Right to Rent pilot scheme unearthed 109 illegal immigrants . . .

In the first six months of the Right to Rent pilot scheme, 109 illegal immigrants were detected.

By mid-September, just nine had been removed from the UK, with a further five pending removal.

Another nine had been ordered to report to Immigration Enforcement, but had failed to do so.

The Home Office yesterday published its evaluation of the Right to Rent pilot scheme that has been taking place in the West Midlands.

It did so, as it simultaneously announced that Right to Rent – the legal requirement for landlords or their agents to check the immigration status of tenants – will be extended across England from February 1.

According to the report – which covers only the first six months of the pilot, from December 1 until May 31 – very few landlords or agents were penalised, with  five civil penalty notices issued.

There were also 13 referral notices served.

Right to Rent was introduced by the 2014 Immigration Act, and the West Midlands pilot used civil penalties.

Under the new 2015 Immigration Act, the penalties become criminal sanctions.

The report notes that out of 44 letting agents in the region, 36 felt informed about the scheme, along with 70 out of 114 landlords.

It also notes agents’ concerns that the pilot scheme was only being observed by “responsible” players in the sector, and that rogue elements were not complying.

Compliant agents were concerned that immigrants unable to provide documentation might be driven into, and exploited by, this part of the sector.

Along with online surveys, the evaluation used interviews and focus groups, and there was also a mystery shopping exercise.

The report found that the Landlords Checking Service had made 109 decisions on potential tenants’ Right to Rent, resulting in 95 yes decisions and 15 no decisions.

There were 37 enforcement visits resulting directly from a Right to Rent referral.

In total, 109 individuals who were in the UK illegally were idenitified, of whom 63 were previously unknown to the Home Office.

The mystery shopping exercise found that a higher proportion of black and minority ethnic ‘shoppers’ were asked to provide more information during their rental inquiries.

However, says the report, they were “more likely to be offered properties” compared with white British ‘shoppers’.

Before the pilot scheme, 53 out of 64 letting agents always required photo ID. This rose to 60 out of 64 after the scheme began.

Letting agents felt that overall, the scheme had no obvious impact on the market.

A higher proportion of landlords (27 out of 35) said the scheme increased their workload, compared with 26 out of 56 letting agents.

Of the 26 agents who said their workload had increased, reasons given included having to explain the scheme to tenants and landlords; having to monitor when follow-up checks were due; and dealing with unfamiliar paperwork.

There were three “pulse check” surveys done at different points of the evaluation.

At the first “pulse check” agents were asked how they planned to carry out the Right to Rent checks. Out of 41 respondents, 20 said they would do the checks in-house, 16 said they would use a tenancy referencing service and five did not know.

Critics may believe that the full evaluation is low on numbers – which could be regarded as surprising since the pilot area includes the sprawling city of Birmingham.

For example, its largest “pulse check” survey was with a total of 124 respondents, but these included agents, local authorities, housing associations and Home Office enforcement staff.

The appraisal report is here

Originally posted here.

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