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An 18-year-old job applicant says she was turned away from a trainee role at an estate agency because her car was considered too old.
Alanah Thompson French, from Burton Joyce in Nottinghamshire, applied for a trainee lettings negotiator position at haart in Nottingham in December 2025.
She says she was told her application would not be taken forward because her vehicle – a 2014 Citroën C1 – did not meet a requirement for cars to be under 10 years old.
In a statement haart said: “It’s extremely important that people who work for us use reliable vehicles for their own personal safety, particularly where they travel many miles each day and often work alone.”
French, currently working full-time in a coffee shop, said she had to declare the age of her car in the online application for the role at haart as a question asked, “is your car under 10 years old” and she ticked “no”.
She told the press: “It’s just a bit of a kick in the teeth because obviously when you’re applying for jobs, you’re applying for loads and loads of jobs and to get an email back saying that… I just don’t understand it.
“It doesn’t seem fair because how am I meant to afford a bigger and better car? And how am I meant to get insured on a bigger and better car?”
French said she saved up £2,800 and bought the car in May. It had had one previous owner and less than 40,000 miles on the clock.
haart’s statement added: “Evidence from motoring organisations shows that the likelihood of mechanical problems increases as vehicles get older.
“For that reason, and in line with many organisations that require staff to use their own cars for work purposes, our policy is that vehicles should normally be under 10 years old.”
Danielle Parsons, employment partner at Irwin Mitchell, said haart’s car policy raised questions for those wanting to enter its workforce.
“I’m concerned that this policy may disproportionately exclude younger, less affluent, applicants from applying for this job, particularly as this is an entry level position and job vacancies are currently few and far between.
“The response from haart doesn’t point to any alternatives to this sort of blanket ban,” she said.
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