Proposed new immigration rules for privately rented accommodation

The government is consulting on new proposals to require landlords, letting agents and potentially, people renting rooms in their home and hoteliers, to check the immigration status of new tenants, before they move into their new accommodation.

The new measures are expected to commence in the autumn of 2014.

New tenants will be required to produce identification and / or documentation to show that they are entitled to live in the UK. The checks must be carried out, prior to moving in. The rules will not apply to current tenants.

In the majority of cases the process will be very straight forward. A valid UK or EU Passport, an expired UK Passport (providing the photograph is still identifiable), or a combination of Birth Certificate (or Adoption Certificate) and National Insurance Number or UK Driving Licence will be sufficient to verify that the applicant is a legitimate resident. Also acceptable are Naturalisation Certificate, Right of Abode Certificate, EU National Identity Cards, (including Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein), evidence of receipt of UK benefits or a Biometric Residence Permit.

None of these documents needs to be verified with any service, only recorded as evidence before move in.

Non-EU residents will have either a Biometric Residence Permit or a valid Passport with a UK Immigration Stamp inside, whose date is still valid. If the date lapses during the tenancy, then the tenants immigration status must be checked again, to confirm their continued legitimacy to be in the UK.

There will be no liability for fraudulent documents produced by tenants, unless it is shown to be readily apparent to an untrained person that the document is forged.

The rules do not just apply to people who will sign the agreement, but to anyone who will be living at the property, however, there is no liability where tenants take in lodgers or sublet the property out, without the Landlords knowledge.

If the evidence is not satisfactory, there is no obligation to report the person to the Home Office, but they should not be accommodated. Where it is suspected that illegal immigrants are living at a property, a statutory excuse against future penalty can be established by reporting this in confidence to the Home Office.

Martina Mason-Green