Could “Right To Rent” Checks Put Domestic Violence Victims At Risk?

New “right to rent” rules essentially mean landlords must carry out a government-approved check on all prospective tenants to confirm that they have a right to live in the UK.  One group in particular that could suffer under the new rules: domestic violence victims, particularly if they are migrant women. Migrant women in the UK are also not entitled to legal aid, benefits, and may be at a disadvantage with language skills. Migrant women with documents, meanwhile, are likely to have them taken away by controlling partners: hiding a women's passport is a classic abuser tactic, and could affect non-migrants too, since landlords are technically meant to check every tenant's right to rent. Read more on the CityMetric website.