5th
Nov 2014
According to a new survey that despite all the Industry "talk" and major news coverage that up to 80% of landlords are not up to speed on their knowledge of the new immigrant legislation starting from December 1st . A pilot is being carried out in the Midlands where all private landlords, have to by law, carry out immigration status checks of their tenants.
From this date all adults over 18 years of age whose rented property is used as their only or main residence, will have to provide proof of their immigration status. Landlords who do not comply will be hit by heavy fines.
The research carried out by a flat and house share online company, shows that 80% of the UK's private landlords were not even aware of the imminent legislation, or had no idea when it is to come into force.
The survey asked the landlords if they had made plans to include the status check when taking on tenants, nearly a third categorically stated that they had no intention of following the legislation. A combined total of three quarters of the landlords polled, were unaware of the fines that they could face through not carrying out the checks.
The new provisions will include a civil penalty scheme levied on anyone renting out properties to illegal immigrants and will be based on a sliding scale. The largest fines will be slapped onto those landlords that continually fail to carry out the procedure and those who are guilty of renting properties to illegal immigrants.
A spokesperson for the company, Maya Harruna, said: "It's unfortunate to see that not many landlords are aware of the Right to Rent legislation, especially since it is due to launch shortly. Considering the harsh financial penalties, it is essential that homeowners are made fully aware of all aspects and can confirm if the new rules apply to them or not.
Richard Merrick of PIMS comments: "Some surveys can at times be misleading, however even if 40% of landlords are not keeping themselves up to speed on the new law then they could face large fines and in some cases even lose their livelihood
"For safety's sake be prepared for the December 1st deadline even if the pilot is not being carried out in your area as the government has shown in the past, that it is very capable of bringing roll outs forward. This has been proven by their recent announcement that they are going to start fast tracking Universal Credit next year."
SUMMARY RECENT PIMS Articles - click title to read
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A major national letting's agent advises landlords that although the "right to rents" check has only be introduced into the west midlands, that they should still remain on guard throughout the rest of the country. The head of the lettings agent, Lisa Simon, says that despite the pilot scheme being introduced on the 1st December in one part of the country, that landlords must be fully prepared for the National roll out in 2015. Simon said: “While the West Midlands will be t
According to a new survey that despite all the Industry "talk" and major news coverage that up to 80% of landlords are not up to speed on their knowledge of the new immigrant legislation starting from December 1st . A pilot is being carried out in the Midlands where all private landlords, have to by law, carry out immigration status checks of their tenants. From this date all adults over 18 years of age whose rented property is used as their only or main residence, will have to provide
The responsibility will be put on Landlords check the immigration status of migrants who apply for a tenancy. If it transpires the Landlord is letting to persons without appropriate permission to live AND work in the UK then the consequences could be dire Landlords could be face thousands of pounds of fines if they fail to properly check their tenants. To put this into context under comparable employment laws employers can be fined up to £10,000 and to date £65 Mil
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