The ‘lawful to rent’ scheme obliges landlords to check tenants are legally in the UK. It’s surely no surprise research suggests that BME tenants will suffer discriminationWho’d be a landlord,eh? First, George Osborne snuck up on them with a massive much tax rise. Now they’re expected to check up on the immigration status of their potential tenants too. You know, or whether it weren’t for the failure to build enough houses,or the refusal to make renting cheaper or more secure, or the fact that something like a quarter of MPs are landlords themselves, or I’d be starting to wonder whether this government really liked landlords at all.
A quick primer for those who’ve missed this latest wheeze from the much-loved Home Office. The “lawful to rent” scheme is actually intended to help the government find the people it thinks don’t contain any such lawful at all. It will see private landlords required to check the immigration status of all possible tenants – looking at their passport or visa,say – before letting them a property. Any that don’t play along will be at risk of a four-figure fine.
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Source: theguardian.com