Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many landlords have been fined for housing a tenant who does not have the right to rent in the UK in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
From 1 November 2015 to 31 October 2016 75 initial civil penalties were issued to individual landlords of tenants who do not have the right to rent in the UK.
As with right to work checks, the Right to Rent scheme is predicated on checks being carried out by third parties (in this case landlords and lettings agents). This means that the majority of illegal migrant prospective tenants will be denied access to the private rented sector as a result of these checks with no intervention by enforcement officers and no reference to the Home Office. The sanctions set out in the Immigration Acts 2014 and 2016 in relation to the Right to Rent scheme are there to address circumstances where the scheme is not adhered to by landlords and agents.
The Home Office does not hold information about the overall numbers of illegal migrants found in private rented accommodation. However our records show that between the start of the scheme and 30 September 2016, 654 individuals were either named on a Civil Penalty Referral Notice served on a landlord, or encountered on an enforcement visit during which such a Notice was served, or encountered as a result of information provided through the Landlords Checking Service, or encountered as a result of other intelligence provided about property let to illegal migrants.
Of these individuals, 31 were removed from the UK over the same period. Other cases may be being progressed to removal, or have been made subject to reporting restrictions, or have sought to regularise their stay, or have left the UK voluntarily. The Right to Rent scheme is designed to restrict access to the private rented sector for illegal migrants in order to encourage voluntary departure from the UK and discourage illegal migration. The Home Office will always investigate information it receives about illegal migrants and take appropriate enforcement action according to the information available and the circumstances of the case. It is not always possible to attribute a return or other enforcement activity to the application of a sanction earlier in the case or to the route through which a particular individual was brought to the attention of the Home Office.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many tenants and landlords have been investigated by enforcement officers under the right to rent checks scheme in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
From 1 November 2015 to 31 October 2016 75 initial civil penalties were issued to individual landlords of tenants who do not have the right to rent in the UK.
As with right to work checks, the Right to Rent scheme is predicated on checks being carried out by third parties (in this case landlords and lettings agents). This means that the majority of illegal migrant prospective tenants will be denied access to the private rented sector as a result of these checks with no intervention by enforcement officers and no reference to the Home Office. The sanctions set out in the Immigration Acts 2014 and 2016 in relation to the Right to Rent scheme are there to address circumstances where the scheme is not adhered to by landlords and agents.
The Home Office does not hold information about the overall numbers of illegal migrants found in private rented accommodation. However our records show that between the start of the scheme and 30 September 2016, 654 individuals were either named on a Civil Penalty Referral Notice served on a landlord, or encountered on an enforcement visit during which such a Notice was served, or encountered as a result of information provided through the Landlords Checking Service, or encountered as a result of other intelligence provided about property let to illegal migrants.
Of these individuals, 31 were removed from the UK over the same period. Other cases may be being progressed to removal, or have been made subject to reporting restrictions, or have sought to regularise their stay, or have left the UK voluntarily. The Right to Rent scheme is designed to restrict access to the private rented sector for illegal migrants in order to encourage voluntary departure from the UK and discourage illegal migration. The Home Office will always investigate information it receives about illegal migrants and take appropriate enforcement action according to the information available and the circumstances of the case. It is not always possible to attribute a return or other enforcement activity to the application of a sanction earlier in the case or to the route through which a particular individual was brought to the attention of the Home Office.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many calls they have received to their landlord helpline from landlords wanting to verify whether a tenant has the right to rent in the UK in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The landlord’s helpline does not verify whether a tenant has the right to rent. The helpline provides information to landlords on their responsibilities and signposts to the relevant guidance on GOV. UK.
The helpline has received 7806 calls of which 7738 (99.13%) were answered from 1st July 2015 to 30th June 2016.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost has been of processing civil penalty appeals under the right to rent provisions.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
There has been no cost of processing civil penalty appeals under the Right to Rent scheme as there have not been any appeals lodged since the start of the scheme on 1 December 2014.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who were not granted entry clearance or temporary admission and were permitted to live in private accommodation absconded in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office does not record the number of persons who have been deported or who have absconded having been permitted to live in private accommodation.
The Right to Rent scheme denies illegal migrants access to the private rented sector. It has been in operation in parts of the West Midlands since 1st December 2014, and across England since 1st February 2016. The scheme requires landlords to carry out checks on prospective tenants before they rent property to them, and to refuse a tenancy to anyone who cannot show that they have the right to rent. The scheme is not retrospective, and does not apply to tenancies which were in place before the scheme came into effect in the relevant area.
Therefore, in order to keep the scheme light touch and in line with the Right to Work scheme, landlords (like employers) are not required to tell the Home Office when they have completed right to rent checks.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people not granted entry clearance or temporary admission were permitted to live in private accommodation before being deported in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office does not record the number of persons who have been deported or who have absconded having been permitted to live in private accommodation.
The Right to Rent scheme denies illegal migrants access to the private rented sector. It has been in operation in parts of the West Midlands since 1st December 2014, and across England since 1st February 2016. The scheme requires landlords to carry out checks on prospective tenants before they rent property to them, and to refuse a tenancy to anyone who cannot show that they have the right to rent. The scheme is not retrospective, and does not apply to tenancies which were in place before the scheme came into effect in the relevant area.
Therefore, in order to keep the scheme light touch and in line with the Right to Work scheme, landlords (like employers) are not required to tell the Home Office when they have completed right to rent checks.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to better inform all landlords of the new rules that oblige them to check new tenants’ immigration status.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Home Office has undertaken a proactive engagement and communications campaign to raise awareness about the roll out of the scheme. This has involved private rented sector engagement, media engagement and the distribution of communications materials across a range of Government and partner channels. We are continuing direct engagement with the private rented sector through a consultative panel, chaired by the Immigration Minister and Lord Best, which includes housing experts and homelessness charities. The Home Office has also undertaken a programme of engagement including training events for all local authorities and presentations at sector conferences.
The panel has helped to shape the communications strategy for the scheme and has collaborated on communications tactics and methods. The Home Office has collaborated with the panel to produce various communications materials which have been shared with the sector and published on GOV.UK. Since October 2015, there has been an increase in web traffic to Right to Rent guidance on GOV.UK with over 80,000 unique views of key pages.
The Home Office will continue proactive engagement and communications activity in the months ahead to ensure landlords and tenants are aware of the materials and guidance available.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Right to Rent Scheme for landlords to perform immigration checks on tenants will come into force in Scotland.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Prime Minister made clear in his immigration speech of 21 May that the Government intends to roll out the Right to Rent scheme across the whole of the UK. The roll out is being taken forward in a phased manner. Having started in a part of the West Midlands, the next phase will extend the scheme across the rest of England as of 1 February 2016. The Government intends to roll out the scheme to the rest of the UK thereafter as part of the final phase. In relation to the provisions that relate to the private rented sector in the Immigration Bill 2015-16, the Bill also enables for these provisions to be enacted across Scotland at a later date.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what protections she plans to put in place for landlords who, unwittingly and after carrying out reasonable checks, allow an illegal immigrant to rent their property.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Immigration Act 2014 prohibits landlords from leasing property to persons who are disqualified from renting by reason of their immigration status. Right to rent checks are simple to conduct and comprise of an examination of documents from a range prescribed in law as acceptable for the purposes of establishing a right to rent. Landlords are not expected to be immigration or forgery experts and the Act provides defences in law for the landlord who may have accepted a falsified document in good faith and having acted reasonably.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that letting agents are able to verify the immigration status of tenants who are subletters.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The system of right to rent checks which we introduced through the Immigration Act 2014 enables a landlord to delegate the responsibility for conducting a check on a tenant’s status to a lettings agent, together with any associated liability for a penalty. Where a tenant sublets the accommodation to another person, the legislation provides that the tenant is responsible for conducting a right to rent check, and liable for any penalty for not doing so, unless it has been agreed by both parties that the check will be performed by the landlord or an agent. Full guidance for lettings agents on how to carry out checks is available online (www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-rent-landlords-code-of-practice), and through a free telephone helpline.
The first phase of the scheme is in operation in Birmingham, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton and is currently being evaluated before it is extended to the rest of the country.