Housing lawyer David Smith blasted the Right to Rent appraisal report, while homeless charities said it raised alarming findings.

Smith, a contributor to EYE and the policy director of the Residential Landlords Association, said government efforts to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to access rented housing have been “left in tatters”.

He said its analysis of the pilot scheme has undermined the central purpose of the policy.

The assessment notes that there is only “limited evidence” from the pilot scheme area “that illegal migrants’ access to the private rental sector … was being restricted.”

The findings also show that of those landlords in the West Midlands who had carried out Right to Rent checks, the proportion that now always request photo identification of tenants has increased from 51% to 81%.

The RLA is concerned that UK nationals without any form of photo identification, such as a passport or driving licence, will find it close to impossible to access rental housing. According to the 2011 Census, around 12m UK nationals do not have a passport.

Smith, who gave evidence yesterday to MPs considering the Immigration Bill, said: “The Government has long argued that its Right to Rent scheme is about making it more difficult for illegal immigrants to settle in the UK.

“The Home Office assessment of its own pilot scheme blows a hole through this.

“Rolling out a policy based on only limited evidence that it works cannot be right.

“The report also highlights the very real danger of legitimate UK nationals being unable to access housing because they do not have photo ID.

“It is premature to be announcing the date that the scheme will roll out across England without first giving enough time to consider in full the findings of this report.”

The scheme will also affect home owners who take in lodgers.

Matt Hutchinson, director of flat and house share site SpareRoom, also savaged it.

He said: “Asking home owners taking in lodgers to be responsible for checking their immigration status is, frankly, ridiculous.

“However much the Government insists this won’t lead to discrimination against those who don’t have British passports, it’s bound to happen.

“The other worry is that tenants from overseas will be pushed towards the lower levels of the rental market where the least scrupulous landlords operate.

“Many of these landlords ignore legislation anyway so the problem isn’t being tackled, just moved away from more affluent areas and into the underground economy.”

Homeless charity Crisis added its voice to criticisms. Director of policy and external affairs Matt Downie said: “The evaluation contains some alarming findings about the homelessness impact of these plans. Crisis has already raised serious concerns that requiring landlords to check the immigration status of renters could make it even harder for homeless people to find a place to live, and this report shows that our fears are well founded.

“It is deeply troubling that in the pilot area, six of the local charities surveyed said that people they represent had become homeless as a result of th scheme, while seven indicated that people with the Right to Rent were struggling to find accommodation.

“Homeless people’s documents often get lost or stolen, and in today’s high pressure rental market, landlords will be more likely to rent to someone who can provide the evidence quickly. As well as creating problems for homeless people, this could lead to discrimination against foreign nationals and people of black and minority ethnic backgrounds, as the evaluation suggests.”