Landlords who fail to check that their tenants are not illegal immigrants face being fined up to £3,000 under plans unveiled today.
Ministers want to make it more difficult for people without permission to stay in the UK to carry on with their lives.
But landlords warn they are not ‘immigration experts’ and cannot be expected to do the work of border police.
The move comes as a new report reveals the impact of immigration on different parts of the country.
The Home Office study shows half of people in England and Wales live in an area hit by high levels of migration from 2001-11.
Immigration minister Mark Harper said: ‘If we do not implement the proper controls, communities can be damaged, resources will be stretched and the benefits that immigration can bring are lost or forgotten.’
Under new reforms all private landlords will have to carry out checks on the migration status of every tenant before renting out a room or house.
First time offenders will be fined £1,000 per illegal immigrant in their property.
But those sent an ‘advisory letter’ or warning about failing to make proper checks within the last three years will be forced to pay £3,000 per tenant.
The rules could also be extended to cover families who take in lodgers, although the fines would be between £80 and £5000 per illegal immigrant.
Mr Harper said: ‘The Government is determined to build a fairer system and to address the public’s concern about immigration. ‘
The proposals, set out in a consultation today, form part of the Immigration Bill which will be introduced later this year to ‘tighten immigration law, strengthen our enforcement powers and clamp down on those from overseas who try to abuse our public services’, Mr Harper added.
Controversially landlords will not have to contact the Home Office if they suspect someone is in the UK illegally, but can do so voluntarily if they want to.
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When the idea was floated in the Queen’s Speech, Labour’s housing spokesman Jack Dromey said: ‘Tackling illegal immigration must not take us back to the days when my Irish father was turned away from boarding houses displaying “no dogs, no Irish” signs.’
But the guidance published today states: ‘Landlords must make checks on a non-discriminatory basis, i.e. they should not make any assumptions about a person’s migration status based on their ethnicity, name, accent, etc.’
Source-dailymail.co.uk
