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‘Non-veg eaters need not apply’: Chennai man’s rental post triggers debate on landlords' biases
A social media post has sparked discussions on housing discrimination in India, where landlords often refuse tenants based on dietary preferences.
Finding a house to rent in India’s metro cities is no easy feat, especially when potential tenants are met with unreasonable demands from landlords. A recent social media post has reignited the conversation about the subtle ways in which housing discrimination continues to thrive, with food choices now being a key filter.
Here is the post
In a post on X , user Prashanth Rangaswamy, a Chennai resident shared a screenshot of a message he received from a prospective landlord, which read: “Sorry sir. Looking at veg families only.” He captioned it with a tongue-in-cheek remark: “Eating non-veg is injurious to finding flats for rent in Chennai.”
The post has since triggered a wave of reactions online, with many users expressing frustration over food-based discrimination in housing. While it's not uncommon in India for landlords to refuse tenants based on their dietary preferences, the resurfacing of such cases has once again exposed the deep biases embedded in urban housing markets.
Some users were quick to call out the practice. “Few people reject tenants based on caste or religion too. For example, if you are a Muslim, they simply say: sorry, we don’t rent to Muslims,” one person commented, highlighting the broader issue of exclusion.
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Others, however, defended the landlord’s decision, arguing that homeowners have the right to set terms for who lives in their property. One user wrote: “His house, his rules. Buy your own and rent it to whoever you want. Simple.”
A more nuanced perspective came from someone who said they were conflicted: “I’ve had vegetarian friends say the smell of meat makes them feel physically sick. I can’t imagine forcing someone to live next to the smell of mutton and beef if it genuinely affects them. I sort of get it.”
Another user attempted to draw a distinction: “You’ll understand landlord rights when you become one. But don’t confuse food preferences with caste-based exclusion — those are not the same thing.”
