Lots of very welcome attention on what Theresa May herself entitled the “hostile environment”. One of main planks is “right to rent”, where landlords have to check immigration papers of tenants. Does this cause discrimination against black and ethnic minority tenants? Thread 1/?
Right to rent was brought in by Immigration Act 2014 and piloted in West Midlands before national roll out. Home Office itself commissioned research in 2015 into whether it might cause discrimination, available here gov.uk/government/pub…
The research was published the same day that national roll out was announced. Not a lot of time for any debate or discussion on this freemovement.org.uk/all-landlords-…
Research was with small sample sizes and knowledge of right to rent scheme by landlords and tenants was very limited. But there were clear indicators even then that scheme might worsen discrimination. 
Another example here. If tenant white and has local accent, don’t need to do checks. Implies that if not white and/or foreign accent, do need to ask for immigration papers. That is obviously discriminatory.
Research suggested certain groups most at risk under scheme. Older people without photo ID (like the #Windrush generation) and younger people on low incomes.
Also at risk were lawful migrants from outside the EU or “any foreigners.”
Also at risk were British citizens without a passport. There are 9 million Brits with no passport according to last census. Imagine, now you have to apply for a passport not to go on holiday but to rent a property in your own country.
Remember, this is the Home Office’s own research of just the pilot scheme, before national roll out. More recent independent research by @JCWI_UK suggests discrimination caused by “right to rent” is real, not just a risk. jcwi.org.uk/news-and-polic…
Theresa May as Home Secretary knew full well there was a risk of discrimination against black and ethnic minority tenants and that old people w/o photo ID, British citizens w/o passports and young people on low incomes would all have problems. But she went ahead anyway.
In the right to rent pilot area, requirements were mentioned to 10% of BME mystery shoppers. Scheme not mentioned to whites anywhere nor BME residents in comparator area.
Finally, requiring private citizens to check one another’s immigration papers at risk of a £3k fine creates an obvious risk of discrimination. Research has confirmed it. The Government has introduced a new law that *increases* not decreases discrimination. It must be ended now.
