Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) measure and (b) assess the effects of the right to rent scheme.

The Right to Rent scheme is predicated on checks being carried out by third parties (landlords and lettings agents). This means that the majority of illegal migrant prospective tenants will be denied access to the private rented sector as a result of these checks with no intervention by enforcement officers and no reference to the Home Office.

However, information about a range of factors is collected to measure the performance of the scheme itself. The Right to Rent scheme is a single measure among others which restrict access to services and benefits and encourage illegal migrants to return home.

Monitoring of the effects of the Right to Rent scheme on landlords and tenants is also ongoing through the expert Landlords Consultative Panel, co-chaired by the Immigration Minister and Lord Best, an acknowledged expert in the fields of housing and planning. The Panel comprises bodies representing landlords, lettings agents, housing charities, local authorities and the Equality and Human Rights Commission amongst others. The Panel meets periodically, and communication channels outside these meetings allow for reporting by private rented sector and third sector groups of the experience of those they represent.