A controversial Tory policy under which landlords face fines if they don’t check the immigration status of tenants is in breach human rights laws, the High Court has ruled.
Right to Rent, which was rolled out across England in 2016, requires landlords to establish that tenants have a right to be in the country by taking copies of documents such as passports or identity cards.
Judge Martin Spencer ruled the scheme is incompatible with the right to freedom from discrimination, and has had “little to no effect” on controlling immigration, the Press Association reports.
Campaigners have long said it has has left British citizens without passports, as well as foreigners at a disadvantage in the private rental market.
Failure to comply can lead to fines for landlords of up to £3,000 a tenant, while those who persistently flout the law by failing to carry out checks can face up to five years in prison.
Judge Spencer also ruled that a government decision to commence the scheme in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland without further evaluation would be “irrational” and breach equality laws.
He said the rules were “intended to bite, and bite hard, on landlords” in order to be effective, but it appeared they had not had this effect and therefore, if anything, the Government would be inclined to tighten, rather than relax the scheme.
He said: “I would conclude that, in the circumstances of this case, Parliament’s policy has been outweighed by its potential for race discrimination.
“As I have found, the measures have a disproportionately discriminatory effect and I would assume and hope that those legislators who voted in favour of the scheme would be aghast to learn of its discriminatory effect.”
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) says its research suggests landlords who have no wish to discriminate are being forced to do so.
A mystery shopping exercise by the JCWI in 2017 found that a British Black Minority Ethnic tenant without a passport was 26% more likely to receive a negative response or no response than a BME tenant who could provide a British passport.
They also argued there is little evidence the approach is having an impact in the Government’s efforts to create a “hostile environment” for illegal immigrants.
The judge said the evidence he had heard, from sources including the JCWI, and the charities Shelter and Crisis, suggests the extent of the discrimination is such that it is “a short step” to conclude it is having a “real effect” on the ability of those discriminated against to get housing.
Rowan Smith, solicitor from law firm Leigh Day which represented the JCWI, said: “This judgment is a resounding denunciation of the legality of the Government’s flagship hostile environment policy.
“The judge unequivocally came to the conclusion that, where a Government scheme causes discrimination carried out by a third party, human rights law holds the Government responsible.”
The Right To Rent scheme, which was initially trialled in the West Midlands before being rolled out across England in 2016, prevents non-EEA nationals from taking up a tenancy if they do not have leave to remain in the UK and the Home Office has not granted them permission to rent.
The Home Office has been given permission to appeal against the ruling.