News

Government announces new measures to crackdown on illegal immigrants renting properties

Tuesday, August 4th, 2015 - Department for Communities and Local Government

The government has announced a series of measures to make Britain an even harder place for illegal migrants to operate and to ensure anyone without the right to live in this country will find it more difficult to rent a home.

Measures to be included in the forthcoming Immigration Bill will include a national rollout of the Right to Rent scheme and powers to more quickly evict illegal immigrants. The measures apply to England only.

Rollout of Right to Rent Scheme

Following a pilot study in the West Midlands, landlords will be required to conduct “Right to Rent” checks on their tenants’ immigration status before offering a tenancy agreement.

Failure to comply would result in a civil penalty of up to £3,000, although reports suggest that any landlord who repeatedly disregards the law could face up to five years imprisonment.

To find out more about the scheme, Home Office summary guidance on Right to Rent checks is available here.

Quicker eviction of illegal immigrants

Other measures to be included in the Immigration Bill will enable landlords to evict illegal immigrant tenants more easily, by giving them the means to end a tenancy when a person’s leave to remain in the UK ends – in some circumstances without a court order.

This will be triggered by a notice issued by the Home Office, confirming that the tenant no longer has the right to rent in the UK. The landlord would then be expected to take action to ensure that the illegal immigrant tenant or occupant leaves the property.

Full details about how the arrangements will work in practice will become clearer once the Immigration Bill has been published.

Commenting on the new measures, Communities Secretary Greg Clark said:

We are determined to crack down on rogue landlords who make money out of illegal immigration – exploiting vulnerable people and undermining our immigration system.

In future, landlords will be required to ensure that the people they rent their properties to are legally entitled to be in the country.

We will also require them to meet their basic responsibilities as landlords, cracking down on those who rent out dangerous, dirty and overcrowded properties.