Crowdfunding campaign for Right to Rent challenge exceeds target

The crowdfunding campaign for a legal challenge against the rollout of the Right to Rent scheme across the UK has exceeded its funding target.

By the end of the campaign - which finished this morning - the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) raised £5090, £90 more than its initial £5,000 target.

The campaign attracted an additional 13 donations since Sunday afternoon - at which point £4,615 had been raised. 

After exceeding its target, JCWI's crowdfunding campaign updated to a 'stretch target' of £15,000.

Those who have pledged will have their contributions taken within the next two days.

JCWI is a charity that fights for fairness and justice in immigration law and policy. The organisation has been closely monitoring the impact of the Right to Rent scheme since it was implemented in England in February 2016.

Right to Rent requires landlords - or a letting agent acting on their behalf - to check the immigration status of all prospective tenants.

In its first year in operation, almost 100 landlords were hit with civil penalty fines for non-compliance.

JCWI is raising funds to help it prepare a legal challenge which it says will be mounted as soon as the government announces it intends to rollout the immigration checks scheme across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The donations will be used to fund evidence gathering and protection against the risk of paying the government's legal costs.

The charity says that the Right to Rent scheme should not be introduced in other parts of the UK before a full evaluation of whether or not the scheme is working and if it has encouraged discrimination.

Earlier this year, JCWI reported that over half of landlords it surveyed said the Right to Rent scheme has made them less likely to consider letting to foreign nationals.

Some 42% of participants said they are now less likely to let to someone without a British passport as a result of the scheme. 

The organisation is working with Philippa Kaufman QC and Chris Butler of Matrix Chambers to prepare its legal challenge.

JCWI's crowdfunding campaign page is here.