Controversial Right to Rent Scheme Breaches Human Rights
The High Court has today ruled the government’s controversial Right to Rent scheme breaches human rights law, following an intervention by the RLA.
The RLA has opposed this unfair and discriminatory legislation – and supported the court challenge fighting it – from the start.
We warned landlords would be unwilling to act as border police and told the government that, with the threat of a five-year jail sentence and unlimited fines hanging over them, many would opt to ‘play it safe’ and only rent to those with British passports.
Our warnings were ignored, but today, delivering his verdict in the High Court, Mr Justice Martin Spencer confirmed that is exactly what has happened.
Referring extensively to our evidence he said discrimination was taking place as a direct result of the controversial Right to Rent scheme and was “logical and wholly predicable” when looking at the potential penalties.
We feel the government now has no choice but to scrap Right to Rent and have written to the Home Secretary asking for an urgent meeting to discuss the implications of the ruling.
The High Court verdict is not the only positive news today, with NatWest announcing it will be axing mortgage conditions that bar landlords from renting to benefit claimants.
The bank will also now allow landlords to offer three-year tenancies as standard – another of our key campaigns asks, and has publicly thanked the RLA for its help and advice in bringing about the change.
Successes can often seem few and far between for us landlords, but today’s announcements have the potential to make a real difference – and prove that if we pull together, we can bring about positive change.
Rest assured we will continue to fight for all our members in this challenging climate and continue our work to make renting better for all.
Yours,
Alan Ward,
RLA Chairman
Blog Post from Residential Landlords Association
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