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Thursday, June 25, 2015

Gov push on with immigration checks

A survey carried out by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) in the pilot area for the new immigration checks ( Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall) has raised concerns over a Right to Rent Scheme roll out.

The JCWI reports landlords discriminating against tenant applicants on the basis of background, turning away tenants who have a foreign accent. The JCWI accuses the adoption of the Right to Rent Scheme is making it increasingly difficult for tenants in those pilot areas who cannot easily identify themselves as British or from a European Union state.

If a landlord breaches the rules they face a fine of £1,000 per illegal adult occupier and for a second offence that rises to £3,000 per adult.

Under Section 20 to 37 of the Immigration Act 2014 it makes it compulsory for landlords to check the immigration status of new adult tenants, with a potential fine of £1000 per tenant and £80 per lodger if this is not done.

The six month period of the pilot scheme has concluded and although a Home Office Advisory Panel has not yet made its evaluation,  David Cameron appears hell-bent on rolling the scheme out nationwide, stating on May 21st 2015 -

“For the first time we’ve had landlords checking whether their tenants are here legally. The Liberal Democrats only wanted us to run a pilot on that one. But now we’ve got a majority, we will roll it out nationwide, and we’ll change the rules so landlords can evict illegal immigrants more quickly.”

The JCWI accuse the Gov of pushng on with a the roll out regardless of any findings from the pilot scheme - To appease some voters, the Conservatives intend to implement increasingly hostile measures in an effort to appear ‘tough’ on immigration. The Government are ploughing on with the ‘Right to Rent’ scheme regardless of the outcome of the initial rollout so far and, undoubtedly they will leave chaos in their wake.

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