Landlord Voice Magazine February 2016 - Leeds | Page 8

RIGHT TO RENT
IS IT REALLY NECESSARY?

T

“The scheme hasn’t had
any significant financial
impact at all. Rather,
it has the potential to
create a culture of fear
and discrimination.”

8 | LandlordVoice | February 2016

he Government’s Right to
Rent immigration checks
were rolled out across
the rest of the country on 1st
February following a year-long
pilot in the West Midlands.

Under the new Home
Office rules landlords face
fines of up to £3,000 per
tenant for failing to check
documents such as passports
which prove a tenant’s right to
be in the country but figures
obtained by law firm Simpson
Millar show less than a dozen
fines have been issued since
the pilot started.

Immigration lawyer
Sumita Gupta has criticised
the Right to Rent scheme in
the Daily Mail, saying it has
‘little impact but the potential
to cause significant fear and
hardship for migrant groups.’

She added: “Given that
the pilot covered an area
with more than 2 million
people it is hard to see how
the scheme hasn’t had any
significant financial impact at
all. Rather, it has the potential
to create a culture of fear and

discrimination.”

James Brokenshire,
Immigration Minister, said:
“We firmly believe in creating
an immigration system which
is fair to those here legally,
but firm with those who try to
break the rules. That is why
Right to Rent is so important.

“Over the past year, we
have taken time to engage
with the people who will
be affected by the scheme,
and carried out a thorough
evaluation.

“The system we have
designed is light-touch,
and allows those with a
legitimate right to be in the
country to quickly and easily
demonstrate their right to
rent.”

Mr Brokenshire may be
quite right but as he has said
himself, many landlords are
already conducting their own
checks as a matter of course
and with so few prosecutions
during the last 12 months
you have to wonder if the
Right to Rent scheme is really
necessary.

February 2016 | La