7 in 10 landlords are yet to understand their obligations under new “Right to Rent” rules?

February 3, 2016

With the threat of a fines of £3,000 it would appear that Landlords should be well up on knowing who are renting their homes and if they are entitled to do so… Though is it fair to say that 70% of landlords will not fully understand their obligations re Right to Rent?

The Government have made in clear that from February 2016 you must check that a tenant or lodger can legally rent your residential property in England.

A recent detailed report on the Guardian Website by well respected and award winning journalist Hilary Osborne includes quotes of “the RLA said more than 90% of 1,500 landlords it surveyed had not received any information from the government about this new legal duty”

There are concerns that these new checks will lead to a whole new situation of legal issues including accusations of racism and discrimination.

The official Government website clearly gives indication to the new requirements:
How to make a check

  1. Check which adults will live at your property as their only or main home.
  2. See the original documents that allow the tenant to live in the UK.
  3. Check that the documents are genuine and belong to the tenant, with the tenant present.
  4. Make and keep copies of the documents and record the date you made the check.

Monday 1st February 2016 sees a new era for Landlords renting property so what will the next few months bring especially for those less informed and experienced? The current state of immigration in to the UK, especially re the fact that over 10 million UK residents are supposedly existing without passports, could mean that finding the right person to be your next tenant could become a lot more harder and indeed expensive!

Residential Landlords Association (RLA) is quoted as saying that “90% of 1,500 landlords it surveyed had not received any information from the government about this new legal duty, and 72% did not understand their obligations.”

 

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

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