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8:36 AM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago 4
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Landlords face being put out of business with the government trebling the fines for those who rent a home to an illegal migrant.
The government says this will be the biggest shake up of civil penalties since 2014.
Under the new rules, fines will rocket from £80 per lodger and £1,000 per tenant for a first breach, to £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier.
Further breaches will be up to £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier, up from £500 and £3,000 respectively.
The higher fines will be brought in from next year.
Robert Jenrick, the Minister for Immigration, said: “Making it harder for illegal migrants to work and operate in the UK is vital to deterring dangerous, unnecessary small boat crossings.
“Unscrupulous landlords and employers who allow illegal working and renting enable the business model of the evil people smugglers to continue.
“There is no excuse for not conducting the appropriate checks and those in breach will now face significantly tougher penalties.”
Since the start of 2018, landlords have been hit with more than 320 civil penalties worth £215,500.
And nearly 5,000 civil penalties worth £88.4m have been issued to employers over the same period.
The civil penalty for employers, which was last increased in 2014, will be raised to up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach from £15,000.
And for repeat offences, the fine increases up to £60,000, from £20,000.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Strengthening penalties must be combined with stronger enforcement action if the government is serious about tackling the problems.”
She added that penalties issued to firms employing workers illegally had dropped by two-thirds since 2016 – and arrests are also down.
Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesperson said this was ‘another pointless announcement on the asylum system which will make no meaningful difference’.
The government warns that employers and landlords in England should be checking already the eligibility of anyone they employ or let a property to.
The ways to carry out these checks are not changing which includes a manual check of original documentation and a Home Office online checking system.
News of stiffer fines comes after the government’s crackdown on illegal working and renting after a taskforce was launched.
There is also now data sharing with the financial sector to stop illegal migrants from accessing bank accounts which was brought in earlier this year.
Darren Peters
10:09 AM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
Ah yes, landlords the unpaid border force. Don't even get a nice shiny peaked cap.
TheMaluka
10:25 AM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
Nice to see proportionate fines being introduced for landlords! 👹
GlanACC
10:26 AM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
This is good new as it also gives you the opportunity to reject some of the other tenants you don't like - I always ask for a birth certificate or driving licence and a passport, many of the 'top up' benefit claiminats won't have these readily available. A valid reaon to reject them.
northern landlord
17:33 PM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
Let’s face it most illegal migrants will not be living in the main stream. They will be working in the black economy and living in the black economy of rogue landlords. The authorities probably know full well where many illegal immigrants are living but they are not willing to flush them out because once flushed out they will need to be accommodated at high cost and their shyster lawyers will cost a fortune in legal aid as their cases drag on forever. Cheaper to let sleeping dogs lie. They might clobber a few decent landlords who make a genuine mistake to make it look like they are being tough but they don’t want to kick the hornets’ nest.