A crowdfunding campaign has launched to raise money to fight the roll-out of Right to Rent.

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has launched its bid on Crowd Justice, with a target of £5,000.

By yesterday afternoon, 60 people had pledged £2,020, with 19 days still to go.

The charity says on its crowdfunding page: “Can untrained landlords and agents tell if you have a legal right to be in the UK?

“Should unpaid landlords and agents have to do the Government’s job of immigration enforcement for them?

“If you look or sound ‘foreign’ why would a landlord take the risk of prison or a fine to let to you?

“JCWI has begun pre-action correspondence to ensure that the Right to Rent scheme is not rolled out further without a full evaluation of discrimination under the scheme and whether or not the scheme is working.

“There is mounting evidence that the scheme requiring landlords and letting agents to perform immigration checks on tenants causes discrimination against British ethnic minorities and foreign nationals with legal status in the UK.

“Even worse, there is no evidence that the scheme works. Landlords and agents are forced to conduct complex checks, deal with extra red tape and face fines and imprisonment for a system that cannot even show that it is encouraging irregular migrants to leave the UK.”

The crowdfunding appeal is aimed preventing Right to Rent being rolled out in the other countries in the UK beyond England.

However, at a time of heightened national security it inevitably raises questions as to who is renting out property to whom.

Yesterday, a Manchester high street agent told EYE of his concerns that online agents might not be meeting their Right to Rent obligations.

There is also concern that terrorists could be booking accommodation through sites such as Airbnb, where there is no obligation to perform Right to Rent checks.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/right-to-rent/

https://www.propertytribes.com/police-raid-btl-flat-in-manchester-t-127629594.html