Immigration Bill – Queens Speech

QUEENS SPEECH HIGHLIGHTS NEW LEGISLATION FOR LANDLORDS

The Queen delivered her first Speech on behalf of the new Government on 27^th May 2015 and among the many measures to introduce more legislation.  One which will affect landlords, property investors and Letting Agents Is the Immigration Bill. Many of us keep an eye on landlord-tenant legislation but it is easy to miss other legislation which also applies to us.

Immigration Bill – In addition to Immigration Act 2014

The government is promising to control immigration, Its Immigration Bill is designed to clamp down on illegal immigration and protect public services. There are also proposals to deal with unscrupulous landlords and to evict illegal migrants more quickly, while all foreign criminals awaiting deportation will be fitted with satellite tracking tags.

What we do not yet know is what changes will be made to the County Court Possession Process which will enable us to evict an illegal immigrant more quickly, but this issue has been of concern to landlords and letting agents in the West Midlands, during phase one, and it will be good to have some clarity because under present legislation we cannot assume that a tenant, who has be detained by the Home Office, is in fact in this country illegally and therefore he may return to the property – this can mean void periods with no rent.

The Immigration Act 2014 began to roll out on 1^st December 2014 in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Dudley and Walsall. An evaluation of this first stage is taking place at the moment but Government intend to continue to roll out this legislation and we can expect to know which areas will be included in phase two by the autumn.