Changes to Right to Rent legislation

Landlords will no longer be immediately criminalised for failing to pick up illegal tenants in their properties following a campaign demanding changes to the Government’s Right to Rent legislation.

Changes to the Immigration Bill will provide protection for landlords who take reasonable steps in an appropriate time frame to terminate tenancies of those living in the country illegally.

The actions for those landlords and agents who do ‘house’ illegals will be ‘lenient’, if they act quickly by ending the illegals’ tenancies.

The Bill had stated, before the amendment was introduced, that any landlord or agent would be immediately criminalised if they had not carried out the necessary procedures to ensure that their tenants did have the Right to Rent in Britain.

Previously under the Bill, landlords would face immediate criminal sanctions upon discovery that they failed to ensure their tenants had the right to rent property in the United Kingdom.

The Government has also agreed to look at changes to regulations to enable landlords to provide information such as tenancy deposit schemes to tenants via email instead of in paper form as is currently required.

These changes will be welcomed by Agents and Landlords alike