6^th Dec 2017

According to the Sunday Express from recently released figures that during July to September there has been handed out a total of £40,100 in fines from seventy five civil penalties, against hundred of landlords under non compliance of the 'Right to Rent' scheme.

More than £200,000 in fines has been issued to hundreds of landlords this year so far up till the end of September.

Since the 'Right to Rent' scheme's national rollout, landlords are responsible for carrying out proper checks on tenants to ensure they have a right to stay in the country, and should do this by copying their relevant documents i.e. identity cards or passports.

If landlords fail to do this then they are facing fines of up to £3,000 for each tenant. The scheme was initially trialed throughout the West Midlands from February 2016.

The Press Association has recently carried out a study of the recently released data from the Home Office and found that there have been an ever increasing number of fines handed out to landlords since the scheme's national roll out.

209 nine penalties were issued to landlords and some homeowners, (who had rented out spare rooms) between January and September this year, which is more than double the 102 issued throughout the whole of 2016. During July and September this year 75 were issued in comparison to just 31 in the same period of 2016.

Some campaigners feel that the government's scheme is causing discrimination levels to rise and 'fuels' the government's program in creating a “hostile environment” for those who should not be residing in the UK.

A spokesperson for Home Office said: “The Right To Rent scheme is just one of the ways in which we are making it more difficult for those with no right to be in the UK to live and work here.

“These latest statistics make clear that where illegal migrants are found to be renting property, we are taking action.

“We regularly meet with representatives from the private rented sector such as local authorities, landlords and housing charities, to discuss and monitor the scheme.

“This ensures that levels of awareness are good and that checks are being routinely carried out.”

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