Landlords ‘refusing to rent to minority Brits’
UK’s ‘hostile environment’ migration policy makes property owners ‘fearful of getting things wrong’, court told
The UK government’s strict immigration strategy is making private landlords reluctant to rent to British citizens from ethnic minority backgrounds, the High Court has heard.
The Home Office’s so-called “hostile environment” policy is designed to make staying in the country as difficult as possible for people without leave to remain, and includes a “Right to Rent” provision that requires landlords to check the immigration status of prospective tenants.
The Independent reports that under the scheme, introduced in 2016, landlords “face the prospect of prosecution” if they know or have “reasonable cause to believe” the property they are letting is occupied by someone who does not have the right to live in the UK. If found guilty, property owners are liable for an unlimited fine or a prison sentence up to five years.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In June, Campaigners from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) were granted permission to bring a judicial review against the Home Office over the scheme. They claim the provision leads to discrimination against people who have a legal right to be in the UK - including British nationals - and puts them at risk of homelessness, says The Guardian.
Opening the case yesterday, Philippa Kaufman QC, representing JCWI, told the High Court that the scheme was “very onerous”, and presents “huge risks and burdens” for landlords. “BAME British citizens are treated less favourably when they don’t have a passport than white British citizens. Where they do not have a passport you then resort to proxies – do they appear British? i.e. skin colour, name, accent, and so forth,” she said.
According to statistics published by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) in 2016, 44% of private landlords are less likely to rent to people who do not have a British passport.
The RLA is also appealing against the scheme. The organisation said that discrimination against ethnic minorities was being fueled by “fear of getting things wrong”, adding: “The Right to Rent is creating a hostile environment for those who are legitimately in the UK but may have documentation that is not easy to understand for landlords.”
Chai Patel, the legal policy director of the JCWI, noted that Home Secretary Sajid Javid had “promised he would learn the lessons of the Windrush scandal, which left many thousands of legal immigrants to the UK destitute, detained and even deported”.
“But he is ignoring the clear evidence, further reinforced by today’s new RLA findings, that requiring landlords to check immigration status does not work and causes exactly the kinds of problems that the Windrush generation faced,” Patel continued.
In March, a report by David Bolt, the independent chief inspector of UK borders and immigration, concluded: “Overall, I found that the RtR scheme had yet to demonstrate its worth as a tool to encourage immigration compliance, with the Home Office failing to coordinate, maximise or even measure effectively its use, while at the same time doing little to address the concerns of stakeholders.”
The Home Office has said it would “inappropriate” to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - December 21, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - losing it, pedal to the metal, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Three fun, festive activities to make the magic happen this Christmas Day
Inspire your children to help set the table, stage a pantomime and write thank-you letters this Christmas!
By The Week Junior Published
-
The best books of 2024 to give this Christmas
The Week Recommends From Percival Everett to Rachel Clarke these are the critics' favourite books from 2024
By The Week UK Published
-
Sport on TV guide: Christmas 2022 and New Year listings
Speed Read Enjoy a feast of sporting action with football, darts, rugby union, racing, NFL and NBA
By Mike Starling Published
-
House of the Dragon: what to expect from the Game of Thrones prequel
Speed Read Ten-part series, set 200 years before GoT, will show the incestuous decline of Targaryen
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
One in 20 young Americans identify as trans or non-binary
Speed Read New research suggests that 44% of US adults know someone who is transgender
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Turner Prize 2022: a ‘vintage’ shortlist?
Speed Read All four artists look towards ‘growth, revival and reinvention’ in their work
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
What’s on TV this Christmas? The best holiday television
Speed Read From films and documentaries to musicals for all the family
By The Week Staff Published
-
Coco vision: up close to Chanel opticals
Speed Read Parisian luxury house adds opticals to digital offering
By The Week Staff Published
-
Immigrant family in Washington welcomes Afghan refugees into their home
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Abba returns: how the Swedish supergroup and their ‘Abba-tars’ are taking a chance on a reunion
Speed Read From next May, digital avatars of the foursome will be performing concerts in east London
By The Week Staff Published