£160,000 of fines for illegal migrants’ landlords

HUNDREDS of landlords who let illegal immigrants stay in their properties have been fined in a crackdown.

Penalties of £163,000 were imposed after the Right to Rent scheme, which forces landlords to check tenants’ identities, was brought in.

Fines were issued to 236 property owners between February 2016 and June this year.

Right to Rent requires landlords or householders in England to establish that tenants or lodgers have a right to be in the UK by copying documents such as passports or ID cards.

Failure to comply can lead to fines of up to £3,000 for each tenant, while those who knowingly rent to people with no right to be in the country can face up to five years in prison.

The Home Office said the number of landlords fined had more than tripled in just over a year. Between April and June this year – the latest figures available – 76 penalties worth £47,700 were issued. This compares with 14 fines totalling £13,800 in the first three months of 2016.

Immigration minister Brandon Lewis said: ‘We believe in creating an immigration system which is fair to people here legally but firm with those who break the rules or enable others to do so.

‘Right to Rent deters people from staying in the UK when they have no right to be here.’

Chris Norris, of the National Landlords Association, said: ‘A small number of landlords have been penalised, with an average fine of £600.

‘This suggests landlords are more likely to be accidentally falling foul of the law, rather than deliberately or maliciously breaking the rules.’

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said the Government had no evidence that the policy encouraged anyone to leave the UK. Spokesman Chai Patel added: ‘It is likely that, instead, the policy is driving vulnerable migrants into the hands of rogue landlords.’

Figures showed that of 654 suspected illegal immigrants caught in a Right to Rent pilot scheme between December 2014 and September 2016, 31 were removed from the UK.

‘Accidentally falling foul of the law’