Right to Rent Legal Challenge Date set for December

The Right to Rent scheme, which orders landlords to undertake immigration checks on prospective tenants, is to be disputed in the High Court in December.

The Government will be confronted with a challenge to its “hostile environment” policy, after the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) won the right in June to launch a High Court case against the Home Office’s scheme forcing landlords to check the immigration of would-be tenants.

Now, the JCWI has announced that it has attained consent for a full hearing to take place before the High Court on 18^th and 19^th December 2018.

The organisation commented: “This is going to be the first proper chance a court in the UK will have to determine the legality of the hostile environment Theresa May created that conscripted ordinary people into acting as her border guards.”

It further stated: “We are close to ending this pernicious experiment once and for all.”

The JCWI is seeking to crowdfund the challenge, having so far raised £5,090 of the £15,000 target.

Furthermore, the JCWI’s decision to dispute has received support from various bodies, including the Residential Landlords Association (RLA)

The RLA Policy Director, David Smith, said: “Landlords will welcome the High Court decision to allow a judicial review of the Right to Rent policy, which has put them in the impossible position of acting as untrained border police trying to ascertain who does and who does not have the right to be in the country.

“This has created difficulties for many legitimate tenants, as landlords are forced to play safe and only rent to those with a UK passport.”

He adds: “The announcement is an important step towards overturning a policy which the Government’s own inspectorate had described as having yet to demonstrate its worth.”

The RLA has also recently warned that EU nationals could face eviction from their rental homes following Brexit.