Maximum fines increase to £60,000 per illegal worker for employers and £20,000 per irregular occupier for landlords
New secondary legislation was made on Tuesday and published yesterday that will implement large increases in the maximum fines that can be imposed on employers and landlords for employing or renting property to irregular migrants, as originally announced by the Home Office last August.
Image credit: UK GovernmentThe increases will come into force on 13th February 2024.
The Immigration Act 2014 (Residential Accommodation) (Maximum Penalty) Order 2024 increases the maximum penalty that may be imposed on a landlord or agent who contravenes section 22 of the Immigration Act 2014 from £3,000 to £20,000 per irregular occupier.
According to the Order's explanatory memorandum: "[T]he Government aims: to change the behaviour of rogue landlords; to eliminate any financial gain or benefit from non-compliance; to tackle the harm caused by regulatory non-compliance, where appropriate; and to deter future non-compliance. As is the case now, the maximum penalty will only be levied on a landlord who breaches the Scheme on more than one occasion by entering into a residential tenancy agreement with a disqualified person."
The Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Control) (Maximum Penalty) (Amendment) Order 2024 increases the maximum penalty for employing a person who is disqualified from working by reason of their immigration status from £20,000 to £60,000 per illegal worker.
The Government says the increase is intended to act as a deterrent and send a clear message that only individuals with a right to work in the UK can secure employment.
Accompanying the two orders is the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment and Residential Accommodation) (Codes of Practice) (Amendment) Order 2024. It brings into force revised codes of practice that set out the factors to be taken into account when determining the level of penalty to be issued for contraventions of the Right to Work and Right to Rent Schemes.
An updated code of practice that will come into force from 13 February 2024 for the Right to Rent Scheme is available here on GOV.UK.
The explanatory memorandum for the Immigration Act 2014 (Residential Accommodation) (Maximum Penalty) Order 2024 notes: "The Code will provide for a penalty of £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier for a first breach from £80 and £1,000 respectively; and up to £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier from £500 and £3,000, respectively, for repeat breaches (within the last 3 years). In the case of a first breach, landlords and their agents who elect to pay the penalty via the Fast Payment Option will benefit from a 30% reduction from £10,000 to £7,000 or from £5,000 to £3,500 as applicable."
The new code of practice for the Right to Work Scheme is available here.
In the explanatory memorandum for the Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Control) (Maximum Penalty) (Amendment) Order 2024, the Government says: "The Code will provide for a starting point of £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach and £60,000 per illegal worker for repeat breaches within the last three years. The actual amount of a penalty may be reduced further where the specified mitigating factors apply. In the case of a first breach, employers who elect to pay the penalty via the Fast Payment Option will benefit from a further 30% reduction from the overall amount."
Critics have warned that the large increases in the maximum fines will intensify the damaging hostile environment against migrants, leaving already vulnerable people at greater risk of homelessness and ensuring more landlords will refuse to rent to migrants in general.
Migrants' Rights Network (MRN) said last August that the increases in fines for employers would make the hostile environment worse. MRN stated: "We have found that business owners from racialised and minoritised backgrounds are being targeted for immigration raids, and that in many cases, these immigration raids are conducted without appropriate warrants and within the scope of the law. It is disappointing to see the Government pushing forward with these plans … At MRN, we know from our work on the exploitation of migrant workers and immigration enforcement in the workplace that raids are causing widespread problems and destroying communities."