In August last year, the UK government announced that agents and landlords who allow rental properties to be let to migrants who do not have the right to be in the UK will face much larger financial penalties.

The legislation has now come into force this week where landlords could face a £20,000 fine.

Landlords could face prison

The penalties will increase from £80 per lodger and £1,000 per occupier for a first breach to up to £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier.

Repeat breaches will be up to £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier, up from £500 and £3,000 respectively.

Current rules mean that as well as facing a heavy fine, landlords could face potential imprisonment for failure to check the occupier’s right to rent status.

Landlords and agents have legal responsibility

All landlords and their agents in England have a legal responsibility under the Immigration Act 2014 legislation to prevent those without lawful immigration status from accessing the private rented sector.

The Home Office says landlords must complete one of these checks before commencing a tenancy:

• A manual right to rent check (all citizens)
• A right to rent check using Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) via the services of an Identity Service Provider (IDSP) (British and Irish citizens only)
• A Home Office online right to rent check (non-British and non-Irish Citizens)

Source: Property118

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Repossessions by landlords hit 5,409 between 1 October and 31 December last year, which was almost double the number in the same period in 2021, according to new Ministry of Justice figures for England and Wales.

The department said the number of mortgage and landlord repossessions increased steadily last year, and that compared with the same quarter in 2021, the October to December 2022 volumes “show a marked increase”. It added that “we cannot yet say whether these increases will continue at the same pace through 2023”, and that in general, the numbers had not reached pre-pandemic levels.

There has also been a “significant” increase in landlords taking action against tenants in the county courts of England and Wales, said the MoJ.

When compared with a year earlier, landlord repossession claims were up 42%, orders for possession by 135%, warrants by 103% and repossessions by 98%.

In recent months a string of surveys have shown that typical private rents in the UK have hit record highs. Experts say that severe shortages of rental properties have led to intense competition for what is available, with queues for viewings and desperate renters paying over the odds.

In December, a survey by homelessness charity Crisis indicated that nearly 1 million low-income households across Britain feared eviction in the coming months.

Ahead of the spring budget on 15 March, the charity is urging the government tobetter fund housing benefit “so that it covers the true cost of rent”.

Matt Downie, its chief executive, said: “The devastating impact of the cost of living crisis, rising rents and low wages has once again been laid bare as thousands more renters are faced with eviction and the very real threat of being left with nowhere to go.”

The MoJ data shows that private landlord repossessions were highest in Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, with 151 per 100,000 households within that sector. Social landlord repossessions were highest in Preston, Lancashire, with 146 per 100,000 households.

Meanwhile, Pendle in Lancashire had the highest overall rate of mortgage repossessions: 66 per 100,000 households.

source: theguardian

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