New Powers – and Penalties – for Landlords
Published on December 21, 2016 by Sarah Mac
As of 1 December 2016, landlords or letting agents will face new criminal penalties in situations where they do not follow the rules surrounding the ‘right to rent’ legislation.
As we reported in a post earlier this year, right to rent checks became compulsory UK wide as of 1 February 2016. Now, as of the start of this month, a new criminal offence applies for landlords where their premises are occupied by an adult who does not have the right to rent, and where the landlord is aware or has reasonable grounds to believe that this is the case.
Letting agents can also be criminally prosecuted if they know or have reasonable cause to believe that a landlord whose property they are letting has allowed an adult without the right to rent to take up a tenancy when they had sufficient opportunity to notify the landlord of that fact before the tenancy agreement was signed, and did not do so.
The Defence
If a landlord can show that reasonable steps have been taken to end the tenancy agreement in light of the findings, and they have taken these steps within a reasonable period of time, then this will be deemed a suitable defence against criminal proceedings.
The government publication, ‘Immigration Act 2014: Guidance on Taking Reasonable Steps to end a Residential Tenancy Agreement Within a Reasonable Time’, is a must-read for all landlords in light of the new legislation.
The Punishment
Both landlords and agents who are found guilty of the above mentioned offences will be subject to unlimited fines and / or up to a five-year custodial sentence. According to indications by the Home Office, it looks as though prosecutions may only target those who offend on a persistent basis, however this is not stipulated in the legislation wording. For this reason it is imperative that all landlords and agents take adequate steps to ensure the correct right to rent checks are carried out, and that proper records are maintained.
New Eviction Powers for Landlords
Also from 1 December 2016, landlords will be given new powers of eviction. These powers are connected with the right to rent legislation in that in order to avoid being guilty of the offence of renting to a tenant who does not possess the right to rent, the landlord must be in a position to evict the tenant in question within a reasonable timeframe.
In some cases, the landlord may be able to reach an agreement with the tenant to surrender the tenancy, or it may be they can assign it to a tenant who does possess the right to rent. If the tenancy is not far off its end date, then the landlord will be able to serve a Section 21 Notice in order to terminate the agreement. However, if none of these circumstances apply, then the landlord can now use the new powers of eviction contained in the Immigration Act 2014.
To evict sole occupiers or all the property’s occupiers, a Section 33D(3) Notice will provide the tenant(s) with a notice period of 28 days to vacate the property. The notice carries the same enforcement weight as a High Court order which means there is no need for the landlord to go to court before appointing bailiffs, or conducting the eviction themselves.
Where the eviction applies only to one or more occupiers of the property but not all of them, a Section 8 Notice must be served based on the new Ground 7B. The court may decide to transfer the tenancy to the remaining tenants who do possess the right to rent.
The law is ever-changing in the area of landlord and tenant matters and it is vital to keep up to date with the latest legislation to ensure that as a landlord or letting agent, you do not unwittingly become a victim of criminal proceedings.