Half Of Landlords Unprepared For ‘Right To Rent’

A new survey of 5,000 landlords by online agent Urban.co.uk has found that half of UK landlords are not prepared for new 'right to rent' legislation, which comes into force on 1 February 2016. 20% of those questioned believed that they had until April 2017 to get ready for the changes and 3% believed they had until 2018. The legislation will be in place nationally next month and require all landlords and agents in England to check a tenant’s immigration status (‘right to rent’) in the UK. Landlords failing to do so could find themselves with a potential fine of £3,000. Among the other findings in the report are that only 10% of landlords provide the correct information to their tenants at the start of a lease; most landlords (90% of those surveyed) were unable to identify the characteristics of a House in Multiple Occupancy (HMO); and 16% were failing to provide a valid contact address on tenancy agreements, risking a substantial fine. Read more on the What House? website.