The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee has drawn MPs’ attention to the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment and Residential Accommodation) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, laid as a negative statutory instrument on 23 July 2026. The regulations update the prescribed requirements and codes of practice that employers and landlords must follow when checking a person’s right to work or rent in the UK. Key changes align the guidance with the Home Office’s push towards digital status: eVisa share-codes replace Biometric Residence Permit details as the primary evidence; acceptable document lists are simplified; and civil-penalty bands rise to a maximum £60,000 for repeat breaches, mirroring the increases announced in 2025 but not yet enacted in secondary law. With the instrument classed as “made negative”, it will automatically become law unless either House passes a motion to annul it by 16 September. The Committee’s 9th Report does not oppose the measure but urges ministers to publish updated employer guidance promptly, noting that “frequent regulatory changes create compliance uncertainty for SMEs”. For mobility teams the stakes are high. Companies must refresh onboarding checklists, ensure HR systems capture share-codes rather than BRP numbers, and train housing-relocation providers on the revised right-to-rent steps. Landlords who ignore the changes face fines of up to £15,000 for a first breach and potential licence revocation in high-risk local council areas. Because the regulations are UK-wide, devolved administrations will replicate the guidance, but enforcement remains with the Home Office’s Civil Penalty Compliance Unit. Employers planning large September graduate intakes should schedule refresher training well before the instrument’s effective date—expected to be 1 October 2026—to avoid last-minute document scrambles.
