News

As of today, the Immigration Act 2014 ‘Right to Rent’ legislation will come into force in the West Midlands regions of Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

This means anyone seeking to rent a property – landlord or agent – will need to check that any tenants they take on have a legal right to live in the U.K. The scheme will then be rolled out nationwide in 2015.

sobel Thompson, CEO of NALS commented:

“The Immigration Act 2014 has implications for the entire Private Rented Sector in the U.K. and we are urging all agents to get up to speed with it now, even if they are not in the West Midlands.

Agents should be considering how to put into place required procedures and training now, to ensure that, if they are going to offer this aspect of tenant referencing to their landlords, that they are fully aware of the legislation and can offer compliant and robust checking of documents.

The penalities for letting to an illegal immigrant are clear – up to £3K per individual – so agents must make a decision as to whether they are going to take on this responsibility on behalf of their landlord clients, and write it into their lettings contracts”.

NALS will provide feedback about the pilot scheme to the Home Office.  Please send your thoughts to info(at)nalscheme.co.uk

Visit the Government website for full details of this legislation.

NALS Virtual Learning Environment has put together a short training course on the Act for its firms. Find out more >>> here. 

NALS is the National Approved Letting Scheme, a not for profit licensing scheme for lettings and management agents operating in the Private Rented Sector.