Right to Rent Brexit guidance failure

Right to Rent Brexit guidance failure

10:21 AM, 8th April 2019, About 5 years ago 2

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Ministers have so far failed to publish any guidance for landlords about the implications of Brexit for the Right to Rent scheme.

Under this scheme 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.

With two thirds of all EU nationals in the country living in private rented housing, the Residential Landlords Association is worried that landlords have received no specific guidance about their status, other than sweeping statements by Ministers.

Last month, a High Court Judge ruled that the right to rent scheme breached the European Convention on Human Rights on the basis that it led to inadvertent discrimination against non-UK nationals with the right to rent.

The RLA’s most recent research suggests that around a fifth of landlords are less likely to rent to nationals from the EU or the European Economic Area as a result of the Right to Rent, a figure the RLA warns could increase post-Brexit.

David Smith, Policy Director for the RLA, said:

“Landlords are not border police and cannot be expected to know who does and who does not have the right to live here.

“The Government needs to publish clear and practical guidance for landlords about the implications of Brexit on who they can and cannot rent to. If they do not, more landlords will become increasingly fearful about renting to non-UK nationals with the potential of facing prosecution.

“The result will be they will avoid renting to anyone who is not a UK national making life difficult for EU nationals.”


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Comments

Rob Crawford

13:32 PM, 8th April 2019, About 5 years ago

An interesting point! Considering the Gov't current position is all up in the air, they would have to provide guidance on all variations of the possible Brexit outcome! I have two Polish families renting two of my properties - four years now and great tenants. We sat down together soon after Brexit was voted in and discussed how to mitigate a hard Brexit worst case scenario. Both parents in both families are now employed. One of those in each family are employed with a critical employer (NHS in both cases). Both families contribute to the UK economy positively and have now been successful in acquiring UK citizenship. They (and I) are happy that they are now secure no matter what. However, this process has taken some time and required my support (letters confirming residence etc). So a key point here is that if you have good EU tenants and you want to keep them, please do offer your support asap. If I am presented with a new EU family today and they have not progressed some way towards UK citizenship, I would be very nervous about taking them on. Without this guidance the Gov't are encouraging the discrimination of EU tenant candidates!

Whiteskifreak Surrey

14:30 PM, 8th April 2019, About 5 years ago

“The result will be they will avoid renting to anyone who is not a UK national making life difficult for EU nationals.” - Wasn't that a goal of BrexSHIT? To get rid of the EU nationals, or at least of the large part of them? Make space for English workers, ready to wipe off elderly's bottoms and queuing to start factory work at 6.00 am? We have a lovely Polish family, 5th year with us, great tenants, pay on time, minimal hassle. Paying below market rate, but we want to keep them (how long it will be possible at the current taxation rate is another matter entirely). They have been in the UK for over 12 years, both parents working very hard. We have not spoken to them regarding their status, we believe citizenship is out of question because the associated costs. We will talk to them of course, but I really do not know what to do if there is no guidance whatsoever... I am not holding my breath though, there are more important points for the government to consider, so they cannot be bothered with the EU citizen renting or not. Then they will adjust legislation as it suits them.

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