High Court rules Home Office’s ‘right to rent’ scheme unlawfully discriminates

CONTROVERSIAL rules under which landlords can face fines or imprisonment for failing to check whether tenants have a right to be in the UK breach human rights laws, the High Court has ruled.

Mr Justice Martin Spencer found that the Government’s Right to Rent scheme has a “disproportionately discriminatory effect” and has had “little to no effect” on controlling immigration.

The judge ruled in favour of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), which claimed the scheme is “causing landlords to commit race discrimination against those who are perfectly entitled to rent”.

The scheme is part of the Government’s “hostile environment” policy and was introduced under the Immigration Act 2014. The Home Office had argued that the scheme is neither “directly or indirectly discriminatory” and is intended to discourage illegal residence in the UK.

But, in a decision given on Friday, the judge ruled the scheme is incompatible with the right to freedom from discrimination, enshrined in Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

He also ruled that a Government decision to begin the scheme in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland without further evaluation would be “irrational” and breach equality laws.

He said: “Parliament’s policy has been outweighed by its potential for race discrimination.”