The Home Office has been granted permission to appeal the High Court decision of March this year which held that the Right to Rent policy was unlawful.
In March the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) were successful in their claim that the Right to Rent scheme is incompatible with the European Convention of Human Rights. A full article on the decision can be read here.
As mentioned in our previous post the Home Office has launched an appeal against the High Court decision. We now understand that this appeal is expected to be heard sometime in February 2020, although no definitive date has been set. The Court of Appeal has also granted permission to intervene in this appeal to the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), Liberty, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
Despite the High Court decision, the Home Officer Minister for Immigration, Caroline Nokes has stressed that the scheme remains in force and that there are no immediate changes to the operation of the policy expected. What this means for landlords and agents is that they must continue to comply with the Right to Rent policy and ensure that they carry out the necessary checks on tenants for the time being.
Published 19 July 2019
