Warnng to landlords over illegal immigrants
LANDLORDS in the North West must check whether prospective tenants are in the country legally, or face a £3,000 fine per tenant, RICS (the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) is urging.
The warning comes from the leading organisation – which sets standards in the land, property and construction sectors – as the Government’s new ‘Right to Rent’ legislation becomes mandatory this month.
Right-to-Rent aims to clamp down on illegal immigration and the rules apply to new tenancy agreements from February 1; existing tenancy agreements are not affected.
Under the new law, landlords – including those that are subletting their property or taking in lodgers – must make copies of any potential tenant(s) identity and citizenship.
In cases where a passport or some form of official identification provided by the Home Office cannot be produced, landlords or their letting agent can request the Home Office carry out a ‘Right-to-Rent’ search online. A response will be provided within two-working days.
If a tenant is only allowed to be in the UK for a limited period of time, a follow-up check must take place at a later date. If any such check reveals a tenant is no longer eligible to live in the country, the landlord or letting agent must evict them – or face a £3,000 fine per tenant – and make a report to the Home Office.
RICS has strongly opposed the minister’s focus on using landlords and agents as border control agents.
Jeremy Blackburn, head of Policy at RICS said: “Some of the new Right-to-Rent law will be of great benefit to landlords, such as the power for them to end a tenancy without a court order, providing the tenant is in the country illegally.
“However, what we don’t want to see happen, is landlords and letting agents effectively turn into extensions of the Home Office and Border Force.
“Therefore, it’s important that landlords and letting agents understand that they are not expected to be immigration experts or to have specialist knowledge of immigration documents or VISAs.
“Anyone who is shown a false document will only be liable for a civil penalty if it is reasonably apparent it is false.”
“In any case of an investigation in to a tenant’s eligibility to live in the country, the landlord/letting agent will receive an ‘information request’ from the Home Office to provide evidence that a suitable Right-to-Rent check was performed and the necessary identity and citizenship document(s) obtained, which is why making a copy of such evidence is essential.”
