Posts with tag: Right to Rent

Right to Rent checks changed temporarily during coronavirus pandemic

Published On: April 1, 2020 at 8:16 am

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Changes have been temporarily made to the right to rent checks in order to make it easier for landlords to carry them out.

The scheme requires landlords to check that all tenants occupying their properties have legal status to live in the UK. From now on, these temporary changes mean that the Home Office will not require landlords to see original documents and will allow checks to be undertaken via video calls.

Tenants can instead send scanned documents or a photo of documents using email or a mobile app.

The government also advises that landlords should use the Landlord’s Checking Service if a prospective or existing tenant cannot provide any of the existing documents

These checks are still a legal requirement, so they must continue.

Home Secretary Priti Patel commented: “I have introduced these temporary changes to help employers and landlords conduct checks more easily as people follow advice to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives, during the coronavirus outbreak.”

Landlords once will again be asked to carry out full checks on prospective tenants and on existing tenants who rented a property during the pandemic.

The full announcement from the government can be read here.

EU citizens should have physical proof of right to rent

Published On: January 27, 2020 at 9:06 am

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Proposals have been made to help prevent EU citizens with settled status from facing severe difficulties accessing healthcare, housing and employment post Brexit. 

Last week, The House of Commons voted on an amendment passed in the House of Lord to the EU Withdrawal Bill. This will require EU citizens to be given a physical status document to prove their right to rent a property and work in the UK.

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, the3million and the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) believe that without this amendment there is a risk of landlords and employers being reluctant, without immediate physical proof of their status, to let a home or offer a job to EU citizens.

Under the EU Settlement Scheme, the Government plans only to give EU citizens a digital code to prove their residency for landlords and employers to look up online.

Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants previously undertook research on the Government’s Right to Rent policy. 150 mystery shopping enquiries from prospective tenants asked landlords to conduct an online status check. 85% received no response and only three responses explicitly stated that the landlord was willing to conduct an online check.

It also found that landlords were far happier to respond positively when the tenant could provide a clear physical document proving their status.

A report published by the3million last week also week found that 89% of EU citizens are unhappy about the lack of a physical document.

Calls for EU citizens to be given such a document have been made also by the Exiting the European Union Select Committee, the Home Affairs Select Committee and the House of Lords EU Justice sub-committee which warned to the “parallel with the lack of documents contributing to the Windrush scandal.” 

In a joint statement, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, the3million and the RLA, said: “MPs should back what is a pragmatic and common-sense proposal.  

“It should not be controversial that EU citizens who have played such a positive role to the life of the UK should be able to easily prove their rights with a physical document. A digital-only status will massively disadvantage EU citizens against British nationals with a passport, and anyone else who can quickly and conveniently prove their status with a simple official document.”

Is new Right to Rent guidance breaking UK law?

Published On: August 6, 2019 at 8:59 am

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New Government guidance on Right to Rent would see landlords breaking the law if they followed it, according to the Residential Landlords Association (RLA).

In the document for this new guidance it says that landlords will only be required to see passports and airline tickets as proof nationals from certain countries planning on staying in the UK for up to six months are allowed to rent property. Landlords will not have to check visas.

This includes nationals from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the United States (known as B5JSSK nationals).

The RLA has pointed out that, whilst this guidance has no legal standing, the legally binding Code of Practice agreed by Parliament makes clear that, for such nationals, landlords must be shown clear evidence from the Home Office that the holder has the right to reside in the UK. This includes residence on a permanent basis or a time-limited period.

The RLA argues that a simple airline ticket with a passport does not meet this threshold. Without a corresponding change to the Code of Practice by Parliament, this guidance does not give any legal cover for landlords, should a tenant say longer than six months.

A court judgement has highlighted that Right to Rent breaches human rights law because it causes racial discrimination that otherwise would not happen. The RLA has written to the Home Secretary in response to this, calling for the scheme to be scrapped altogether.

Under the Right to Rent policy, private landlords face potential imprisonment of up to five years if they know or have ‘reasonable cause to believe’ that the property they are letting is occupied by someone without the right to rent in the UK. Theresa May introduced this scheme during her time as Home Secretary as part of the Home Office’s hostile environment for immigrants.

David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association, has commented: “This represents a new low in the sorry saga of the Right to Rent.

“Having already been ruled to be discriminatory by the High Court, the Government is now putting out guidance which could leave landlords open to prosecution.

“It reinforces once against that the Right to Rent policy needs to go and go now.”

Right to Rent Court Case – Landlords Should Have Their Say

Published On: July 11, 2019 at 8:30 am

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With the continuation of the Government’s Right to Rent scheme under question, landlords will have a major part to play in the court’s consideration of its abolition.

The Government has decided to appeal against the High Court’s damning criticism from earlier in the year that the Right to Rent scheme breaches human rights law as it causes racial discrimination that otherwise would not happen.

Following a Judicial Review of the policy secured by the JCWI and supported by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), it was concluded by the presiding judge that discrimination by landlords was taking place “because of the Scheme.” He highlighted that discrimination by landlords was “logical and wholly predictable” when faced with potential sanctions and penalties for getting things wrong.

The Court of Appeal has now agreed that the RLA will be able to make a written and oral submission to the case ensuring that the views of landlords are at the centre of the case.

The Right to Rent policy states that private landlords face potential imprisonment of up to five years if they know or have “reasonably cause to believe” that the property they are letting is occupied by a person that does not have the right to rent in the UK. 

Theresa May introduced the scheme during her time as Home Secretary, as part of the Home Office’s hostile environment for immigrants.

The RLA, the JCWI and the3million, which represents EU citizens in the UK, got together last month to call on Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt to scrap Right to Rent in the event that one of them becomes the next Prime Minister.

David Smith, Policy Director for the RLA, said: “The Right to Rent has been a failure. No one has been prosecuted under the scheme but it has created a great deal of anxiety for landlords who do not want to go to prison for getting it wrong.

“We are disappointed that the Government has chosen to appeal against what was a clear and damning verdict by the High Court. However, we will ensure that the views of landlords are well represented as we send a message that they should not be used to cover for the failings in the UK border agencies.”

Coalition Calls on Conservative Hopefuls to Scrap Right to Rent

Published On: June 24, 2019 at 8:59 am

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With candidates now campaigning to become the next Conservative Party Leader, a coalition is urging them to scrap the controversial Right to Rent scheme.

This coalition of organisations is made up of the Resident Landlords Association, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and the3million, which represents EU citizens in the UK. They have united to call on Jeremy Hunt Boris Johnson to scrap the Right to Rent policy, after it was ruled by the High Court to be a cause of discrimination against British ethnic minorities.

Under this policy, private landlords face up to five years in prison if they know or have “reasonable cause to believe” that their let is being occupied by someone who does not have the right to rent in the UK.

Theresa originally introduced the scheme May, during her time as Home Secretary, as part of the Home Office’s hostile environment policy.

Its abolition has been called for, following damning criticism by the High Court earlier in the year. It stated that Right to Rent breaches human rights law by causing racial discrimination that otherwise would not happen.

Following a Judicial Review of the policy secured by the JCWI and supported by the RLA, it was concluded by the presiding judge that discrimination by landlords was taking place “because of the scheme”. In his judgement he said that discrimination by landlords was “logical and wholly predictable” when faced with potential sanctions and penalties for getting things wrong.

The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has also concluded the Right to Rent had “yet to demonstrate its worth as a tool to encourage immigration compliance”.

David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association, said: “The Right to Rent has been a failure. No one has been prosecuted under the scheme but it has created a great deal of anxiety for landlords who do not want to go to prison for getting it wrong.

“Landlords should not be used to cover for the failings in the UK Border Agencies.”

Nicolas Hatton, CEO of the3million, said: “Two-thirds of EU citizens in the UK live in private rented housing and will be affected if this failed scheme continues.  

“We are already seeing that landlords are less likely to rent to anyone without a British passport, and uncertainty about Brexit added to the hostile environment will only increase the discrimination EU citizens are facing. We urge the UK government to scrap this scheme and end the discrimination.”

Chai Patel, Legal Policy Director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: “The Home Office is now arguing in its appeal that it is justified in causing racial discrimination against British ethnic minority families struggling to find a home. It is arguing that black and brown British people’s dignity, humanity, and rights can be tossed aside to pursue Theresa May’s Hostile Environment.  

“That cannot be acceptable in modern Britain. The new Prime Minister must commit to ending landlord immigration checks, and the discrimination they cause.”

New Post-Brexit Right to Rent Guidance Issued by Government

Published On: May 17, 2019 at 9:58 am

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New guidance on conducting Right to Rent checks on EU citizens post-Brexit has been issued by the Government, to help landlords and letting agents carry out the correct checks and avoid penalties.

The advice on the controversial Right to Rent scheme, which requires landlords in England to check the immigration status of all prospective tenants, is designed to prepare those who let to EU citizens for a post-Brexit Britain.

Given that two-thirds of all EU nationals in the UK currently live in private rental housing, the guidance regarding their status is welcome.

Landlords and agents have been informed that they should continue to conduct Right to Rent checks on EU, EEA and Swiss citizens in the same way as they should now – usually by checking and making a copy of their passport or identity card – until 1st January 2021.

The official Government guidance can be read in full here.

Earlier this year, a High Court judge ruled that the Right to Rent scheme breaches the European Convention on Human Rights, on the basis that it has led to inadvertent discrimination against non-UK nationals with the right to rent in the country.

The latest research from the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) suggests that around a fifth of landlords are less likely to let to EU or EEA nationals as a result of Right to Rent, a figure the organisation warns could rise post-Brexit.

David Smith, the Policy Director of the RLA, says: “Landlords are not border police, and cannot be expected to know who does and who does not have the right to live here.”

We urge all landlords with properties in England to read the new guidance issued by the Government, to understand how you will be affected by Right to Rent checks on EU citizens when Brexit finally comes to fruition.