Landlords have branded the Right to Rent scheme a “farce” after a second court ruling which suggests that agents and landlords following Home Office protocol could be exposed to accusations that they have breached human rights.
Under the UK Government policy, landlords are responsible for checking the immigration status of their tenants with the prospect of prosecution if they know or have “reasonable cause to believe” that the property they are letting is occupied by someone who does not have a right to rent in the UK.
Where the Home Office identifies a tenant without the right to rent, they will issue a formal notice to the landlord who then uses this as the basis to repossess the property. In a judgement issued by the High Court it has ruled that this breaches the Equality Act on the basis that it amounts to “direct discrimination on the basis of nationality.”