Right to Rent is creating a hostile atmosphere in the UK’s private rented sector with more landlords refusing to consider renting to non-British nationals, including citizens from the European Union.
Some 44% of private rented sector landlords are less likely to rent to those without a British passport, up from 42% a year ago, according to research from the Residential Landlords Association (RLA).
But the research also found that landlords are reluctant to rent to European Union citizens due to concerns about Brexit. Some 20% of landlords said that they are less likely to consider letting property to EU or EEA nationals, up from 17% in 2017.
The research reveals that the fear of getting things wrong also means that 53% of landlords are now less likely to rent to those with limited time to remain in the UK, up from 49% in 2017.
The Right to Rent scheme, which was introduced in 2016, has never been popular as it requires landlords to carry out immigration checks to make sure that they do not rent a property to someone who does not have the right to live in the UK.