Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many notices her Department has issued informing a landlord that an occupier is disqualified from renting (a) since and (b) prior to 1 December 2016; how many such notices were issued where that occupier was below the age of 18 in each such period; and what process she follows in carrying out her duties under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 in respect of such notices being issued to a person who is (i) a child and (ii) with a child.
The residential tenancy measures in the Immigration Act 2016 came into force in England on 1 December 2016. These introduced a new offence for landlords and their agents of knowingly renting to an illegal migrant, and new powers for the Home Office to prosecute for this offence; and also introduced a new route for landlords to evict illegal migrants more quickly.
The Home Office may issue a notice to a landlord informing them that they are letting property to someone who is disqualified from renting; possession of such a notice allows the landlord to access the new eviction route. Landlords may avoid liability for prosecution by taking reasonable steps within a reasonable period of time to end the tenancy.