Update on Right to Rent
A total of 31 people have been deported as a result of the Government’s right to rent scheme – with 75 landlords fined.
According to new Government figures 7,806 calls were made to the Home Office’s helpline for landlords between July 1st 2015 and June 30th last year. And although the Home Office says it does not have figures for the number of illegal migrants in the PRS, it confirmed that 654 people were involved in investigations or named on documents relating to right to rent penalties.
Brought in under the Immigration Act 2014 right to rent was introduced in February 2016 as part of Government reforms to build a ‘fairer and more effective’ immigration system. It requires landlords and agents to check the immigration status of prospective occupiers before they allow them to move in.
The figures were revealed in response to series of Parliamentary Questions submitted by Baroness Lister of Burtersett after representations from the RLA. Baroness Lister asked questions about the number of tenants and landlords investigated under right to rent, the number of illegal immigrants discovered and deported and the penalties incurred.
The response came after research from the RLA showed that landlords are struggling to get to grips with the rules – with 63% of the 810 landlords surveyed afraid of making a mistake when checking documents. In the same survey 43% said they were less likely to rent to those without a British passport for fear of getting it wrong.
Breaching right to rent rules became a criminal offence on 1st December 2016, with those who do not carry out the check properly or fail to move illegal migrants from their property facing up to five years in jail and unlimited fines.
https://news.rla.org.uk/right-rent-sees-31-deported/
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2016-11-22/HL3407/
