For latest show news visit www.landlordshow.info
industry news
Immigration plans encourage landlords
to discriminate against lawful tenants
The complexity of the Government’s
plans to turn landlords into border
police is seeing lawful tenants being
refused housing, according to the
Residential Landlords Association (RLA).
The warning came on the day that new
research indicates the difficulties caused
by the Government’s ‘Right to Rent’
scheme, piloted in the West Midlands.
Under the Government’s plans, private
sector landlords are legally responsible
for checking the immigration status of
their tenants. Having been piloted, the
Government announced last month that
it would be expanded nationwide, with
landlords facing up to five years in prison
for failure to undertake the right checks.
According to the ‘No Passport – No
Home’ research report published by
the Joint Council for the Welfare of
Immigrants (JCWI), landlords in the West
Midlands are becoming increasingly
cautious about renting property out
to any tenant with identity documents
which are not familiar, with many
landlords unclear about the processes
they are expected to follow.
Commenting on the research, RLA Policy
Director, David Smith, said: “Whilst the RLA
opposes discrimination against tenants
because of their race or nationality, the
Government’s plans are causing confusion
and anxiety for many landlords.
“If the Government expect landlords
to act as border police it should provide
the training and material needed to give
them the confidence to carry out the
checks required of them.
“In the absence of such support, today’s
research sadly shows the inevitable
consequences of the policy which the RLA
has long voiced concerns about. Faced
with considerable sanctions, landlords
will inevitably play it safe where a tenant’s
identity documents are either unclear or
simply not known to them.”
The research by the Joint Council comes
as the Home Office still has not published
its own assessment of the pilot scheme.
David Smith continued: “It is
concerning that the Government
remains committed to rolling out the
Right to Rent policy nationwide without
first publishing its assessment of the
impact it has had in its own pilot area.
“Ministers should halt plans to proceed
with its rollout to allow time for proper
scrutiny and consideration of the impact
it is likely to have.”
Saira Grant, Legal & Policy Director, JCWI;
“The findings from our independent
evaluation show that the Right to Rent
policy encourages discrimination and
has created a hostile environment for all
migrants and ethnic minorities in the UK
seeking to access the private rental market.
“Our
evaluation
shows
direct
discrimination by landlords against those
legally here but with complicated or
unclear immigration status. These checks
are leading to increased racial profiling.
Those who appear foreign or have foreign
accents are finding it increasingly difficult
to access tenancies.
“The scheme must therefore be
properly evaluated and scrutinised by
Parliament before any decision is taken
on a national rollout. The Home Office,
having conducted its own evaluation,
must make the findings public before the
scheme is widened.”
Ealing ‘beds in sheds’ demolished
BEFORE
AFTER
Illegal dwellings at the rear of numbers 2, 4 and 6 Sunningdale Avenue, London W3
Outbuildings
being
used
as
unauthorised dwellings at the
rear of three properties in East
Acton have been demolished by
Ealing Council as a direct result of a
planning enforcement notice.
Council officers first discovered the
illegal dwellings at the rear of numbers 2,
4 and 6 Sunningdale Avenue, London W3,
in November 2013. The landlord, Sofiane
Belbegra, was subsequently served with
a planning enforcement notice requiring
the three units to be demolished.
Mr Belbegra appealed against the
enforcement notice and, following a
public inquiry held in November 2014,
the Planning Inspectorate dismissed
the appeal, giving him until 18 June
2015 to comply.
The deadline passed with no remedial
action being taken and a formal warning
was issued to Mr Belbegra. He again failed
to comply, leaving the council with no
choice but to send in bulldozers over the
26 Landlord & Buy-to-Let Issue 61 • September 2015
weekend of 22 August to demolish the
three unauthorised buildings.
Council leader, Councillor Julian Bell,
who has responsibility for planning,
said: “Planning laws are in place to
stop unlawful, dangerous structures
being put up randomly and to protect
neighbourhoods, as well as tenants. I
am particularly pleased to see a really
robust approach to enforcement being
carried through and real consequences
being felt by the unscrupulous landlord,
as in this case.”
As a result of the demolition carried out
by the council, Mr Belbegra will be sent a
bill for the cost of the entire works. If the
bill is not settled a charge will be placed
on the properties which will incur interest
until the outstanding money is paid in full.
In addition, during the appeal in
November, it came to light that Mr
Belbegra was using the three main
houses at Sunningdale Avenue as a hotel
and flats. The council has since issued
him with a further enforcement notice
requiring these uses to stop, and an
appeal against this notice is ongoing.