Previous research has shown that ethnic minorities and physically disabled people are discriminated against on the rental market of the city of Leuven in Belgium. In a new correspondence study (654.92 KB) "pdf" – commissioned by the City of Leuven – Prof. Pieter-Paul Verhaeghe and Elif Dincer monitored again the level of rental discrimination.
For this study, they conducted a field experiment of 1.864 correspondence tests, in which two candidates applied for the same rental advertisement on Immoweb. Both candidates are similar in all relevant aspects except for the discrimination ground under scrutiny. We compared for example the treatment of a candidate with a Moroccan name (test group) with that of a candidate with a Belgian name (control group), or a blind candidate with a guidance dog (test group) with a non-blind candidate (control group).
It appeared that rental candidates with Moroccan, Congolese or mixed names are still adversely treated by landlords and realtors in Leuven. After a profound increase in ethnic discrimination between 2019 and 2021 – probably due to the Covid pandemic – the level of discrimination decreased again in 2023 towards the baseline level of four years ago.
With respect to physical disability, we notice a stable pattern of discrimination. Especially wheelchair users are severely excluded from the rental housing market, but also blind candidates with an assistance dog experience unequal treatment.
The report in Dutch can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11520396
