Landlords will have a major say in Right to Rent case

The Home Office plans to reassess the Right to Rent scheme after High Court ruled that Right to Rent scheme is discriminatory and breaches the Human Rights Act.

The Right to Rent policy was introduced by Theresa May on 1^st of February 2016 and requires private landlords in England to check whether new tenants have the right to live in the UK before renting out their property. The penalties for not following through with these checks can result in fines of up to £3,000 per tenant or a prison sentence for up to five years.

The research led by JCWI has found that because of the Right to Rent scheme, 51 % of landlords are less likely to let their property to foreign nationals. Today, the Court of Appeal has granted the RLA permission to make written and oral submissions regarding this matter, giving landlords a major say in the Right to Rent case.

RLA Policy Director, David Smith, said: “When this policy was first discussed we warned the Government of the unintended consequences of the Right to Rent scheme. How can a landlord be expected to know what every passport in every country is supposed to look like? For the overwhelming majority of landlords, it makes no commercial sense to limit their access to a large proportion of the prospective tenant market.”

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas also spoke on the matter: “Right to Rent was always discriminatory by design. Forcing landlords to check tenants’ passports and face criminal sanctions for renting to the wrong person encourages even suspicion of anyone who doesn’t look or sound typically British.”