Tackling illegal immigration in privately rented accommodation. Martin Blakey 9/8/13

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1 Tackling illegal immigration in privately rented accommodation Martin Blakey 9/8/13

2 This consultation seeks views on our proposals to create a new requirement on landlords to conduct immigration checks on tenants, with penalties for those who provide rented accommodation to illegal non-eea migrants in breach of the new requirements. Rt Hon Theresa May MP Home Secretary

3 ocuments/policyandlaw/consultations/33- landlords/

4 Policy It is the responsibility of the Home Office to prevent illegal immigration by operating strong border controls and removing from the country those who overstay or enter illegally. However, other public and private sector bodies should also play their part in making it more difficult for illegal migrants to remain here, by limiting their access to services and benefits enjoyed by those legally resident here.

5 Policy The Government proposes to put in place a new requirement for landlords to make simple checks on tenants immigration status, through new legislation to be introduced to Parliament in autumn 2013 This consultation, which closes on 21 August 2013 seeks views on the details of the policy proposal to require private landlords to make checks on tenants Around 4 million dwellings will be in scope of the policy proposal We will minimise the burden of red tape on lawabiding landlords and tenants. Landlords will not be required to become experts in immigration matters or assume the burden of enforcement against illegal migrants.

6 Policy and Double Regulation The Government proposes a light-touch and proportionate regime for private landlords to make checks on prospective new tenants building on the checks that many responsible landlords and letting agents already undertake. Want to avoid double-regulation and will therefore exclude the following types of accommodation: social housing privately rented accommodation secured by a local housing authority accommodation provided by universities and other full-time educational establishments for their students accommodation provided by employers for their employees

7 Details Before renting accommodation to a new tenant to live in as their main or only home landlords will ask prospective tenants: to produce evidence from a checklist of specified documents of their entitlement to be in the UK the landlord will check this and keep a copy for his records the check would be made at the outset of the tenancy. Checks would need to be repeated only in the case of those tenants who have limited leave to remain in the country. the Home Office will operate an enquiry service for landlords who require support in understanding the documents they are required to check unless it is reasonably apparent that the documents provided by the tenant are forgeries, the landlord will not be held responsible for accepting a forgery if the tenant cannot produce satisfactory evidence, the landlord should not rent accommodation to them if they did so they would be liable to a civil penalty

8 Details if a landlord has reason to believe that illegal migrants are living in the property, then s/he should report the occupiers to the Home Office landlords would not be required to undertake costly proceedings to evict the tenant.

9 Further consequences for Houses in Multiple Occupation In considering licences under Mandatory Licensing and Additional Licensing schemes, local authorities are required to consider whether the proposed licence holder and (if a different person) manager are fit and proper persons and whether the proposed management arrangements are satisfactory It is for the local housing authority to decide whether a licence holder or manager is a fit and proper person and competent. The Government considers that once the new requirements to check tenants migration status comes into effect, a landlord s prior record of compliance with the requirements should be a factor that may be taken into account by the local authority in making that decision The Government therefore proposes to make sure that local authorities have access to information that would help them make an informed decision about the landlord.

10 Checking Checks should be performed on a nondiscriminatory basis (i.e. without regard to race, religion or other protected characteristics as specified in the Equality Act ) on all adults who will be living at the property

11 Types of Evidence that Landlords Should Accept Private landlords are not expected to be experts in immigration. There will be a limited list of documents that they are expected to accept in making the checks

12 Category: Documents accepted as evidence a person falls into that category (any one of the following) United Kingdom citizens UK passport (an expired passport is acceptable if the holder is still recognisable from the photograph) Naturalisation certificate Right of abode certificate Birth certificate or adoption certificate plus either (i) national insurance number or (ii) UK driving licence European Economic Area and Swiss citizens Non-EEA nationals with lawful regular immigration status (leave to enter or remain) Non-EEA family members of EEA nationals exercising EU Treaty Rights in the UK Non-EEA nationals without leave to remain EEA or Swiss passport (an expired passport is acceptable if the holder is still recognisable from the photograph) National identity card issued by European Union member state or Switzerland European Union Laissez Passer (as issued to certain European Union officials and dependants) Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) held by temporary and permanent residents Visa or passport stamp held by short term visitors Home Office letter confirming the person has an outstanding immigration application or appeal which permits them to remain (but only if verified by contacting the Home Office enquiry service) Documents held by persons exempt from immigration control (e.g. diplomatic passports, NATO Identification card, International Red Cross Travel document, UN Laissez Passer) Residence certificate or card issued by the Home Office Certificate of Application (but only if verified by contacting the Home Office enquiry service) Application Registration Card (ARC) held by asylum seekers (but only if verified by contacting the Home Office enquiry service) Home Office letter of authorisation (but only if verified by contacting the Home

13 Types of Evidence that Landlords Should Accept The person making the check would look at the original of any of the above documents that is presented to him. In the vast majority of cases, the person s status should be established simply by examining their documents

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15 Level of Civil Penalties The objectives of the proposed penalty system are that it should: send a signal that all landlords should take their obligations seriously not discourage law-abiding people from becoming or remaining landlords or create excessive penalties for unintentional / low level breaches be practical to administer, and straightforward for landlords to understand

16 Penalty levels Category A Category B Penalty per adult illegal non- EEA migrant 1,000 3,000

17 Possible Responses International Students in Leeds are worth at least 336m annually to the local economy (based on a very conservative joint fee and living take of 15K a year) they are an important part of the City s economy There were 2,375 international students within HE in Leeds in International students are already subject to stringent control and further checks will make them feel unwelcome and deter them from studying here

18 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills On July 30th 2013 the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) issued a report: International Education: Global Growth and Prosperity Which outlined the UK s current status and potential for future expansion across all sectors, as well as in transnational education, research collaboration and other related education products. BIS set an industrial growth strategy for international education exports that targets a realistic 15-to-20 per cent growth in international students enrolled in higher education institutions over the next five years, as well as growth in other education sectors The report said, We believe it is realistic for numbers of international students in higher education to grow by 15-to-20 per cent over the next five years. Such growth would equate to an additional 70,000-to-100,000 students, and BIS projects that 3.7 per cent annual growth would lead to tuition fee income rising from UK 3.9 billion (US$5.9bn) in 2011/12 to UK 4.4 billion (US$6.7bn) in 2020 (in 2011 prices). The strategy document does note a number of challenges the UK faces, including negative perceptions of visa changes and unfavourable post-study work right comparisons with competitor destinations.

19 Possible Responses The consultation places a great deal of stress on ridding the market of rogue landlords and links this to illegal occupation of sheds with beds. There are no obvious examples, in the student sector, of this taking place. The vast majority of students are housed by reputable providers who already check that their occupiers are students before renting.

20 Possible Responses Those that live in off-street properties or flats rented from smaller landlords tend to live in Houses in Multiple-Occupation which are already heavily regulated through the 2004 Housing Act with mandatory and often additional and selective licensing. It is estimated that 80% of licensed HMO s (regulated already by the Local Authority) are occupied by students. There is no evidence that students conform to the types of illegal immigrants that the consultation envisages with landlords supporting a hidden economy with poor quality and exploitative housing and employment integral to that package.

21 The question arises, to what extent is a complex and onerous system required to achieve tighter immigration control on students. The conclusion would be that students are a now special and low-risk group of tenants and they should be treated as such under whatever administrative requirements are required under legislation.

22 A Light Touch and Proportionate Regime The consultation acknowledges, and stresses throughout the proposals, that any regulations should be light touch. It then goes on to treat students as any other immigrant group without acknowledging the tight control mechanisms that have already been introduced and operate within the student sector Students are already strictly policed, not only by the Home Office but on the ground by educational institutions, before they are accepted into the country to study. Once here, they already are given proof of student status (because they need it for many purposes).

23 A Light Touch and Proportionate Regime It makes sense not to replicate the control mechanisms that are already operating for students. The latest accepted estimate of the number of students with residential requirements (and thus tenants) in the UK was given in the Rugg Review of the Private Rented Sector in 2008 at 1.6 million. The sector continued to grow after that time and can now be estimated at 1.7 million students. In there were 435,230 international students of whom 132,550 came from within the EU. To tighten immigration controls the Home Office is proposing that 1.4 million students should have to provide evidence of their right to be in the country to check on 302,680 who will have already have passed through stringent immigration tests it has already introduced

24 A Light Touch and Proportionate Regime - Exempting University Halls Only 271,202 students would be exempt. International students are disproportionately represented within this category of student housing (an estimate of 50% of international students subject to immigration control could be made). The conclusion is that of the 1.7 million student tenancies, 1,428,798 tenancies would fall under these proposals to check on an estimated 151,340 international students, with all of those students having already been checked by institutions and border controls if they are bona fide students

25 Problems with the Student Sector students rent many months before their contracts start (January for the following July) international students may not have visas that extend that long joint tenancies are common

26 Practical Difficulties The Home Office envisages that tenants would produce original documentation to the housing supplier at the point of a tenancy being entered into. This is not the case with students: tenancies are frequently entered into on-line from either outside or inside the UK (almost all lettings to new students, including home students, take this form) documentation and communication is frequently electronic any system of immigration control that deters online applications will drive students from the largest and most reputable operators, which is exactly what the consultation says it is trying to avoid.

27 Possible Solution The conclusion is that international students are already subject to stringent immigration controls and that a letter should be provided to all students at the point they have either been accepted to study on a course or have a reasonable expectation of registering on that course in the near future and that this letter should fulfil the requirements of the checking process being proposed. Landlords or housing suppliers would have a duty to satisfy themselves that students were bona fide students studying at an institution and a letter provided by an institution would meet that criteria. HEIs and FEs already provide students with letters for the purposes of Council Tax exemptions in their own locality and this is the most efficient and simple way in which checking should take place

28 Conclusion Students are special and international students in particular are in danger of being doubleregulated. A simple letter from an educational institution would cut through 1.7 million enquiries, making simple administration and verification easy and highlighting those who could not produce such a letter for more careful consideration.