Mmmm ! landlords to become imigration officers

00ec25

Peter_Parsons wrote: »

Furthermore, who would you vet? Say my property was rented to a couple, both of whom were legitimately in the UK, were vetted, and who signed the contract. 3 months later their 19 year old offspring arrives on a student visa, moves in to the property, and starts working illegally. How am I supposed to know? How can I be held responsible in law for that?

you would vet the people who are your tenants.

In your example above the offspring are not your tenant and (based on the fact that none of us have seen the actual legislation yet) you should have no liability over such offspring

kkgree1

As much as I agree with this idea in principle, in practice it looks like it will be much harder to implement. I deal with visa compliance for a school and it's not always as simple as checking biometric cards or visas in passports. Often a visa will expire and it will take 3/4 months for the renewal to come through (UKBA are notoriously slow!) How a person would prove to a landlord that their application is with UKBA is an obvious concern and I have concerns that those with short leave dates (students being an prime example) will be refused tenancies as landlords don't want to take the obvious risk of evicting them at the end of their leave, should they need to.

A complete mindfield!

propertyman

The problem is, as usual is that we have systems that should work, but are underfunded.

Money from travellers is treated as a cash cow, it goes to No 11 and the UKBA gets back pennies on the £.No wonder they are so crap.

We, all nationals and immigrants, payees or claimants , have an identity card, the NI number and we should start collecting and using it.

All it needs is the employer landlord etc to take a picture and a thumb print and it goes in one file. When the computer spits out Mr Propertyman 2.0 not working in a shed in darkest sussex, but Khalid's perfect fried rat in Ilford, they send the boys in.

Landlords are then responsible for collecting, and the country for enforcing- then it works. LL's should only get kicked for not doing that or doing it so often that something is up.

next problem please.:cool:

propertyman

theartfullodger wrote: »

Scotland requires landlords to be registered. Come on Engerland , wake up & catch up!

Originally Posted by Peter Parsons
Firstly, there is no register of landlords in existence in the UK, so the government doesn't know who is a landlord.

In E & W you can always search the title at HMLR and then if there is no other address, try something like finder monkey or the electoral roll.

if there is mortgage on the property writing to them is always guaranteed to get a reply from a landlord

Peter_Parsons

So I've now got to be able to fingerprint my tenants.Wow!

Not everyone appears on the public electoral roll, and not all properties are mortgaged. How would your suggestions catch up with the LL who is renting out space in a converted garden shed, cash in hand, to someone working illegally? Is it those LLs who should be targetted or is it just easier to go after the likes of me?

00ec25

kkgree1 wrote: »

I deal with visa compliance for a school and it's not always as simple as checking biometric cards or visas in passports. Often a visa will expire and it will take 3/4 months for the renewal to come through (UKBA are notoriously slow!) How a person would prove to a landlord that their application is with UKBA is an obvious concern and I have concerns that those with short leave dates (students being an prime example) will be refused tenancies as landlords don't want to take the obvious risk of evicting them at the end of their leave, should they need to.

A complete mindfield!

agreed - for a LL they are going to "have" to learn a lot and are indeed going to become part time immigration officer

However, for you at school I'm surprised you raise renewal as an issue - the UKBA rules about renewal are clear - you are the sponsor so have a duty to hold evidence that the COS/CAS has been validly raised and that the applicant has sent the required documents to UKBA (ie you have copies of proof of postage). You then look on SMS for progress tracking

ILW

Peter_Parsons wrote: »

So I've now got to be able to fingerprint my tenants.Wow!

Not everyone appears on the public electoral roll, and not all properties are mortgaged. How would your suggestions catch up with the LL who is renting out space in a converted garden shed, cash in hand, to someone working illegally? Is it those LLs who should be targetted or is it just easier to go after the likes of me?

Do you know of any of these premises?
Have you reported them?

Peter_Parsons

ILW wrote: »

Do you know of any of these premises?
Have you reported them?

I only know what I have seen reported on the BBC.

RAS

ILW wrote: »

Do you know of any of these premises?
Have you reported them?

Enfield Beds in Sheds, against which the Council are currently taking enforcement action.

princeofpounds

Wonder how many BTL landlords are illegal immigrants themselves!