Evict (even without a court order) or face jail.
The Government has announced it plans to introduce new laws that could allow landlords to evict illegal immigrants without a court order.
The announcement comes hot on the heels of news that landlords, who already face the threat of hefty fines if they rent to illegals, could also be hit with up to five years in prison if they are found not to have carried out adequate immigration status checks.
The Government also plans to create a ‘rogue landlord blacklist’ of homeowners who have fallen foul of the law, making it easier for local authorities to target persistent offenders.
The Government intends to create this now criminal offence as part of the Immigration Bill, which is currently before parliament. It has published a consultation setting out detailed new measures to crack down on “rogue” landlords, which would also include new fit and proper person tests for residential property landlords.
Communities Secretary, Greg Clark, has warned migrants that the new bill will simplify the process of evicting illegal immigrants from rental properties. Upon receipt of a Home Office notification that a tenant does not have any rights to rent property in the UK, landlords will be expected to evict them immediately. In some cases, landlords will be permitted to do this without needing a court order in place.
Clark said: “Cracking down on rogue landlords profiting from illegal immigration is a top priority. They are exploiting the UK immigration system and vulnerable people for the purpose of making money. New laws mean landlords are obligated to check whether potential tenants are in the UK legally.
“In future, landlords will be required to ensure that the people they rent their properties to are legally entitled to be in the country,” he said, adding: “We will also require them to meet their basic responsibilities as landlords, cracking down on those who rent out dangerous, dirty and overcrowded properties.”
To check the UK immigration status of a tenant, landlords will have access to a ‘right to rent’ scheme, which is currently being trialled in the West Midlands. The scheme allows landlords to check a person’s right to remain in Britain by looking at their biometric residence permit or passport.
Since August 2014, private landlords in five councils in the West Midlands have been required to conduct these ‘right to rent’ checks on the immigration status of prospective new tenants. The new legislation would formalise this pilot and extend the requirement to private landlords throughout England.
Landlords that let properties legally and later receive a notice that their tenants’ immigration status has changed, rendering them no longer legally resident in the UK, will be expected to take steps to immediately evict. Landlords would be able to take this action without first obtaining a court order in some cases. However, the consultation does not state what these circumstances would be.
The new criminal offence will be targeted at landlords and letting agents that repeatedly fail to conduct adequate right to rent checks or that repeatedly fail to evict tenants without leave to remain in the UK. Offenders could also face sanctions under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Other potential measures set out in the consultation include the introduction of a new fit and proper person test for landlords of properties that have to be licensed; and measures to allow landlords to recover abandoned properties more easily without the need to go to court.
To help local authorities, the government has proposed to extend Rent Repayment Orders so that they can claim back rent payments from landlords who fail to maintain properties used by those on Housing Benefit to a good standard; giving them the ability to share Tenancy Deposit Protection data; and giving them the power to issue penalty notices for certain civil offences and the ability to retain any fines for housing uses. The Government says that this will mean better quality rental property for tenants.
Greg Clark’s announcement comes as foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, and Home Secretary Theresa May make preparations to alternate the chairing of ‘Cobra’ committee meetings. Cobra is the name given to the Government’s emergency committee currently dealing with the ongoing migrant crisis in Calais.
Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: “The Government will be leaving no stone unturned, while we respond to the ‘swarm of people’ trying to reach Britain from Calais.”
Britain erected a new fence at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel on the French side this week.
