Runnymede Trust's director, Dr Omar Khan, is one of the signatories in a letter published in The Times today(£ Paywall link) on concerns that proposals for landlords to carry out immigration checks will lead to increased discrimination against BME people generally in rented housing.

Full letter:

Attempts to protect our borders can have unintended consequences

Sir, We have grave concerns about the government’s announcement that failure to carry out a “right to rent” check will, in future, result in a jail term of up to five years (“Landlords targeted to bar migrants,” August 3). There is no evidence that the policy will prevent migrants heading to Britain and it could exacerbate discrimination by landlords and letting agents against tenants who look or sound “foreign”.

We are also concerned that the checks will add to a general anti-immigrant and racist atmosphere in the UK and damage race relations.Black and minority ethnic tenants already live in poorer conditions in private renting, with consequences for health, well-being and poverty. Adding to the barriers they have accessing decent housing will lock in that race inequality.

The government needs to review the findings of the right to rent pilot in the West Midlands, and consult with landlords, tenants and the voluntary sector before it increases the penalties for failing to carry out a check.

Ratna Dutt, CEO, Race Equality Foundation
Betsy Dilner, Director, Generation Rent
Rita Chadha, CEO, Ramfel
Don Flynn, Director, Migrants’ Rights Network
Dr. Lisa Doyle, Head of Advocacy, Refugee Council
Arten Llazari, CEO, Refugee and Migrant Centre
Adrian Berry, Chair, Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association
Catherine Rayner, Chair, Discrimination Law Association
Michael Bates, Manager, Birmingham Community Law Centre
Bob Green, CEO, Stonewall Housing
Andy Gregg, CEO of ROTA (Race On The Agenda)
Habib Rahman, CEO, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants
Alison Gelder, Chief Executive, Housing Justice
Omar Khan, Director, Runnymede Trust