Right To Rent 'discriminates against international students'

Right To Rent is encouraging discrimination against international students according to a student lts online service. 

Government figures marking the first anniversary of Right To Rent at the start of this month found that of the 7,806 calls made by landlords to the Home Office between July 2015 and June 2016 - some of which involved a pilot scheme ahead of the all-England roll-out - only 32 illegal tenants were deported. 

Now, the StudentTenant platform says its research shows that 23 per cent of student landlords are less likely to consider a non-British tenant than before the new rules were implemented, and 76 per cent of student landlords would not consider a tenant if they could not provide documentation proving they’re legally allowed to rent the property instantly. 

The online platform claims that due to requirements from the government to check the legitimacy of documentation, recording expiry dates of immigration status and the pressure of fines, some landlords are less willing to take on the burden of international tenants.

It says 47 per cent of student landlords still feel that the changes would not have a significant impact on filtering out illegal immigrants in England – the core reason why the scheme was set up in the first place. 

Some 17 per cent of student landlords are still completely unaware of these new rules, the platform says.