Landlords to check ID & citizenship

[Osem]

Landlords in the West Midlands who fail to check whether prospective tenants are in the country legally will face a £3,000 fine, under a new rule expected to be rolled out across the UK.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-30251741

I'm just wondering how many of the landlords are themselves legal and/or operate within the law. Can't say I like the idea of handing my passport over to some landlord somewhere to copy.

Of course if we had anything like a credible immigration system it wouldn't be down to landlords and employers (dubious or not) to do HMG's job.

[bubblegun]

Originally Posted by Osem

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-30251741

I'm just wondering how many of the landlords are themselves legal and/or operate within the law. Can't say I like the idea of handing my passport over to some landlord somewhere to copy.

Of course if we had anything like a credible immigration system it wouldn't be down to landlords and employers (dubious or not) to do HMG's job.

Sounds like the Nazi party (circa 1920 onwards) would do well in the next election in the UK!
Totally nasty propaganda seems to widespread in the UK in recent times.

[Taf]

Will these landlords also have to check in their sheds?

I suspect a lot of landlords are not registered and not paying tax, so how will they be found in the first place?

Plus will landlords openly return information for purposely-overfull accommodation?

£3k fine? I'd rather see £100k or more!

[heero_yuy]

Originally Posted by bubblegun

Sounds like the Nazi party (circa 1920 onwards) would do well in the next election in the UK!
Totally nasty propaganda seems to widespread in the UK in recent times.

I invoke Godwins Law.

Originally Posted by Taf

Will these landlords also have to check in their sheds?

I suspect a lot of landlords are not registered and not paying tax, so how will they be found in the first place?

Plus will landlords openly return information for purposely-overfull accommodation?

£3k fine? I'd rather see £100k or more!

IIRC wasn't it Croydon that was using Google satellite images to identify sheds being used as accommodation?

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Taf

Will these landlords also have to check in their sheds?

I suspect a lot of landlords are not registered and not paying tax, so how will they be found in the first place?

Plus will landlords openly return information for purposely-overfull accommodation?

£3k fine? I'd rather see £100k or more!

Too true. Rogue landlords are everywhere and if they choose not to abide by existing laws re. tax, planning, health & safety etc. etc. I can't see them bothering with any of this. It comes to something when our immigration system is so broken that people who're already behaving illegally are potentially being relied upon for its enforcement...

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

IIRC wasn't it Croydon that was using Google satellite images to identify sheds being used as accommodation?

Wouldn't it have made more sense to ask police helicopters when doing their heat-sweep for drug growing to share information?

[Russ]

When I rented my first gaff in Leicester 4 years ago the landlord asked for proof of residency in the UK, I thought nothing of it. He said if it turned out I was in the country illegally he could have been prosecuted for either potentially knowing about it and turning a blind eye or some kind of 'aiding and abetting' type charge.

So if they're doing it just to cover their own backsides then it doesn't seem to be too much of a bad thing.

[alanbjames]

Originally Posted by Taf

Will these landlords also have to check in their sheds?

I suspect a lot of landlords are not registered and not paying tax, so how will they be found in the first place?

Plus will landlords openly return information for purposely-overfull accommodation?

£3k fine? I'd rather see £100k or more!

I Agree this is a problem with landlords not being registered for tax purposes and it would be hard to enforce a law stating they must be registered.

My Sons ex boyfriends parents were loaded and it turned out they were renting houses including student accommodations in Cardiff and only had the accommodations registered on the oldest sons name and not their own name for tax purposes. They were caught and had to pay back 5 years of tax.

Originally Posted by Taf

Will these landlords also have to check in their sheds?

I suspect a lot of landlords are not registered and not paying tax, so how will they be found in the first place?

Plus will landlords openly return information for purposely-overfull accommodation?

£3k fine? I'd rather see £100k or more!

How much do you think the average landlord makes

[Osem]

Originally Posted by martyh

How much do you think the average landlord makes

Makes or declares?

There are, of course, some extremely wealthy, exploitative and unpleasant landlords out there for whom a fine of a few grand would be meaningless and yes there are many decent and honest ones for whom it'd be a lot more serious. The richer they are, the less the fines affect them. Maybe what's required is proportional fines...

[Taf]

Originally Posted by martyh

How much do you think the average landlord makes

I know one who rents out 2 properties at over £1000pcm each, and he has never paid a penny towards the mortgages... the DWP has been doing that via Housing Benefit.

Originally Posted by Taf

I know one who rents out 2 properties at over £1000pcm each, and he has never paid a penny towards the mortgages... the DWP has been doing that via Housing Benefit.

So he is in fact paying lots of pennies towards his mortgage and if the DWP is paying the rent then he will be paying tax on the income of those properties

---------- Post added at 16:49 ---------- Previous post was at 16:45 ----------

Originally Posted by Osem

Makes or declares?

There are, of course, some extremely wealthy, exploitative and unpleasant landlords out there for whom a fine of a few grand would be meaningless and yes there are many decent and honest ones for whom it'd be a lot more serious. The richer they are, the less the fines affect them. Maybe what's required is proportional fines...

Exactly , perhaps based on the value of the landlords portfolio .

Having said that I don't see that identifying illegal immigrants is anything to do with landlords ,perhaps they should bill HMG for providing that service

[Taf]

Originally Posted by martyh

So he is in fact paying lots of pennies towards his mortgage and if the DWP is paying the rent then he will be paying tax on the income of those properties[COLOR=silver]

He has NEVER paid a penny towards the mortgages, both houses have been rented by large unemployed families since he first got the mortgages. At least 15 out of 25 years of mortgage payments all paid by Housing Benefits. Monthly rent is well above the mortgage payments, especially in recent years.

And I don't think he declares his income or is a registered landlord.

He is probably kakkin' himself today that this new rule will spread here.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Taf

He has NEVER paid a penny towards the mortgages, both houses have been rented by large unemployed families since he first got the mortgages.

You know him that well?

[heero_yuy]

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

Wouldn't it have made more sense to ask police helicopters when doing their heat-sweep for drug growing to share information?

Unfortunately Igni, that implies joined up government.