Landlords to be responsible for vetting migrant tenants

Sampong

Mr._Pricklepants wrote: »

All for cracking down on illegal immigration, but this should not be a task for landlords.

We could start fining butchers for selling cumberland sausages to illegals also?

Maybe, maybe not.

But whatever your opinion is on that, when and if new rules/regs are enforced you can thank the rouge landlords who have mad a little cottage industry out of housing illegal immigrants.

Sampong

Gizmo247 wrote: »

I don't see how this can work without a workable identify system. The government needs to bite the bullet and revive the identity card project and get it done.

Of course it will work. You only have to use the spectacular success of the UKBA as an example.........:)

Saturnalia

So the decent landlords will check prospective tenants, and meanwhile the slumlords who are already breaking every housing law on the books won't give a damn as long as they're getting rent.

So those at the bottom of the pile will be in shoddy, crowded, potentially dangerous housing - what changes, exactly?

Sampong

Saturnalia wrote: »

So the decent landlords will check prospective tenants, and meanwhile the slumlords who are already breaking every housing law on the books won't give a damn as long as they're getting rent.

So those at the bottom of the pile will be in shoddy, crowded, potentially dangerous housing - what changes, exactly?

Yup that pretty much sums it up.

Thrugelmir

Gizmo247 wrote: »

I don't see how this can work without a workable identify system. The government needs to bite the bullet and revive the identity card project and get it done.

Credit checking of applicants would be a start. As this would determine their previous existance on the electoral roll for example.

Sampong

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Credit checking of applicants would be a start. As this would determine their previous existance on the electoral roll for example.

There are various third party companies who can provide a checking service to landlords but it won't really help if the prospective tenant is new to the country and has a high quality fake passport obtained in Moldova - hop over the border to bulgaria and hey presto you're an EU citizen.

Thrugelmir

Sampong wrote: »

There are various third party companies who can provide a checking service to landlords but it won't really help if the prospective tenant is new to the country and has a high quality fake passport obtained in Moldova - hop over the border to bulgaria and hey presto you're an EU citizen.

Then you'd disappear underground rather than make yourself visible.

Graham_Devon

N1AK wrote: »

It might not be that difficult even without robust identification. Health tourism is normally reported in two forms:
1/ Someone allows a friend to use their identity for treatment.
2/ Someone comes to the UK and receives 'urgent' treatment which can't be refused with no intention of paying.

Though usually the route to NHS tourism is GP surgeries allowing people to sign up who are not entitled.

There is little (read no) way of a mear receptionist on close to the minimum wage of vetting these people. And secondly, if they do, they can fall foul of local equality policies.

It's like most things. The easy ones are the ones who can produce proper identity. The harder ones are those who have a good reason as to why they can't.

I'm not sure how a landlord is supposed to decifer whether someone is an illegal immigrant or not. Therefore, although I am usually against landlords, I fail to see how they could be seen as liable.

Secondly I don't see how it will even work. Our landlord system in this country cannot even adequately provide proper and legal accommodation (as in the system allow landlords to get away with lots of stuff if such landlords wish to do so). So I fail to see how such a system can help stop illegal immigrants.

Just look at the amount of landlords sub letting council places for an idea of the scale of the problem. Does anyone seriously think that landlords doing this will say "oh, better not illegally let the place to you, I'll illegally let it to someone else insetad".

Conrad

Discussing this with my lettings manager in my office here, already we can think of various ways around the system and whereby 'fixers' will emmerge and profiteer from putting in place, ermmm, arrangments for illeagles.

This is sticking plaster and the Gov't ought to be showing far more resolve in getting immigration down to virtually nil. We have millions of unemployed / under employed and people that could be trained, you know like we used to in the bad old days.

Nicking Botswanan nurses ought to make us feel greedy and ashamed.

Sampong

Conrad wrote: »

Discussing this with my lettings manager in my office here, already we can think of various ways around the system and whereby 'fixers' will emmerge and profiteer from putting in place, ermmm, arrangments for illeagles.

This is sticking plaster and the Gov't ought to be showing far more resolve in getting immigration down to virtually nil. We have millions of unemployed / under employed and people that could be trained, you know like we used to in the bad old days.

Nicking Botswanan nurses ought to make us feel greedy and ashamed.

Exactly, it's full of holes. They know this though - it's nothing other than propaganda really in an attempt to boost popularity in an area where they know they have let the public down. Genuine property investors who have worked hard for the investments will be the ones that suffer.