Landlords renting to illegal migrants face huge new fines

Landlords face being put out of business with the government trebling the fines for those who rent a home to an illegal migrant.

The government says this will be the biggest shake up of civil penalties since 2014.

Under the new rules, fines will rocket from £80 per lodger and £1,000 per tenant for a first breach, to £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier.

Further breaches will be up to £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier, up from £500 and £3,000 respectively.

The higher fines will be brought in from next year.

‘Harder for illegal migrants to work and operate’

Robert Jenrick, the Minister for Immigration, said: “Making it harder for illegal migrants to work and operate in the UK is vital to deterring dangerous, unnecessary small boat crossings.

“Unscrupulous landlords and employers who allow illegal working and renting enable the business model of the evil people smugglers to continue.

“There is no excuse for not conducting the appropriate checks and those in breach will now face significantly tougher penalties.”

Landlords hit with more than 320 civil penalties

Since the start of 2018, landlords have been hit with more than 320 civil penalties worth £215,500.

And nearly 5,000 civil penalties worth £88.4m have been issued to employers over the same period.

The civil penalty for employers, which was last increased in 2014, will be raised to up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach from £15,000.

And for repeat offences, the fine increases up to £60,000, from £20,000.

‘Penalties must be combined with stronger enforcement action’

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Strengthening penalties must be combined with stronger enforcement action if the government is serious about tackling the problems.”

She added that penalties issued to firms employing workers illegally had dropped by two-thirds since 2016 – and arrests are also down.

Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesperson said this was ‘another pointless announcement on the asylum system which will make no meaningful difference’.

Landlords in England should be checking eligibility

The government warns that employers and landlords in England should be checking already the eligibility of anyone they employ or let a property to.

The ways to carry out these checks are not changing which includes a manual check of original documentation and a Home Office online checking system.

News of stiffer fines comes after the government’s crackdown on illegal working and renting after a taskforce was launched.

There is also now data sharing with the financial sector to stop illegal migrants from accessing bank accounts which was brought in earlier this year.

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