UK landlords will be required to perform new immigration checks of prospective tenants if a pilot is successful.
Landlords in the West Midlands will trial the new ‘right to rent’ check system from 1 December, which will put the onus on landlords to check the legal status of potential tenants.
The new rules set out in the Immigration Act will penalise those landlords who do not perform the checks with fines of up to £3,000.
The National Landlords Association (NLA) has recommended that all landlords should be performing such checks to ensure that they do not let to unreliable tenants and lower the risk of rent arrears. The NLA already offers a service whereby landlords can vet prospective tenants before granting a tenancy.
NLA chairman Carolyn Uphill explained: “It has always been best practice to conduct a thorough check on prospective tenants, but if landlords don’t do their due diligence on tenants they could be in line for a hefty penalty.”
She added that the NLA existed to not only ensure landlords comply with the law, but also to help them run a successful and profitable business.
Specific rules have yet to be released, but it is expected that British and EU citizens will have to show their passport or a national identity card to fulfil the check requirements. Those from outside of the EU will hold a Biometric Residence Permit if they plan on staying in the UK for longer than six months, and visitors staying less should hold a valid visa with a time limit stamp.
If the pilot is successful, the checks will be rolled out to the rest of the UK in 2015.