Right to Rent Checks for Landlords: Full Guide 2026/27

What Right to Rent actually requires

Right to Rent is a legal duty on landlords (and agents acting for them) in England to confirm that every adult who will live in a rented property has the right to be in the UK, before granting a tenancy. It was introduced under the Immigration Act 2014 and extended under the Immigration Act 2016, and it applies to assured shorthold tenancies, most licences to occupy, and lodger arrangements in a landlord's own home.

The check must happen before the tenancy starts — checking after the tenant has moved in does not give a landlord the statutory defence against penalties if it later turns out the person had no right to rent.

Who needs to be checked

Every occupier aged 18 or over who will live in the property as their only or main home must be checked, not just the named tenant on the lease. This includes:

• All joint tenants signing the agreement
• Any adult family member moving in alongside the named tenant
• Lodgers in an owner-occupied home let under a licence

There is no exemption for people who "look" or "sound" British. A landlord who skips the check because a tenant is a fluent English speaker with a British-sounding name has no defence if that assumption turns out to be wrong — the check must be done for everyone, applied consistently, to avoid both compliance risk and discrimination claims.

Acceptable evidence

There are three routes to a compliant check:

1. Manual document check — the landlord examines an original document (such as a passport or a UK/Irish birth certificate combined with an official document showing a National Insurance number) in the presence of the tenant, checks it appears genuine and belongs to the holder, and keeps a dated copy.
2. Home Office online checking service — tenants with digital immigration status (biometric residence permits, biometric residence cards, or the newer eVisa system) generate a share code that the landlord enters on the gov.uk checking service to see a real-time result, including any expiry date.
3. Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) — for British and Irish citizens, landlords can use a certified identity service provider to verify a passport digitally instead of a face-to-face check, though a manual check remains available too.

Time-limited permissions and follow-up checks

If a tenant's right to rent is time-limited (for example, a visa with a fixed expiry date), the landlord must diarise a follow-up check shortly before that date expires. If the follow-up check shows the person no longer has the right to rent, the landlord must report this to the Home Office, and in some circumstances may need to take steps toward ending the tenancy.

For checks that showed no time limit (British or Irish citizens, settled status), no follow-up is required — this is treated as a permanent, one-off check.

Penalties for getting it wrong

The consequences of skipping or botching a check are severe:

• Civil penalty: up to £20,000 per unauthorised occupier for a second or subsequent breach (lower first-offence penalties still run into five figures).
• Criminal offence: knowingly letting to someone without the right to rent can lead to prosecution, an unlimited fine, and up to five years in prison in the most serious cases.
• Right to rent and eviction: landlords who discover a tenant no longer has the right to rent may in some cases use this as grounds to end the tenancy, but must follow the correct legal process rather than acting unilaterally.

Practical tips for landlords

• Always check before handing over keys or signing the tenancy agreement, never after.
• Keep dated, legible copies of every document checked, stored securely for the duration of the tenancy plus at least one year afterwards.
• Use the free Home Office online service where available — it is faster and gives you a auditable confirmation.
• If in doubt about a document's validity, use the Home Office landlord checking service helpline rather than guessing.
• Apply the same process to every tenant, every time, to avoid both compliance risk and the appearance of discriminatory practice.