Right to Rent

The Right to Rent scheme (Immigration Act 2014) requires all private landlords in England to check that adult occupiers have a legal right to be in the UK before a tenancy begins. Checks must be repeated for time-limited permission holders when their leave expires. Landlords who let to a person without the right to rent face a civil penalty per occupier, rising for repeat breaches; knowingly letting to a disqualified person can result in up to 5 years' imprisonment. Since 6 April 2022, landlords may conduct digital identity checks using Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) for British and Irish nationals. The Home Office provides a free online checking service for those with biometric residence permits or settled and pre-settled status. Carrying out the prescribed check correctly gives the landlord a statutory excuse against penalty, even if the occupier later turns out to be disqualified.

What it means in practice. The check must happen before the tenancy begins and must cover every adult who will occupy the property as their main home, including people who are not named on the agreement. It is a check of documents or an online share code, not a judgement about someone's immigration history, and the landlord must not go further than the prescribed process. Where an occupier has time-limited permission, a follow-up check is required when that permission expires or after twelve months, whichever is later.

A worked example. Priya lets a flat to a couple. One holds a British passport, the other has pre-settled status. For the first she takes a copy of the passport, checks it in the holder's presence, and records the date. For the second she cannot accept a paper document: she asks for a share code and the tenant's date of birth, uses the Home Office online service, and saves the digital response. Because the pre-settled status expires in eighteen months, she diaries a follow-up check. Having done both checks correctly, she has a statutory excuse.

Common pitfalls and misconceptions. Refusing to rent to anyone who is not British is unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, and the Home Office code of practice is explicit that checks must be applied consistently to every prospective tenant. Copying a document without seeing the original, or without recording the date, destroys the statutory excuse. And the scheme applies in England only — it has not been commenced in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.

How it relates to other terms. Right to Rent mirrors the employer duty described under right to work, and both rely on the same Home Office online checking service and, increasingly, on eVisas rather than the biometric residence permit. It is a pre-tenancy duty alongside deposit protection and the EPC, and someone with indefinite leave to remain has an unlimited right to rent with no follow-up check needed.

What to do next. Landlords should follow our Right to Rent guide for the exact steps that create a statutory excuse, and employers should read right to work checks, which run on parallel rules. Build the check into your tenancy agreement process so it always happens before the tenancy starts.