Contego
Are you ready for Right to Rent?
19 January 2016 7488 Views
The Right to Rent legislation rolls out in February 2016, so all landlords and letting agents in England must check the immigration status of their tenants. The new law means that private landlords, including those who sub-let or take in lodgers, must check the right of prospective tenants to be in the country to avoid being hit with a penalty.
Right to Rent was introduced in the Immigration Act 2014 as part of the government’s reforms to build a fairer and more effective immigration system. The current maximum penalty for each tenant found without a right to rent is £3000, but the Immigration Bill 2015 is due to introduce the penalty of up to five years imprisonment.
What does the legislation mean for landlords and letting agents?
Landlords and letting agents are required to check documents to ensure that all tenants over 18 have the right to be in the UK. They are required to:
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Check that tenants have documents that show they have the right to be in the UK.
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Where a person’s right to be in the UK will expire during the tenancy, make follow up checks either when the right to rent expires or after 12 months, whichever is later.
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If a follow up check reveals that a person no longer has the right to be in the UK then an official report needs to be made to the Home Office.
In addition, copies of documents have to be retained and dates of the check and the date of any follow up checks need to be recorded.
How can Contego help?
Contego is a due diligence platform that checks people, companies and ID documents. We work within the property sector for both leading UK estate agents and tenant referencing companies, performing detailed checks on individuals and helping them comply with Right to Rent legislation.
We aggregate data from multiple sources, including law enforcement, commercial data suppliers, and credit reference data, as well as performing automated identity document checks. All our checks create an audit trail within the system, with all documents stored securely, and fully encrypted.
If you need help with Right to Rent compliance, then please contact us immediately.
Contact: Richard Ingles
Tel: 07973 359208
