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Landlords urged to check
tenants 'Right to Rent' or face £3,000 fine
LANDLORDS in the North West must check
whether prospective tenants are in the country legally, or face a £3,000
fine per tenant, urge RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors).
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 (February 2016).
Right to Rent aims to clamp down on illegal immigration and the rules now apply
since the new tenancy agreements came into effect, on 1 February 2016; 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 2 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
commented:- "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 VISA's. 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.
For more information and guidance on the new Right to Rent legislation is
now
online. |
