Landlords Fined for Right to Rent Failures

Right to Rent netted 75 landlords who failed to carry out tenant residence checks.

Each landlord was issued a civil penalty. Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford told Baroness Lister of Burtersett in response to a written question asking how many illegal immigrants have been deported because of the Right to Rent.

The minister explained that 654 tenants without the right to rent were identified on penalty notices given to landlords between November 2015 and October 2016.

Of these, 31 tenants were deported.

“Other cases may be being progressed to removal, or have been made subject to reporting restrictions, or have sought to regularise their stay, or have left the UK voluntarily,” said the minister.

“The Home Office does not hold information about the overall numbers of illegal migrants found in private rented accommodation.”

Right to Rent demands landlords and letting agents check the UK residence status of private renters at the start or renewal of a tenancy.

The service shifts the responsibility of checking the residence status of immigrants in the UK away from the Home Office to landlords and letting agents.

“This means that the majority of illegal migrant prospective tenants will be denied access to the private rented sector because of these checks with no intervention by enforcement officers and no reference to the Home Office,” said Baroness Williams.

Under the rules, landlords or letting agents must check the right to UK residence of any private tenant aged 18 or over, even if they are not named on a tenancy agreement.

Landlords must not rent a home to anyone without documents that identify them and show they have the right to live in the UK.

Penalties for failing to carry out right-to-rent checks can be as high as fines of £3,000.