The government have announced the start date for the ‘Right to Rent’ rules. From 1 February 2016, all private landlords in England will have to check new tenants have the right to be in the UK before renting out their property. Under the new rules, landlords who fail to check a potential tenant’s ‘Right to Rent’ will face penalties of up to £3,000 per tenant.
These rules are part of the Immigration Act 2014, which TFP clients will remember that we covered in our Legal Update courses last year. Under the new ‘Right to Rent’ law letting agents and private landlords, including those who sub-let or take in lodgers, must check the right of prospective tenants to be in the country.
The rules were introduced in a pilot area of the West Midlands and the conclusions of this introductory phase have now been published. Please note, the government has advised that landlords in the phase one area (Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton) should continue to make the checks as they have been doing from 1 December 2014.
The government has produced a code of practice for Landlords on
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-rent-landlords-code-of-practice
TFP recently ran a webinar on Right to Rent rules, to purchase a copy to download and watch visit Shop and click on Webinars.