Crackdown on renting to illegal immigrants will be ‘ineffectual’ says charity

Photograph: David Holt (Creative Commons)

The government’s crackdown on landlords who rent properties to illegal immigrants will be “costly, nasty, but wholly ineffectual”, a local charity has warned.

The forthcoming Immigration Bill contains new legislation intending to “ensure anyone without the right to live in this country will find it more difficult to rent a home”.

New measures will enable landlords to to evict tenants as soon as a person’s leave to remain in the UK ends, sometimes without a court order.

Landlords will also be required to conduct a “Right to Rent” check on a tenant’s immigration status before offering a tenancy.

Those who fail to promptly evict their tenants or conduct the proper checks may face a fine or up to 5 years imprisonment.

The legislation will also create a blacklist of persistent rogue landlords and letting agents aimed at keeping track of those who have been convicted of housing offences.

The scheme has been piloted in the West Midlands and is now being introduced across England before full evaluation of its success in the region.

Hackney Migrant Centre (HMC), which was visited by nearly 900 refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants last year – over 200 of which were destitute – said it was “appalled but not surprised” at the legislation.

Rise in discrimination

Chair of HMC Dr Rayah Feldman said that “bad housing and homelessness” will not deter vulnerable people who have fled persecution and violence.

The policies are likely to be “costly, nasty but wholly ineffectual in their objective of driving people away from the UK,” she said.

Dr Feldman said that race equality organisations predict a rise in discrimination because the penalties on landlords if they fail to carry out the checks are so harsh many may refuse to let property to foreigners.

She said: “It is illegal for anyone to offer immigration advice if they are not accredited, yet unqualified landlords are expected to make judgements on a tenant’s immigration status on the basis of a few documents and a call to the Home Office.

“If the Home Office is holding someone’s documents while they are processing someone’s visa, a process that can take months, a migrant may not be able to rent a property during that time.”

Communities Secretary Greg Clark said: “We are determined to crack down on rogue landlords who make money out of illegal immigration – exploiting vulnerable people and undermining our immigration system.

“In future, landlords will be required to ensure that the people they rent their properties to are legally entitled to be in the country.”