Written by: ROSALIND RENSHAW | MAY 22, 2015 Property Industry Eye
Prime Minister David Cameron is set to introduce a mandatory licensing regime of private landlords.
What is being described as a bombshell is outlined in a speech Cameron gave yesterday on immigration.
Most commentators have so far focused on his announcement that the current ‘right to rent’ trial in the midlands whereby landlords or their agents must check the immigration status of tenants is to be rolled out nationwide.
But Cameron added that a new mandatory licensing regime will be introduced. There are no details, for example as to whether it will include letting agents. However, this does seem highly likely given that agents act for landlords and can legally bear responsibility for ‘right to rent’ checks and other duties.
Until now, the Tories have always walked away from such a policy. The last Labour administration said it wanted landlord – and letting agent – licensing but never introduced it.
But this is what Cameron said: “There are other ways we can identify those who shouldn’t be here, for example through housing. For the first time we’ve had landlords checking whether their tenants are here legally.
“The Liberal Democrats only wanted us to run a pilot on that one. But now we’ve got a majority, we will roll it out nationwide, and we’ll change the rules so landlords can evict illegal immigrants more quickly.
“We’ll also crack down on the unscrupulous landlords who cram houses full of illegal migrants, by introducing a new mandatory licensing regime. And, a bit like ending jobs when visas expire, we’ll consult on cancelling tenancies automatically at the same point.
“It’s not just through housing and jobs; we can track down illegal migrants through the banking system too.”
The full speech is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-immigration
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