Right to Rent Check: UK Landlord and Letting Agent Guide (2026)

Right to rent checks are a legal requirement for every private landlord and letting agent in England before any tenancy begins. Since February 2024, civil penalties for non-compliance have risen sharply: up to £10,000 per occupier for a first breach and £20,000 for repeat offences. And for landlords who knowingly house someone without the right to be in the UK, the consequence is not just a fine but up to five years in prison under the Immigration Act 2016.

The principles are straightforward. But the operational workload is significant and errors are common: using discontinued documents, missing follow-up checks for time-limited tenants, or failing to understand the digital share code system that now applies to most non-UK nationals. This guide covers every stage of the right to rent check process, from who must carry out checks and which documents are acceptable, to how digital verification works and what happens if you do not comply.

Right to rent checks apply only in England. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland operate under different housing legislation and the right to rent scheme does not extend to those nations.

What is a right to rent check?

A right to rent check is the process of verifying, before a tenancy begins, that every adult occupier aged 18 and over has a legal right to reside in the UK. Under Part 3, Chapter 1 of the Immigration Act 2014, private landlords in England are legally required to carry out these checks for all adults who will use the property as their only or main home, regardless of whether they are named on the tenancy agreement.

The scheme was extended in 2016 by the Immigration Act 2016, which introduced criminal penalties alongside the existing civil ones. The Home Office updated its code of practice most recently in February 2024, significantly increasing the penalty levels.

Who is subject to a check?

Every adult aged 18 or over who will occupy the property as their main or only home must be checked. This includes people who are not named on the tenancy agreement, lodgers, and any adults who move in after the tenancy begins. Children under 18 are exempt.

Why British citizens must also be checked

One of the most common misconceptions is that British and Irish citizens do not need to be checked. They do. The Home Office guidance requires landlords to check all adult occupiers consistently, regardless of their apparent nationality. Selecting only those who appear to be non-UK nationals constitutes unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

The High Court underlined this risk in [Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 452](https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2019/452.html), where the right to rent scheme was found to cause landlords to discriminate against prospective tenants based on nationality and race. The Court of Appeal reversed the public law ruling in 2020, but the underlying discrimination risk from inconsistent checking remains.

Legal requirements for right to rent checks in England

The Immigration Act 2014 places a statutory duty on landlords to verify the immigration status of adult occupiers before a residential tenancy begins. The Home Office Code of Practice on right to rent, which took effect on 13 February 2024, governs how landlords and agents must conduct those checks.

Who supervises right to rent compliance?

The Home Office is responsible for administering and enforcing the right to rent scheme. Unlike AML compliance, which splits supervision between the SRA (solicitors), HMRC (estate agents and letting agents), and other bodies, right to rent has a single enforcer: the Home Office. Letting agents who take on written responsibility for checks become the liable party rather than the landlord.

Civil penalties from 13 February 2024

The February 2024 code of practice introduced the current penalty structure:

These figures represent a significant increase from the pre-2024 structure, where first-breach penalties were capped at £80 per lodger and £1,000 per occupier. A First Penalty Offer discount applies to certain first-time breaches: £3,500 (reduced from £5,000) per lodger and £7,000 (reduced from £10,000) per occupier.

Criminal penalties

Where a landlord or agent knowingly rents to someone disqualified from renting under UK immigration law, criminal prosecution under the Immigration Act 2016 can follow. The maximum sentence is five years in prison and an unlimited fine. The first criminal conviction under the right to rent scheme was reported by the Home Office in 2016. For criminal liability to attach, the prosecution must establish that the landlord knew or had reasonable cause to believe the tenant was not entitled to rent.

How liability transfers to a letting agent

A landlord can transfer right to rent compliance responsibility to a letting agent by entering into a written agreement that explicitly accepts that responsibility. Under the February 2024 code of practice, once that written agreement is in place, civil penalty liability sits with the agent and cannot be transferred further. If no written agreement exists, the landlord remains the liable party regardless of what informal arrangements are in place.

Who must conduct right to rent checks?

Under the Immigration Act 2014, the following are obligated to conduct checks:

Private landlords renting out a property in England as a home must check all adult occupiers before the tenancy starts.

Letting agents who have been assigned responsibility by written agreement with the landlord. Where that agreement exists, the agent becomes the liable party.

Occupiers sub-letting: a tenant who sub-lets part or all of a property, where that is permitted in writing by the landlord, must also conduct checks on their sub-tenants.

Lodger arrangements: a homeowner renting a room to a lodger must carry out a right to rent check, unless the landlord has agreed in writing to conduct it instead.

The right to rent scheme does not apply to social housing landlords, holiday accommodation, student halls of residence managed by educational institutions, hostels and refuges, care homes, or hospitals. It applies exclusively to private residential tenancies in England.

How to carry out a right to rent check

There are three methods. The correct method depends on the tenant's nationality and immigration status.

Method 1: Manual document check

Suitable for: British and Irish citizens who do not have a valid in-date passport, and any tenant presenting physical documents from the Home Office's accepted lists.

Steps:

1. Request original documents from the tenant before the tenancy begins. You cannot accept photocopies at this stage.
2. Check the documents in the presence of the person. Confirm the photograph matches the individual and that the document is genuine, unaltered, and in date where a time limit applies.
3. Make clear, unalterable copies of all documents checked. Record the date you conducted the check on each copy.
4. Retain the copies for the duration of the tenancy plus at least one year after it ends.

For List A documents (permanent right to rent), the statutory excuse lasts indefinitely. No follow-up check is required unless the tenancy terms change materially.

For List B documents (time-limited right to rent), the statutory excuse expires and must be renewed. See the Follow-up checks section below.

Method 2: Identity Verification Technology (IDVT) via an Identity Service Provider

Suitable for: British and Irish citizens who hold a valid in-date passport.

Since April 2022, landlords and agents have been able to use certified Identity Verification Technology (IDVT) providers to conduct digital right to rent checks for British and Irish passport holders. Using an IDSP for this purpose provides the same statutory excuse as a manual document check. The Home Office maintains a register of certified IDSPs. Veyco runs identity verification powered by Onfido, which can be used for this purpose alongside the other compliance checks your business already needs to conduct.

Method 3: Home Office online right to rent service (share code)

Suitable for: non-UK nationals with digital immigration status, including those with eVisa status, EU Settlement Scheme status, and all individuals who previously held a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) or Biometric Residence Card (BRC).

BRPs and BRCs are no longer acceptable documents for right to rent checks. Since the transition to eVisas, individuals who held physical immigration documents have been required to create a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account and access their immigration status digitally. The Home Office updated its landlord guidance on 16 June 2025 to reflect this change.

To use the online service:

1. The tenant logs into the Home Office Prove your right to rent service and generates a share code.
2. Share codes relevant to right to rent begin with the letter "R" and are valid for 90 days.
3. The landlord or agent goes to right-to-rent.service.gov.uk and enters the tenant's date of birth and the share code.
4. The service confirms whether the individual has the right to rent and indicates whether the right is permanent or time-limited.
5. Record the result, including a screenshot or printout, and retain it for the tenancy period plus one year.

Right to rent document lists

List A: permanent right to rent

Documents in List A establish a continuous statutory excuse. Once a check against a List A document is completed, no follow-up check is needed. The main List A documents are:

Group 1 (single document sufficient):

• UK or Republic of Ireland passport (current or expired)
• UK birth or adoption certificate with evidence of National Insurance number and UK immigration status
• Certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen
• Passport or other travel document confirming indefinite leave to remain or no time limit on stay

Group 2 (combination of two documents required):

A combination of two documents from this group, such as a UK driving licence plus a full birth certificate, or a utility bill plus a HMRC letter confirming National Insurance number.

List B: time-limited right to rent

List B documents establish a time-limited statutory excuse. A follow-up check is required before the excuse expires. List B includes:

• Passports or travel documents showing leave to enter or remain in the UK with a time limit
• Home Office immigration status documents with a time-limited endorsement
• A share code result from the Home Office online service showing time-limited permission to remain

Discontinued documents: no longer acceptable

The following documents are no longer accepted for right to rent purposes:

• EEA or Swiss national passports or identity cards (post-Brexit)
• EEA/Swiss registration or permanent residence certificates
• Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs)
• Biometric Residence Cards (BRCs)

Tenants who previously used BRPs or BRCs must now use the Home Office online service via share code to prove their right to rent. Landlords should not accept a BRP as evidence under any circumstances.

Follow-up checks for time-limited right to rent

Where a tenant's right to rent is time-limited (a List B document or a share code showing temporary permission), the statutory excuse is not permanent. You must conduct a follow-up check.

The timing rule is: carry out the follow-up check either when the tenant's permission to be in the UK expires, or within 12 months of the previous check, whichever is the later date.

If the follow-up check shows the tenant still has the right to rent, update your records and calculate the next follow-up date using the same rule. If the follow-up check shows the tenant no longer has the right to rent, you must report this to the Home Office as soon as reasonably practicable to maintain your statutory excuse against a civil penalty. You do not have to evict the tenant immediately, as that requires a separate legal process, but the reporting obligation is immediate.

Tenants with a permanent right to rent (List A Group 1) do not require follow-up checks.

Penalties for failing to conduct right to rent checks

Civil penalties

The Home Office issues civil penalties based on the nature and history of the breach. Under the February 2024 code of practice:

• First breach: up to £5,000 per lodger, up to £10,000 per occupier
• Repeat breach (within 3 years): up to £10,000 per lodger, up to £20,000 per occupier
• First Penalty Offer discount: £3,500 per lodger and £7,000 per occupier for qualifying first-time breaches

These penalties apply per disqualified occupier, not per property. A landlord renting a house to three occupiers who are all disqualified faces three separate penalty calculations. For letting agents, property fraud prevention and right to rent checks are distinct obligations that nonetheless benefit from integrated record-keeping.

Criminal prosecution

Under the Immigration Act 2016, knowingly renting to a disqualified person carries criminal liability. The maximum sentence is five years imprisonment and an unlimited fine. The Home Office confirmed the first criminal conviction under the right to rent regime in 2016. The distinction between civil and criminal liability turns on knowledge: civil penalties apply where no compliant check was conducted; criminal liability applies where a landlord or agent knew or had reasonable cause to believe the tenant was disqualified.

The statutory excuse

Completing a prescribed right to rent check (whether manual, via an IDSP, or via the Home Office online service) gives a landlord a statutory excuse against civil penalties, even if it later emerges that the tenant did not in fact have the right to rent. The excuse holds provided the check was conducted correctly, the documents appeared genuine, and the record was retained. A statutory excuse does not protect against criminal liability where actual knowledge of disqualification can be proved.

Common mistakes landlords and letting agents make

Accepting discontinued documents

BRPs and BRCs are the most frequently misused documents in right to rent checks. Many landlords still have internal checklists that list them as acceptable. Since the eVisa transition, they are not. A check that relies on a BRP does not give a statutory excuse and leaves the landlord exposed to a civil penalty.

Not checking all adult occupiers

Some landlords check the named tenant on the tenancy agreement but fail to check other adults living in the property. The obligation covers every adult aged 18 and over who uses the property as their main home. This includes an adult child of the named tenant who moves in during the tenancy. Missing one occupier creates a gap that is treated by the Home Office as a fresh breach.

Selective checking by nationality

Checking only tenants who appear to be non-UK nationals, or applying more scrutiny to certain nationalities, constitutes unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. The Home Office code of practice on avoiding discrimination requires landlords to apply the same checking process to all prospective tenants consistently, regardless of perceived nationality or immigration status. Selective checking also provides weaker legal protection: if a landlord never checked British citizens at all, it is harder to demonstrate that any individual check was part of a systematic compliance process.

Missing follow-up checks for List B tenants

Right to rent checks are only one part of a landlord's compliance picture. For letting agents working with higher-risk clients, separate right to rent and AML obligations records held in different systems double the administrative burden and create gaps in the audit trail.

For tenants whose right to rent is time-limited, missing the follow-up check is one of the most common failures. A well-maintained tenancy management system records the expiry date of every time-limited right to rent and generates a check prompt at the right time. Many smaller landlords manage this through spreadsheets, which creates gaps when the spreadsheet is not maintained. The obligation survives changes in tenancy terms, including renewals.

HMOs and multiple-occupancy properties

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) present a distinct challenge. Each room is let separately, each occupier may have a different immigration status, and adult occupiers may change more frequently than in a standard tenancy. The statutory obligation applies to each occupier individually, which means a landlord or agent managing a six-room HMO may be running a rolling programme of right to rent checks and follow-up reminders throughout the year. Properties owned by limited companies or non-UK domiciled landlords do not reduce the compliance obligation: the agent or manager responsible for lettings carries the duty where no written agreement transfers it explicitly.

No written agreement with letting agents

A verbal arrangement with a letting agent to conduct right to rent checks does not transfer civil penalty liability. The Home Office code of practice is explicit: liability only transfers where a written agreement is in place that explicitly accepts that responsibility. Without it, the landlord is the liable party regardless of who physically conducts the check.

A faster approach to right to rent checks

For most landlords and letting agents, the compliance burden is not any single check in isolation. It is the operational overhead of running identity verification, right to rent, and AML or customer due diligence checks across different systems, with different record-keeping requirements, for every new tenant or client. Documents arrive by email, verification happens in one platform, and risk reports get assembled separately.

Veyco consolidates identity verification, biometric checks powered by Onfido, and right to rent verification into a single workflow. For British and Irish passport holders, Onfido's biometric identity verification meets the IDSP standard required for a digital right to rent check, providing the same statutory excuse as a manual document check, in a fraction of the time. Most standard checks for UK nationals and straightforward share code verifications are completed in under 10 minutes; enhanced checks for time-limited immigration status take longer. The platform maintains an auditable record for every check, so if the Home Office or a letting agent's compliance team needs to demonstrate that a statutory excuse is in place, the record is ready without manual assembly.

This approach is particularly valuable for letting agents managing multiple landlords: the written agreement that transfers liability is clear, the check record sits in one auditable place, and the process is consistent across every tenant regardless of their document type. Book a demo to see how your practice can run compliant right to rent checks without the overhead.

Frequently asked questions about right to rent checks

What are the right to rent check requirements for UK landlords?

Under the Immigration Act 2014, landlords in England must verify that all adult occupiers aged 18 and over have a legal right to reside in the UK before a tenancy begins. This applies regardless of whether they are named on the tenancy agreement. Landlords must conduct a manual document check, use an IDSP for British and Irish citizens, or use the Home Office online service for non-UK nationals with a share code. Failure to perform compliant checks can result in civil penalties up to £20,000 per occupier or, where a landlord knowingly houses a disqualified person, up to five years in prison.

How do I carry out a right to rent check?

To carry out a right to rent check, obtain original identity documents or a share code from every adult occupier aged 18 and over. For manual checks, verify the documents in person, confirming they are genuine and that photographs match the holder.

Make clear, unalterable copies and record the date. For non-UK nationals with digital status, use the Home Office online service with the tenant's share code and date of birth. Retain all records for the tenancy duration plus at least one year after it ends.

What documents are acceptable for a right to rent check?

Acceptable documents fall into List A (permanent right to rent) and List B (time-limited right to rent). For British and Irish citizens, a current or expired UK or Republic of Ireland passport satisfies List A Group 1. EEA and Swiss national passports are no longer accepted.

Biometric Residence Permits and Biometric Residence Cards have been discontinued. Tenants who held these must now provide a share code via the Home Office online service. All documents must be originals checked in person; photocopies do not establish a statutory excuse.

Can I do a right to rent check online?

Yes, and for most non-UK citizens with digital immigration status, an online check via the Home Office right to rent service is now the only option. The tenant generates a 90-day share code starting with "R" from their UKVI account. For British and Irish citizens with a valid passport, landlords and agents can use a certified Identity Service Provider (IDSP) to conduct a digital biometric check that carries the same statutory excuse as a manual document check. Physical BRPs and BRCs cannot be used for any right to rent check.

What are the penalties for not doing a right to rent check?

Since 13 February 2024, civil penalties for right to rent breaches are: up to £5,000 per lodger and up to £10,000 per occupier for a first breach; up to £10,000 per lodger and up to £20,000 per occupier for a repeat breach within three years. These penalties apply per disqualified occupier, not per property. Beyond civil penalties, landlords who knowingly rent to someone without the right to be in the UK face criminal prosecution under the Immigration Act 2016, carrying up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine.

Do I need to do follow-up right to rent checks?

Follow-up checks are only required for tenants with a time-limited right to rent (List B documents or a share code showing temporary permission). The rule is: carry out the follow-up check either when the tenant's permission expires or within 12 months of the previous check, whichever is later. If the follow-up check shows the tenant's right to rent has lapsed, report this to the Home Office as soon as practicable to preserve your statutory excuse. Tenants with a permanent right to rent, including those checked against List A Group 1 documents, do not require follow-up checks.

Does right to rent apply in Scotland and Wales?

Right to rent checks currently apply only in England. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are not covered by the right to rent scheme under the Immigration Act 2014. Landlords with properties across the UK should not apply the English right to rent requirements to tenancies in other nations, though other identity and KYC verification obligations may apply depending on their sector.

Conclusion

Right to rent checks are not optional and they are not complicated, but the cost of getting them wrong has risen sharply. The February 2024 penalty increases (up to £20,000 per occupier for a repeat breach) make this a meaningful financial risk for any landlord or letting agent operating in England. The shift to eVisas and the discontinuation of BRPs and BRCs means the accepted document set has changed, and any internal checklist that has not been updated since 2023 is now out of date.

The essentials: check every adult occupier before the tenancy begins, use the correct method for each person's document type, maintain a dated record, and set a reminder for every time-limited right to rent that will require a follow-up check. Where a letting agent takes responsibility, get the agreement in writing.

For practices looking to run these checks without the fragmented process overhead, Veyco's identity verification platform handles biometric ID, right to rent, and compliance records in a single workflow. Book a demo to see how compliant right to rent checks can be completed in under 10 minutes.