‘Right to rent’ policy fuelling discrimination Landlords ‘rejecting tenants on appearance, name or accent’
THE Home Office has been accused of ignoring concerns that housing rules piloted in the West Midlands are causing racial discrimination.
A “right to rent” policy, in which landlords can be prosecuted for renting homes to people who are in the country illegally, was tested in Birmingham, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton.
But a new report has warned the Home Office failed to look at concerns that landlords would be scared to rent properties to people based on their appearance, name or accent.
It was published by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, who called on the Government to set up a panel to discover whether the policy has led to discrimination.
He said: “Concerns about right to rent’s impact on racial and other forms of discrimination by landlords, exploitation of migrants and associated criminality, and homelessness, have been raised, repeatedly, by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Crisis, Migrants’ Rights Network and others.
“They have criticised the absence of any monitoring of the scheme by the Home Office.”
Under the policy, landlords are required to carry out “reasonable enquiries” to establish that prospective tenants have the “right to rent” before agreeing to lease them premises “for residential use”.
It is a criminal offence to knowingly lease a property to someone who isn’t meant to be in the UK, with a sentence of up to five years’ imprisonment, or fine, or both.
The Government said the aim was to encourage people who have overstayed on their visa to leave the country.
Rachel Robinson, of the civil rights group Liberty, said: “This damning report shows Right to Rent to be ineffective and exposes this government’s astonishing ability to turn a blind eye to the discrimination its policies are sowing.”
In September 2014, the Immigration and Security Minister announced that the government would test out Right to Rent in Birmingham, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton from Decem-
Right to Rent... exposes this government’s ability to turn a blind eye to the discrimination its policies are sowing.
ber 2014. It was rolled out to the rest of the country in February 2016. So far, there have been 265 civil fines, which came to £167,520 in total.
The inspector said there was no evidence that the policy had encouraged people to leave the country, and the number of voluntary returns – people choosing to leave the UK – has actually fallen.
Mr Bolt added: “Overall, the right to rent scheme is yet to demonstrate its worth as a tool to encourage immigration compliance.
“Internally, the Home Office has failed to coordinate, maximise or even measure effectively its use.
“Meanwhile, externally it is doing little to address stakeholders’ concerns.”
Rachel Robinson, Liberty