The ‘right to rent’ scheme requires checks on the immigration status of prospective tenants. Landlords (or their agents) who fail to comply face fines of up to £3000, so they have no choice.
To fully understand the impact this ‘right to rent’ scheme is having on people, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) has developed a survey for tenants and for all who are currently seeking private residential tenancies in the UK. If that includes you, please use this link to share your experiences, anonymously.
The survey should take only 10 minutes to complete. All responses will be treated as confidential and held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Please do contribute and invite your co-workers & friends to take part, too.
Landlords and property agents are invited to share their experiences of how the system impacts, too. This JCWI survey for landlords also welcomes responses from anyone who lives in rented accommodation and rents out a room or rooms there.
In September 2015, JCWI published an evaluation of the initial ‘right to rent’ pilot scheme. They document hard evidence of discrimination against Black and minority ethnic people, against migrants, and against people whose accents or names originate elsewhere. It’s important to find out whether the same pattern is now being repeated across the UK.
The initial analysis of survey results will be collated in October but both surveys will remain open for contributions at any time until January 2017. JCWI will complete the final evaluation of all survey results in February 2017, when Renters’ Rights London will post a link to that report.