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The bad news is that more red tape is going to be piled onto landlords.
The good news is that we, as your agent, will deal with it for you.
The background
Right to Rent is part of the Immigration Act 2014. The Government wants the Private Rental Sector to help tackle unlawful immigration. ‘Right to Rent’ means that the tenant has the legal right to live in the UK. If a landlord or their agent lets a property to someone with no right to live in the UK, there is a fine of up to £3000. This applies to new tenancies and not to the renewal of existing tenancies.
The legislation is controversial as many landlords and agents cannot understand why it is their task to act as a proxy border control. It can be quite complex to determine a ‘Right to Rent’ when a tenant is travelling a lot and using the UK as a base.
What you cannot do
You cannot discriminate against applicants from overseas – that is illegal. It would also be foolish in our market where so many of the best tenants come from outside the EU, particularly in OX1 and OX2.
The trial
There has been a trial in the West Midlands of the Right to Rent legislation. A landlord or their agent has had to check the passport and visas of all new incoming adult tenants and make a ‘permanent’ copy.
The next step
The results of the trial have not been published and so this high profile policy remains in limbo. However we still expect it to be rolled out at some point, probably in the next 12 months.
