Eight out of ten landlords are concerned that the new legislation on immigration which comes into force in October is placing too much responsibility on them. Nearly half of landlords do not feel confident in making the necessary checks and say they will be much more wary of taking on any tenants they think might be immigrants. Eleanor Carroll, Director of the Online Letting Agents, says “The new legislation will be a big burden on both letting agents and landlords, and there is no way around it. The industry needs to take these changes seriously as landlords and agents will face heavy fines if they fall foul of the law. Landlords and agents will need all the help they can get to integrate the new checks and validations into their overall tenant application process. Not surprisingly there are a number of companies now offering immigration checking services. If agents and landlords make the initial immigration checks part of the referencing process and then carry out ongoing checks on visa status, they will be compliant with the law,. The danger is that agents and landlords will refuse potential tenants if they believe them to be immigrants, This could lead to a housing shortage for a growing segment of the population.”