Higher fines for those who fall foul of the Right to Rent rules come into place from today.
Right to Rent was introduced by the Government as a way of cracking down on illegal migration, and requires landlords and letting agents to carry out certain checks on potential tenants before they are permitted to rent to them.
The fines for failing to carry out these checks are increasing dramatically. Previously, failing to carry out checks on a lodger meant an £80 fine, while for an occupier there was a £1,000 fine.
However, these are jumping to £5,000 and £10,000 respectively.
There will also be further fines for repeat breaches of £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier.
On top of the punishing fines, failure to carry out sufficient checks come with the risk of imprisonment.
Lauren Hughes, head of customer success at tenant referencing firm Vouch, said that putting off compliance with the Right to Rent measures was a “sure-fire way to land yourself in hot water” with the authorities.
She added: “Agents should be making sure their landlords are covered and that their processes aren’t set up to fail. With the advent of digital identity document validation technology (IDVT), which the Government approved the use of in 2022, it’s now much easier to stay compliant. The flip side is that agents who fall foul of the rules will struggle to explain why.”
