Beth Middleton Blog...

Unintended consequences of right-to-rent tenant checks

From the 1st of December 2014 Landlords in the West Midlands will have to check their tenant’s immigration status to ensure that they have the right-to-rent in the UK.

Any landlord that fails to carry out these checks can be fined £3,000 per illegal immigrant over the age of 18 found living in their property.

This act is likely to have implications stretching beyond those foreseen by policy makers.

Its intention is to create a ‘hostile environment’ for illegal immigrants with hopes that they would rather return to their previous country than risk being homeless. However, considering many illegal immigrants risk their lives to come to the UK it is likely that the threat of homelessness will act as no more than another hurdle on the road to a better life.

Many illegal immigrants will find accommodation in hostels and B&Bs as these establishments are not subject to the same rules that landlords in the private rented sector are. Unfortunately, the amount of local homeless is on the rise and hostels and B&Bs are often used to temporarily accommodate vulnerable members of society until a more permanent situation can be found.

On top of this, illegal immigrants have no choice but to be involved in illegal activity if they are to earn money whilst in the UK as they cannot be legally employed. The result of this is that some of our most vulnerable citizens, such as care leavers and young single mothers, are likely to be homed in hostels and B&Bs alongside illegal immigrants who are partaking in illegal activity.

Another concern is that of racial discrimination. Companies such as landlordreferencingservices.co.uk have included documentation verification in their tenant referencing to accommodate for these changes. However, there is a real concern that landlords will only use these referencing services on tenants that aren’t ‘obviously British’.

Landlords may even go as far as to only offer their properties to tenants that they feel are ‘definitely British’ to avoid risking fines without having to fully reference their tenants. This may mean that large amounts of people feel shut out from the private rented sector.

Illegal immigrants may manage to manoeuvre around the system through Ghost Tenancies. A Ghost Tenant is simply somebody who lives in a property without the landlord’s knowledge. If illegal immigrants know that they won’t pass the referencing process then they may pay others to front the tenancy agreement. Luckily the Immigration Act has one massive unintended consequence with regards to Ghost Tenancies that will have a positive impact on the work of landlords and their local communities.

The majority of crime in the UK is committed by tenants in the private rented sector. To get past tenant referencing these tenants often have somebody else with a good credit score fronting them and so the people living in the property are actually Ghost Tenants.

Because of the changes to the Immigration Act landlords have a legal obligation to verify their tenant’s documentation and so fronting, and the illegal activity that it facilitates, can be brought to an end. If landlords all referenced fully with comprehensive tenant referencing and followed best referencing practise then crime in our communities would decrease dramatically.

When a landlord references fully with a comprehensive tenant referencing service then it will become clear whether or not the tenant is on the tenancy agreement of more than one property. If this is the case chances are the tenant is fronting. A landlord can then discuss the situation with the prospective tenant and make an informed decision. If a landlord chooses to refuse this tenancy the individual that the named tenant is fronting for, who is likely either living in the country illegally or who has criminal intentions, is not allowed to plant roots in our communities.

https://www.landlordreferencing.co.uk/

*Beth Middleton is a Senior Media Reporter at Landlord Referencing Services