The Government's "Right to Rent" pilot is now underway throughout the West Midlands (Dec 1st 2014).It is part of the Immigration Act that was introduced this year. Landlords in the West Midlands will now have to check the immigration status of any tenants over 18 years of age.

Biometric residence passes or passports will prove tenants' right to residency in the United Kingdom, however as usual the press is supporting the homeless charities who will take up any opportunity of landlord bashing.

It has been reported in one national that a charity has said that landlords will now only take on 'white tenants with British-sounding names', as otherwise they will have to become embroiled in immigration red tape.

It of course has not been reported that many landlords carry out the checks already as a matter of course.

In September the government announced the pilot that will probably be phased in across the country.

Immigration and Security Minister James Brokenshire said:

"We are building an immigration system that is fair to British citizens and legitimate migrants and tough on those who abuse the system or flout the law.

"The right to rent checks will be quick and simple, but will make it more difficult for immigration offenders to stay in the country when they have no right to be here."

The checks are relatively simple and the majority of tenants will have the correct documents required and it should only be a very few cases that will need to  be dealt with by the Home Office.

Richard Merrick, PIMS, says:" The majority of landlords in the private rented sector are honest and law abiding and throughout the year there is continued media carrying stories of "revenge" evictions.

"A homeless charity, who shall remain nameless, is now in effect claiming that landlords will become racist as they will only pick new tenants from a certain gene pool with English sounding names.

"This speculation is highly insulting and a slur to the PRS. The check takes two minutes so where does the red tape issue come from ? Does it also mean that the descendants from the Huguenots with French surnames such as Lefebvre, will be turned down simply because of their name ?"