“Limited Evidence” Proves Need To Think Again On Migrant Rental Checks

Government efforts to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to access rented housing have been left in tatters following the publication of a new report. With the Home Office confirming that the scheme will be rolled out across England from the 1st February next year, its own analysis of the pilot scheme has undermined the central purpose of the policy. The assessment notes that there is only “limited evidence” from the pilot scheme area “that illegal migrants’ access to the private rental sector…was being restricted.”The findings show also that of those landlords in the West Midlands who had carried out Right to Rent checks, the proportion that now always request photo identification of tenants has increased from fifty one per cent to eighty one per cent. Download a copy of the report from the Home Office website.