English landlords will be given the power to evict illegal immigrants without a court order but face jail if they do not do so.
The proposals are part of the government’s planned Immigration Act, which will bet tabled before parliament later this year.
In an announcement on Monday, Communities Secretary Greg Clark said: “We are determined to crack down on rogue landlords who make money out of illegal immigration, exploiting vulnerable people and undermining our immigration system,”
“In future, landlords will be required to ensure that the people they rent their properties to are legally entitled to be in the country.”
The new rules will be applicable only in England – not Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland – and the Home Office will provide the landlords with means to end occupancy once the tenant crosses the date of legal stay in the country.
If the government confirms that the tenant’s permission to remain in Britain has expired, the landlord will be required to evict the tenant.
Financial support for asylum seekers will also be stopped, with a taxpayer-funded allowance of £36 scrapped.
However, the National Landlords’ Association has criticised the upcoming laws related to tenancy. Richard Lambert, the association’s chief executive, accused the government of introducing the plan “out of the blue” and expressed concern that those being evicted might resort to “doing very desperate things” such as locking themselves inside a property.
“I am slightly concerned that we are breaking the 40-year-old principle that it has to be a court that ends a tenancy … but we do need something that will work in practice,” Mr Lambert told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.