The UK government has confirmed that all landlords in England will have to check new tenants have the right to live in the UK before renting out their property from February next year.
It means that the pilot study on immigration checks which has been ongoing in the West Midlands will now be rolled out across England from February and in other parts of the country at a date yet to be announced.
Under the new rules, landlords who fail to check a potential tenant’s Right to Rent will face penalties of up to £3,000 per tenant.
The Government says that the scheme has been designed to make it straightforward for people to show evidence of their right to rent and a range of commonly available documents can be used, including a UK passport, a European Economic Area passport or identity card, a permanent residence card or travel document showing indefinite leave to remain, a Home Office immigration status document and a certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen.
The checks should be carried out on all new tenants and are backed up by codes of practice, including guidance on avoiding unlawful discrimination, which was drawn up with the assistance of the Human Rights Commission.
Landlords need to check which adult tenants will live in the property as their only or main home and ask tenants for the original documents that show they have the right to be in the UK.
They then need to check the documents are valid with the tenant present, make and keep copies of the documents and record the date the check was made. If a potential tenant has an outstanding immigration application or appeal with the Home Office, landlords can conduct a check on that person’s ‘right to rent’ via the Landlords’ Checking Service.
The Immigration Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, is likely to introduce even more stringent rules and it will be made it easier and quicker for landlords to evict illegal tenants if they lose their rights or they have no rights to remain in the UK.
It will also make it a criminal offence to let to illegals, so that so called “rogue landlords” who repeatedly fail to carry out checks and rent to illegals will face not only a criminal record but they will be placed on a blacklist which will prevent them operating a landlording or letting business in the future.
YOUR AGENT will ensure all our landlord clients are fully compliant with the new legislation.
If you are a landlord who does not want to go through this onerous process then why not let YOUR AGENT be your agent? And let us take the hassle out of managing your property.
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