Beware landlords in the Birmingham, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton areas. From December 1st it is your responsibility to ensure that any tenant(s) you rent to have the right to be in the UK, by checking their immigration status. Failure to identify anyone occupying your home, whether the tenant or not, can result in fines of up to £3,000 per occupant.
This is a trial being run to see how the industry copes with the checking responsibility and it is intended to sift out illegal immigrants that are looking for accommodation and the system will operate very similar to the requirements imposed on employers currently, which has been running for some time now.
In the trial area, any landlord (a landlord is a person granting a tenancy and is not restricted to the owner) must check the residential status of any occupiers of their property that are over 18, even if they are not names on the tenancy.
From December 1st, if you pay your council tax within the areas stated, then you must ascertain on what basis the tenant has the right to occupy property in the UK, if at all.