Right to Rent is the name given to a UK Government policy contained in the Immigration Act 2016 whereby landlords in England have to check the immigration status of tenants they rent properties to, and deny lodgings to those who cannot prove they are permitted to live in a rented home. The policy makes it a crime in England for anyone to provide lodgings of a tenancy nature to the targeted people. In addition it requires landlords to report prospective tenants to government authorities if the tenant's documentation is inadequate, as well as whenever a tenant's documentation reaches its time limit while a tenancy is still ongoing. Essentially, the policy of one of legally enforced homelessness, and policing by private citizens, which landlords are required to enforce even if they would morally object. It is one of several measures in the UK's Hostile Environment policy.
Initial rollout
The pilot was responsible for finding 109 individuals who were in the United Kingdom illegally. The scheme was subsequently extended to all of England.
On 1 March 2019 the scheme was ruled to be incompatible with human rights by the High Court of Justice. As a result of the High Court ruling, the restrictions have not been extended to Wales, Scotland or Northen Ireland as of March 2020. However they remain in effect throughout England.
Criticism
Right to Rent has been criticised for discrimination against ethnic minority groups. The trade publicationInside Housing published an article showing that the pilot of right to rent resulted in some landlords being more reluctant to rent to those from minority groups due to the possibility of being fined. The UK government published a 21-page booklet 'A short guide on right to rent' for landlords in July 2019. The Residential Landlords Association are heavily critical of the above July 2019 guidance, maintaining that this "New guidance from the government on its Right to Rent scheme would see landlords breaking the law if they followed it".
