cottage by sellers because they're gay
Luke Whitehouse says he feels disappointed that such prejudice still exists, ITV News Central Reporter Lucy Kapasi reports
Luke Whitehouse and Lachlan Mantell were told they could not view their dream home by the sellers of the property, because they were gay, and the owners were devoutly Christian.
The pair had been house hunting for the last few years and began searching in earnest after being forced apart during the pandemic.
Luke is from Sedgeley in Dudley, and his boyfriend Lachlan is originally from Australia.
They found the three bed semi-detached cottage in Surrey online, and contacted the sellers to organise a viewing. It should have been their first one.
The sellers replied, refusing to allow them to view the property because they were in a same sex relationship, and attaching passages from the Bible which they said explained their views.
The message the pair received:
"Dear Lachlan and Luke, thank you for sharing your circumstances with us. We're sorry if we seem intrusive, but we just want to make clear that we would be unwilling for two men in partnership to view or buy our house. As it is contrary to the gracious teaching in God's Word, the Holy Bible, e.g. Romans 1:24-28 and Jude 7."
Chapter 1 of the book of Romans in the Bible refers to "sinful desires", "shameful lusts" and "unnatural" sexual relations.
Chapter 7 in Jude refers to the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah which were destroyed by God because of the perceived sexual immorality of the residents.
Luke told ITV News Central,
"It was shocking. I initially laughed because I thought it was a joke.
"I was scrolling down thinking the joke's coming and it never came.
"We were a bit upset, angry, you just don't expect it in 2022 - to get that reaction."
Luke says people are entitled to their own opinions, and it was always the vendors' choice who to sell their home to, but he doesn't think they handled it well.
He says they didn't need to put those sentiments in writing - they could have chosen not to respond or said they were full.
"For me, it made me feel quite naive. I've said for the last few years that [discrimination] isn't a big issue any more and it's highlighted it's still out there, it still exists and people are willing to just discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation."
It had added impact for Luke as he works with schools, educating young people about discrimination, mental health and LGBTQ issues.
He encourages youngsters to speak up if they see discrimination, which motivated him to share his experience.
Luke says his friends and family have been upset too, but they've been comforted by the largely positive public reaction.
They reported the incident to the estate agent selling the house, who said it was against their values and that they no longer wished to list the property.
The couple will continue house hunting after a few weeks' break to recover from the unpleasant experience.
What does the law say?
Naomi Cunningham is a legal expert. She appeared on Good Morning Britain to discuss this story and said this is unlawful discrimination.