The High Court has ruled that the Government’s Right to Rent scheme breaches human rights law.

Under the Right to Rent 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 the right to rent in the UK. It was introduced by Theresa May as Home Secretary as a key plank of the Government’s ‘hostile environment’ for illegal immigrants.

However, recent research by the RLA found that the fear of getting things wrong led to 44% of private landlords being less likely to rent to those without a British passport. It found also that 53% of landlords were less likely to rent to those with limited time to remain in the UK, whilst 20% said that they were less likely to consider letting property to EU or EEA nationals.

Delivering his verdict in the High Court, Mr Justice Martin Spencer ruled that the scheme breached the European Convention on Human Rights on the basis that it led to discrimination against non-UK nationals with the right to rent and British ethnic minorities.