I have heard many landlords over the past 12 to 18 months knew that this was coming in saying we will only rent to UK citizens so that they do not have to get involved in the “Right to Rent Checks”. The problem with this is I feel you need to do the checks on every tenant you are looking to rent the property to as law states, they need to be carried out on citizens from outside the EU, without doing the checks and asking for the proof you can’t assume that the rest of your tenants are resident within the EU, or have the right to rent.
I can understand why the government decided to pass this from the immigration office to ourselves to do, as there is an awful lot of paperwork to make sure it is completed in the correct way, and the right documentation is taken, signed and dated to prove that in the future how it was collected and checked. It is also the agents or the landlord’s responsibility with anyone that is on a visa, to document and diarise when the visa expires and again, make sure they receive a copy of the new visa or end their tenancy before their visa expires.
Again, this is a prime example of how a good agent is making sure that you are compliant and the maximum fine is not given for not carrying out the correct checks or documenting in the correct way. This could amount to up to £3,000 per occupier, not per tenancy.
The next newsletter will be on the rental market in Exeter in 2017 so far
