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According to the Residential Landlords Association, lawful tenants are finding it increasingly difficult to secure rental accommodation in the private sector because of the government’s Right to Rent immigration checks.
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Right to Rent Pilot
The Right to Rent scheme was piloted in the West Midlands and was considered by the government to be a resounding success. As a result, the scheme is now being rolled out across the UK in stages. Landlords are expected to check the immigration status of tenants before they offer them a tenancy agreement. Any landlord who fails to make appropriate checks could end up with a maximum five-year prison sentence, although this is only likely to apply to serial offenders.
Landlords More Cautious
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has conducted research and has found that landlords are becoming increasingly leery about offering tenancy agreements to anyone with unfamiliar identify documents.
“Whilst the RLA opposes discrimination against tenants because of their race or nationality, the government’s plans are causing confusion and anxiety for many landlords,” says David Smith, director of policy at the RLA.
“If the Government expect landlords to act as border police it should provide the training and material needed to give them the confidence to carry out the checks required of them.”
“In the absence of such support [the JCWI] research sadly shows the inevitable consequences of the policy which the RLA has long voiced concerns about. Faced with considerable sanctions, landlords will inevitably play it safe where a tenant’s identity documents are either unclear or simply not known to them.”
