Member Article

Immigration Minister’s resignation “shows stupidity of his own laws”

A leading lettings agent believes the resignation of the Immigration Minister following revelations he employed an illegal immigrant proves the “stupidity” of laws he was introducing.

Mark Harper MP resigned as government minister responsible for Immigration at the weekend after discovering the cleaner he employed to clean his London flat did not have indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Mr Harper’s own Immigration Bill, which goes before Parliament this week, forces landlords to quiz tenants on their nationality and to carry out ongoing checks on their immigration status.

Landlords who fail to comply will face prosecution.

Research from the Association of Residential Landlords has shown that as few as one in five landlords feel confident in their ability to conduct the checks correctly.

Ajay Jagota, boss of North East property business KIS Lettings fears Mr Harper’s difficulties may soon be shared by landlords under the laws he designed.

Ajay, who manages properties for 700 landlords from branches in Sunderland, South Shields, North Shields and Welwyn Garden City, and who was named Landlord of the Year at the National Landlord and Lettings Awards 2013 said:

“Mark Harper seems to have behaved very honourably but in his resignation letter to David Cameron he admits he should have checked this woman’s documents more thoroughly. Will this be an acceptable excuse for any landlords who end up in court because of his laws?

“The Immigration Bill places a huge burden on landlords to succeed where the man behind them failed – and the minister’s misfortune just proves the stupidity of forcing landlords to be a Border Agency on a budget.

“Responsible landlords could so easily fall foul of the Immigration Bill by mislaying one piece of the paperwork out of the thousands the government seems to expect them to keep track of, or because they themselves have been misled by their tenants.

“Mark Harper goes back to the backbenches with his reputation largely intact and a £8000 golden goodbye – they’ll be off to court with their business in ruins.

“At KIS we’re preparing for these changes by working with insurance companies to develop policies to make sure our landlords are protected for every eventuality and by using our own software to make it impossible to overlook even one piece of paperwork. But the fact is, landlords should not be required to be cheap crossing guards.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ajay Jagota .