Posts with tag: right to rent checks roll out

Queen’s Speech Did Not Cover Compulsory Landlord Licensing

Published On: May 28, 2015 at 3:20 pm

Tags: Immigration Act 2014,landlord licensing,mandatory landlord licensing,Queen's Speech,right to rent checks roll out

Yesterday’s Queen’s Speech did not give details or even mention compulsory licensing of private landlords, which the Prime Minister pledged last week.

Website Nearly Legal has criticised the probable immigration laws, believing that the “full horror” is just setting in.

Nearly Legal says: “It is clear that the Government intends to use immigration law as an excuse to introduce some radical – and conceptually awful – reforms to housing law… New laws will mean that a tenancy will automatically end if the tenant is unlawfully present (e.g. if their visa ends) and there will be steps taken to make it easier to evict illegal immigrants.

“The full horror of this last part is just sinking in. Leaving aside the utter unreality of expecting landlords to understand immigration law, how on earth can a tenancy be ended because of a transitory personal status?

“This is going to be a disastrous legislative programme doing untold damage to the interests of landlords, tenants and housing law itself. The only clear winners from this will be the lawyers.”¹

The Queen’s Speech only briefly mentioned immigration controls regarding right to rent, with David Cameron proposing licensing for private landlords only days ago.

Some property experts are wondering if this will mean a new national registration scheme for landlords, whether it will include letting agents and if it would be a part of local licensing schemes.

Queen’s Speech Did Not Cover Compulsory Landlord Licensing

However, not all local authorities have licensing schemes in place other than the mandatory House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) system. Currently, landlords must have an HMO license if their rental property has three storeys or more, is shared by five or more people in over one household and if the tenants share a toilet, bathroom or kitchen.

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) believes that the a new scheme would cause problems: “While seeming to dispel concerns over a general, national landlord licensing requirement, a great many homes and landlords not currently covered by local additional licensing schemes could find themselves caught under a new mandatory scheme.

“This will also place local authorities under substantial pressure as they will have to process the large number of applications for new licenses, assess the properties and carry out further enforcement against those who have not sought licenses.

“Given that, as the RLA has highlighted, current enforcement is often patchy, a new further area of enforcement work may make the situation worse rather than better.”¹

Despite a licensing scheme not yet apparent, it appears that the Queen’s Speech hinted at all landlords and letting agents soon having to carry out immigration status checks on tenants.

Legal expert David Smith comments: “It is clear that the right to rent scheme will be rolled out fairly rapidly and there was an oblique reference to a mandatory licensing scheme for landlords.

“This is of great concern, but until more details are available it is not clear whether this is a new licensing scheme, as is about to be introduced in Wales, or something smaller such as widening of current HMO licensing provisions.”¹

Chief Executive of estate agency Spicerhaart, Paul Smith, is also concerned over the roll out of immigration checks: “The policy issue underlying these new rules is tackling illegal immigration into the UK – a laudable aim – but passing this task onto landlords, and inevitably letting agents acting in their best interests, is misplaced.

“Landlords and letting agents are not border control agents and adding another layer to the administration means agent fees will increase, as all checks and referencing are labour and time intensive. Ultimately, the tenant pays the price.”¹

¹http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/compulsory-landlord-licensing-still-on-agenda-despite-queens-speech-silence/

Will Right to Rent Checks Roll Out?

Published On: May 12, 2015 at 9:00 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Immigration Act 2014,right to rent checks,right to rent checks roll out

Will Right to Rent Checks Roll Out?

Now that we know the Conservatives have formed a majority government, those in the private rental sector are questioning whether right to rent checks will roll out across the country.

Pilot immigration checks were introduced in the West Midlands and oblige landlords and letting agents to conduct document checks on potential tenants to determine if they have the right to rent in the UK.

If an agent manages a property on behalf of a landlord, the agent is liable under the Immigration Act 2014.

The previous coalition government launched the regulations into the region last December, proposing a roll out across the country in 2015. It is thought that this could happen as soon as this summer.

The rules of the pilot in the West Midlands included landlords or agents checking the immigration status of hopeful tenants for all new tenancy agreements. Usually, this would just mean checking a tenant’s passport. They must then keep records of these checks for 12 months after the tenancy ends.

Agents and landlords can use an online form to request a check, receiving results within two working days.

The rules also apply to those taking in lodgers and tenants who sub-let their rental property. Failure to comply with the regulations can lead to a £3,000 fine.

The UK Association of Letting Agents (UKALA) compiled a checklist for those in the West Midlands, which would apply to landlords and agents around the country if the rules roll out.

The points are as follows:

Check if your property is affected by using the Home Office online tool, found here: https://eforms.homeoffice.gov.uk/outreach/lcs-application.ofml.
Read the Home Office Code of Practice, found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/376788/Code_of_Practice_on_illegal_immigrants_and_private_rented_accommodation__web_.pdf.
Review your letting agent terms, conditions and contracts to ensure the landlord’s, tenant’s and agent’s responsibilities are clear.
Review your working procedures so that you have enough time to conduct the checks and that records are kept and actions taken if necessary.
Review the wording of tenancy agreements.
Confirm responsibilities in writing between landlord and letting agent.
Call the Home Office advice line on 0300 069 9799 for advice and information.

Landlord Angry at Media Coverage of Right to Rent Checks

Published On: February 17, 2015 at 11:57 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Immigration Act 2014,right to rent birmingham,right to rent checks,right to rent checks roll out

A landlord has taken to the Landlord Referencing forum to discuss her concerns over media coverage of right to rent checks.

Mary Latham identified a specific story published in the Independent on Sunday that made her “really cross.”

She explained that the story made it seem that landlords are “shunning foreigners because of their accents,” due to the Immigration Act 2014.

The article stated: “Landlords are preparing to turn away tenants just because they have a foreign accent, as a consequence of new rules making it an offence to let rooms to illegal migrants.

Landlord Angry at Media Coverage of Right to Rent Checks

“The new rules are already leading landlords to discriminate between applicants on the basis of their background, according to campaigners scrutinising the pilot scheme in the Midlands, where the policy is being tested before being rolled out nationally.

“The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) is surveying landlords and tenants in the pilot area, where the rules have been in force since December 2014.

“It found that tenants are now being charged an extra £100 in administration fees, and landlords admitted they are less likely to offer a viewing to anyone who needed time to produce their paperwork.”¹

Mary responded by describing the accompanying photograph to the article. She says that it was taken “in a road that I know very well, and where students from the University of Birmingham occupy most of the properties.”

She then explained that 10.5% of students at the University are from overseas, and are “welcomed by landlords.” She says she has not witnessed “evidence of discrimination and landlords have been letting since December, when right to rent legislation began in Birmingham for the academic year, which begins in September.”

Mary details how the changes affect landlords: “Landlords must take a copy of a document which shows that a prospective tenant has the legal right to be in the UK and we cannot discriminate; overseas visitors, particularly students, are used to producing their documents, and have no problem in doing so, therefore it is very unlikely that they will need time to produce their paperwork.

“In fact, from my experience it is more likely that a person who was born in the UK will not have the document to prove it, or at least will not have the document with them at viewing, and this may well cause delays for them while they send home for a birth certificate or similar document.

“The legislation is new and it will take time for tenants born in the UK to become used to carrying documents. It is because landlords are not discriminating that problems may occur and it certainly has nothing at all to do with applicants having foreign accents.”

She says that it is media coverage such as the Independent on Sunday article that “causes issues between landlords/letting agents and tenants, and it’s time that the media behaved in a more responsible way.”

She calls for more proof: “If and when there is evidence, I mean facts and figures, which show that overseas visitors cannot access the private rented sector, we would need to address the problem, but at this moment in the first roll out areas of the West Midlands there is not a problem, and we don’t need the media to cause one.”

Mary explains what she has done to help: “I have spoken at several events in the West Midlands, and I have run nine seminars to explain what landlords need to do to comply with this legislation, and at none of these events have landlords spoken about refusing overseas visitors; once they understood the legislation, landlords made plans to change their tenant referencing process to comply.”¹

Right to rent checks are expected to roll out nationwide this year.

¹http://www.landlordreferencing.co.uk/forum/discuss/community-forum/right-to-rent-media-causing-issues-between-landlords-tenants/#p28488