The Rent to Rent Scheme is rolled out nationally from 1^st February (as covered in our December Newsletter) but lawyer David Smith has called for the start date to be deferred following an “early day motion” by the Lib Dem Leader, Tim Farron. Smith supports the early day motion as “an opportunity to provide more thorough, larger scale evaluation of the impact of the scheme”. Right to Rent had already been trialed in the West Midlands for the last year, but the Government’s own review showed little evidence that access to the private rented sector by illegal immigrants was being restricted. Smith says “to proceed at this stage runs the very real risk of causing considerable harm to the relationship between landlords and tenants which are so crucial to the smooth operation of the private rented sector.”