Scheme goes live across England as Residential Landlords Association warns 70% of landlords do not understand their new obligations
The Government's Right to Rent scheme, introduced by the Immigration Act 2014, has today gone live across the whole of England.
Image credit: UK GovernmentAs the Home Office said in a press release today, the new rules mean that landlords need to carry out checks on all new adult tenants to make sure they have the right to rent property.
Landlords who fail to carry out checks risk a potential penalty of up to £3,000 per tenant.
Immigration Minister James Brokenshire was quoted as saying today: "The scheme builds on the Right to Work checks that employers have been making for some time, and we know that many landlords already carry out simple identity checks as a matter of good practice. Over the past year, we have taken time to engage with the people who will be affected by the scheme, and carried out a thorough evaluation. The system we have designed is light-touch, and allows those with a legitimate right to be in the country to quickly and easily demonstrate their right to rent."
A user guide for the scheme is available from here, updated Home Office 'Code of practice on illegal immigrants and private rented accommodation' is available here, and you can read the Home Office's new enforcement instructions and guidance for the scheme here.
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) said today that it had surveyed over 1,500 landlords and found over 90% of landlords have received no information from the Government on their new legal duty to check the immigration status of their tenants.
More than 70% of landlords said they do not understand their obligations under the policy.
The RLA added that its survey also found that 44% of landlords will only rent to those with documents that are familiar to them, thus causing serious problems for the estimated 17% of UK nationals without a passport.
Dr David Smith, Policy Director for the RLA said: "The Government argues that it's 'Right to Rent' plans form part of a package to make the UK a more hostile environment for illegal immigrants. The evidence shows that it is creating a more hostile environment for good landlords and legitimate tenants. Landlords are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Fearful of a fine they face two difficult ways forward."
Saira Grant, Chief Executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), said in a press release today that the scheme encourages discrimination and will create a hostile environment for all.
"As undocumented migrants do not access the private rental market, the scheme will instead cause real hardship for all migrants, ethnic minorities and British citizens without easily available documents who seek to find accommodation. We have no doubt that this scheme will cause confusion and place a significant burden on landlords who are now expected to take on the role of Immigration Officers. Local authorities, who are already under pressure due to funding cuts, will now find themselves burdened with more work. The impact will be particularly severe in London's overheated rental market," she said.