‘Under the EU settlement scheme, millions of EU, EEA and Swiss nationals have been granted “digital-only” immigration status. Instead of having physical documentation to prove their immigration status, these individuals must rely on an online proof-of-status service through the GOV.UK website. We wanted to examine whether individuals with this form of “digital only” status are disadvantaged in the private rented sector by exploring the decision-making behaviour of English landlords when choosing between prospective tenants. The so-called “Right to Rent” policy requires English private landlords to check the immigration status of a tenant or lodger, to ensure they can legally rent their property. In practice, this happens by inspecting their proof of ID. We therefore had two questions. First, are the tenant preferences of English private rented sector landlords influenced by ID status? Second, to what extent is ID status a significant factor in English private rented sector landlord preferences, relative to factors already known to influence landlord decision-making (such as age, gender, ethnicity, and occupation)?’

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Constitutional Law Association, 14th March 2023

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org