It’s not often that we cover equal status cases but the decision in this case highlights how the age of complainants can perhaps influence the size of compensatory awards when it comes to discriminatory provision of services, in this particular instance relating to an 80-year old tenant who applied for Housing Assistance Payment.

It's also worth noting that the Equal Status Act does not exactly mirror the Employment Equality Acts when it comes to discrimination against those with protected characteristics in the provision of goods and services. The ‘housing assistance’ ground, which came into force in 2016 and applies only to ESA and not EEA cases, is essentially a tenth protected characteristic. It is discriminatory to refuse to let