Landlords warned on immigration law changes

New laws forcing landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants came into effect this week - but evidence suggests seven in ten of them do not understand the changes.

Related topics:  Landlords
Rozi Jones
5th February 2016
rent

Under laws which came into force on Monday, landlords who let property in England must carry out checks that their tenants have the “right to rent” property in the UK.

Anyone found letting a home to a tenant who does not have the right can be fined up to £3000.

A new Immigration Bill currently going through Parliament proposes jail sentences of up to five years for people who fail to carry out these checks.

Figures from the Residential Landlord Association showed 90% landlords have not received any information from the government about the new duties and that 72% do not understand them.

An earlier survey found half of landlords were not prepared for the changes and 20% believed they had until April 2017 to prepare for them.

Ajay Jagota, founder and Managing Director of KIS, said:

“There is no question whatsoever that this is a huge new burden on landlords, who are effectively being asked to act as an outsourced border force.

“It’s not going to be easy, even when dealing with British nationals. Some people don’t have passports – almost one in five people in fact. Some don’t have driving licenses either. Others move house in a hurry and have to leave behind important paperwork.

“It’s startling how unprepared some landlords are for changes which could in future land them in jail.

“These aren’t the only laws you need to be aware of if your renting out a property – you’ve also got to remember everything from carbon monoxide to the safety of scatter cushions and ignorance is no excuse. At KIS we insist on regular inspections of properties we manage to ensure that no legislation is being disobeyed, even accidently.

“It’s noticeable that out of all the people to have been fined for the offences during the pilot programme in the Midlands, all were individual landlords and none where professional letting agents. It’s time like this that skilled support really shows it’s value.”

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