Landlords in England must check that everyone aged 18 or over who will live in their rental property has the right to rent in the UK, before the tenancy starts. There are stiff penalties for landlords who allow someone to live in their rental who doesn’t have the right to rent.
Also, a new Code of Practice comes into effect on 1 October 2026 that changes the rules for digital verification providers (or RtR DVSPs, in the new jargon), who must be registered with the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes.
Although landlords often delegate right to rent checks to letting agents and online platforms, it’s possible to do yourself.
This blog post post explains the right to rent rules and how to go about it.
>> Useful Resource: Home Office: Code of practice on right to rent: Right to Rent Scheme for landlords and their agents (October 2026)
>> Useful Resource: Home Office: Landlord’s guide to right to rent checks
>> Useful Resource: Home Office: Guide for tenants and landlords on right to rent and immigration documents
UK Landlord Guide to Right to Rent in 2026
- What exactly is Right to Rent in the UK?
- How are the right to rent rules changing on 1 October 2026?
- How should landlords check original right to rent documents?
- Which documents prove British or Irish tenants have the right to rent?
- How can foreign nationals prove they have a right to rent?
- How far in advance can the right to rent be checked?
- How often should landlords check the right to rent?
- How to do a manual check of Right to Rent documents
- What if the landlord has concerns about the documents?
- Civil penalties for landlords if tenants don’t have the right to rent
- Other useful letting guides
What exactly is Right to Rent in the UK?
Right to rent refers to the obligation of landlords to check the immigration status of every “occupier” aged 18 or over to make sure they are legally entitled to rent property in the UK before they move into the property. “Occupier” means tenants, permitted occupiers and lodgers who are living in the property as their only or main home. When I use the word tenant in this post, it means occupiers in this wider sense. The term “landlord” includes those who are tenants subletting to another person.
If a prospective occupier cannot prove their right to rent, they cannot move into the rental property.
All occupiers 18+ must be checked. It’s against the law to only check people you think are not British citizens. You must not discriminate against anyone because of where they were born, or make assumptions about their nationality on the basis of their accent or appearance. Not everyone with a British accent is actually British, and many British nationals have other accents. The best way to do this is to treat all applicants the same, regardless of whether you believe them to be British or Irish.
House guests, such as friends or family members, who stay for a temporary period as a guest are not included as the property won’t be their only or main home.
This is a complicated area, and it is possible to delegate the responsibility to letting agents. However, if a landlord uses online letting agents, they will need to check and copy the original documents themselves before handing over the keys, and keep a record.
>> Related Post: How to handle subletting
How are the right to rent rules changing on 1 October 2026?
The Home Office published a new version of the Code of Practice for the right to rent scheme on 30 June 2026, which takes effect on 1 October 2026. It’s the seventh version of the Code, and replaces the January 2024 version, which continues to apply to checks carried out before 1 October.
If you do your checks manually, or online using a share code, nothing will change. The new Code is mainly about digital identity checks, which now have a statutory footing under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Here’s what’s new in the right to rent Code of Practice from 1 October 2026:
- Digital providers must be registered
- The companies that carry out digital right to rent checks are now called “Right to rent digital verification service providers”, or RtR DVSPs (they were previously known as Identity Service Providers).
- From 1 October, if a landlord or agent uses one, it must be registered with the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), with a note on the register confirming it can carry out right to rent checks.
- Using a DVSP remains optional, as it’s still possible to do it manually.
- Recently expired British and Irish passports
- A DVSP will be able to verify a British or Irish passport (or Irish passport card) up to six months after its expiry date, using the chip in the passport.
- This will be useful if a tenant’s passport has recently expired.
- Facial recognition
- If facial recognition technology is used as part of a check, it must be done through a registered RtR DVSP, and a copy of the comparison must be kept.
- The occupier must also be given a reasonable opportunity to verify their identity if the technology fails.
- Digital documents
- The lists of acceptable documents have been updated to include digital versions of documents, which a DVSP can verify.
- Timing of checks
- The Code also spells out when checks must be carried out: someone with an unlimited right to rent (such as a British or Irish citizen) can be checked at any time before the tenancy agreement is entered into.
- Someone with a time-limited right to rent must be checked no earlier than 28 calendar days before the tenancy start date.
What does this mean in practice? For self-managing landlords who do their own checks, nothing. If you use a letting agent or a referencing service that carries out digital identity checks, the question to ask is whether their provider will be on the OfDIA register from 1 October.
How should landlords check original right to rent documents?
Landlords (or their letting agents) need to check whether every adult (ie over 18) has the right to use your rental property as their main home. They need to look at the original documents (not copies) that are on the lists below, while the tenants are present.
Landlords should take a photocopy or a photograph of the document. For passports, copy the pages with the expiry date, nationality, date of birth and photograph. Do also take copies of endorsements such as a work visa or a Certificate of Entitlement to the right of abode in the UK. For other documents, take a complete copy.
Finally, record the date you make the copy, and file it all somewhere safe and secure. Don’t keep copies of the documents on your phone.
Which documents prove British or Irish tenants have the right to rent?
British and Irish citizens, including those who are naturalised citizens, have a permanent right to rent in the UK. However, the landlord needs to see documents which prove they have this unlimited right to rent.
Landlords can pay a digital verification service to check the right to rent of British and Irish citizens who hold valid passports, instead of checking the documents themselves. These providers are now called “Right to rent digital verification service providers”, or RtR DVSPs (they were previously known as Identity Service Providers, or IDSPs).
From 1 October 2026, if you use an RtR DVSP, they must be registered with the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), with a note on the register confirming it can carry out right to rent checks.
From the same date, an RtR DVSP will also be able to verify a British or Irish passport up to six months after its expiry date, using the chip in the passport.
Using an RtR DVSP is optional. In practice, it’s more relevant for letting agents and referencing services, which check identities at scale, than for self-managing landlords, who can do the checks themselves for free.
That said, when I last found new tenants on the Hello Neighbour platform, I used their standard referencing service (Canopy), which included an RtR DVSP to check the right to rent, and I was required to confirm the likeness afterwards.
British or Irish citizens – Passports or Naturalisation Certificate
If the person is a UK or Irish citizen, they can provide the following to prove their right to rent using these “Group 1” documents:
- a British passport (current or expired)
- an Irish passport or passport card (current or expired)
- a certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen
How can British / Irish tenants prove right to rent if they don’t have a passport?
If a British or Irish citizen doesn’t have a passport, they can prove they have the right to rent by providing two of the following documents from “Group 2”:
- a current UK driving licence (full or provisional)
- a full birth or adoption certificate from the UK, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man or Ireland
- a letter from their employer within the last 3 months
- a letter from a British passport holder in an ‘accepted profession’
- a letter from a UK government department or local council.
- proof they currently get benefits
- a letter from a British school, college, or university that they currently go to.
- a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate.
- proof that they have served in the UK armed forces.
- a letter within the last 3 months from a private rented sector access scheme or a voluntary organisation that’s helping them with housing
- a letter confirming they have been released from prison within the past 6 months.
- a letter confirming they are probation from their offender manager from within the last 3 months.
- a letter within the last three months from the UK police about the theft of their passport
Landlords (or letting agents) should keep copies of the documents taken for the duration of the tenancy agreement and for at least one year afterwards.
How can foreign nationals prove they have a right to rent?
If the tenant is not a British or Irish citizen, they can prove your right to rent in England with the following:
1. How to check a Right to Rent share code for a foreign national
A share code is a 9-digit number that allows a landlord to look up someone’s right to rent when they’re not a British or Irish citizen. It’s the easiest way to check the right to rent of people with other nationalities. In order to check the share code, it’s a simple matter of entering the share code and date of birth into the form on this page: GOV.UK page. You will receive an answer straight away confirming whether they have the right to rent, and if they do, the date when the right to rent expires (if it’s a time-limited right to rent).
The prospective tenant needs to apply online in advance for the share code on this GOV.uk webpage, and provide it with their date of birth to their landlord. The code is valid for 90 days.
Save a copy of the confirmation you receive.
2. Original immigration documents and other documents
If the tenant doesn’t have or doesn’t want to use a share code, a landlord can look at their original immigration documents. This is quite complicated, but this useful Home Office online tool makes it straightforward.
If they don’t have their original documents, for instance, if they came to the UK under the Windrush Scheme, the landlord can use other documents to check their right to rent.
The tenant has the right to choose whichever method they wish to use. Their landlord cannot turn down their application because they gave them an eligible immigration document instead of a share code, for example.
How far in advance can the right to rent be checked?
Someone with an unlimited right to rent can be checked at any time before the tenancy agreement is entered into.
However, if someone has a time-limited right to rent, that must be checked no earlier than 28 calendar days before the tenancy start date. This is something that’s important for student landlords to note, who may enter into tenancy agreements more than 28 days in advance.
How often should landlords check the right to rent?
Tenants with a permanent right to rent
If tenants have a permanent right to rent (such as British citizens or Europeans with EU Settled Status), landlords only need to check the documents once, before the original tenancy starts. In other words, there’s no need to check the right to rent again if the tenancy is renewed.
Tenants with a time-limited right to rent
Tenants who are not British or Irish may have valid immigration permission for a limited period. This includes pre-settled status via the EU Settlement Scheme, or time-limited permission under the points based immigration system renters.
Landlords should check the right to rent if it’s time-limited either before 12 months have passed or if the time-limited right to rent expires after a 12 month period, then before the right to rent expires.
The Landlord has a legal obligation to inform the Home Office if they become aware that a renter has lost or is about to lose their right to rent.
However, landlords should be aware that a properly done right to rent check will always protect the landlord from a civil penalty for at least 12 months. This means that a tenant who has a right to stay in the UK for six months can still be given a 12 month tenancy. Similarly, landlords only need to perform a follow-up check 10 or 11 months after their previous right to rent check.
>> Practical tip: Landlords should make a note of when the time limit on their tenants’ stay expires and check shortly before this time limit expires. For example, if someone has a visa for 3 years, the landlord should perform a follow-up check one or two months before it expires.
What about children and young adults?
If a minor turns 18 years of age during a tenancy agreement, they are permitted to continue living there, and the landlord isn’t required to carry out a right to rent check at the point the child turns 18 years of age.
However, where follow-up checks are required for the other existing tenants, the now adult should be included in those checks when they are due.
Follow up checks: when the right to rent expires or the tenant doesn’t cooperate
If your follow-up checks show that a tenant no longer has the right to rent, or if they don’t co-operate, the landlord must make a report to the Home Office using this online form. The form will generate a unique reference number which you should keep. Landlords must make the report as soon as reasonably possible and before your existing time-limited statutory excuse expires.
If the landlord doesn’t do a follow up check, they could receive a civil penalty (see below). If the tenant fails a follow up check, and the landlord doesn’t report it to the Home Office, the landlord could be sent to prison for up to 5 years.
Copies of documents should not be submitted when making a report but should be retained as set out in the initial right to rent checks for future enquiries.
All copies of documents taken should be kept for the duration of the tenancy agreement and for at least one year thereafter.
How to do a manual check of Right to Rent documents
In order to do a manual check of Right to Rent documents, you need to do it in the applicant’s presence and look for the following:
- Obtain the original documents from the applicants / tenants. Check the original documents and not photocopies. This makes it easier to spot if the documents have been tampered with.
- Check the documents in the presence of the prospective tenant or tenants for the following:
- Do the documents look genuine?
- Are there signs they’ve been tampered with?
- Are the documents for the same person as the applicant?
- Are the photographs and dates of birth consistent across the documents?
- If the names are different, can the difference be explained by other original documents eg marriage certificate, divorce decree absolute, deed poll). The landlord must copy these supporting documents and keep copies.
- Check the immigration Permission to Enter or Stay in the UK has not expired
- Copy each document, and keep it safe. You can write on the document the date the right to rent check was made, and should make a note of the date when you made the check. Keep either electronic or hard copies throughout the tenancy and for at least one year after the tenancy agreement ends. After then, you can destroy them.
What if the landlord has concerns about the documents?
If the landlord has concerns about the documents, they can make a request via the Landlord Checking Service to establish whether their prospective tenant has a right to rent, or call the Landlord Helpline (see below). Keep a record of your application and don’t start the tenancy agreement until you get a reply.
Home Office Right to Rent Checker tool
Landlords can also use this useful Home Office online tool to check if the applicant or existing tenant has the right to rent in the UK. The online tool helps landlords understand which types of documents give someone the right to rent in the UK and how to check the documents. Keep a copy of the output from the tool.
Home Office Landlord Helpline for Right to Rent
If landlords are in any doubt what to do and need help with a Right to Rent check, they should call the Home Office Landlord helpline on 0300 790 6268, Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4:45pm Friday, 9am to 4:30pm. It’s a free service.
Civil penalties for landlords if tenants don’t have the right to rent
There are significant civil penalties for letting to someone who you knew or had ‘reasonable cause to believe’ did not have the right to rent in the UK.
The penalties for a first breach are the following:
- Lodger: £5,000 per lodger. For a repeat breach it is £10,000.
- Tenants: £10,000 per tenant. This means the civil penalty for a family of four adults would be £40,000. For a repeat breach it is £20,000 per person.
Clearly, with tough penalties such as these, landlords need to make sure they carry out the checks properly and keep records of the checks. However, it’s illegal for landlords to discriminate against people who are foreign or appear foreign, unless of course they can’t prove their right to rent in the UK.
>> Useful resource: Penalties for illegal renting (GOV.UK)
Other useful letting guides
- Landlord Guide on How to Choose Good Renters
- How to be a Successful Renter in the UK
- What is a Responsible Landlord?
- How to Rent Checklist
- How to find renters without letting agents
- Managing rental properties – is it really that hard?
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Thanks for the article. Can you advise if there is a need to prove R2R if a new tenancy agreement is entered into with an existing tenant? Also is there a need if tenancy becomes periodic?
You won’t need to do another right to rent check if the person is British, Irish or has a permanent right to rent. If they have a time-limited right to rent, you should put a note in your calendar to do a follow up check 2 months before it expires.
Thank you. Essential reading for self-managing landlords. I have just become a self-managing landlord recently and am appreciative for all guidance materials.
Thank you Larissa. You’re in the right place for content on self-managing landlords! 🙂
Thank you so much for this content.
I am a self managing landlord and I have a tenant on an existing AST which started in 2010, who was checked by the council in 2010 to satisfy that they could offer me a bond instead of the tenant giving me a deposit (so I assumed that their checks included that she had suitable a passport). I have not yet asked her for proof of ID. Do I need to do Right to Rent checks for her if she stays on the existing AST?
Who could I outsource the R2R checks to?
If it turns out I should have don R2R checks, do you think the Home Office Landlord helpline would want to help me or just throw the book at me?
Definitely ask to see original copies of her right to rent. You need to have a copy of that documentation whatever happens.
The Right to Rent rules didn’t come into effect until after 2010, so the Council would not necessarily have checked it.
You can use a certified digital identity service provider (IDSP) to establish right to rent. Here is a list: IDSP providers.
If she has the right to rent, all well and good. If she doesn’t have the right to rent, I’d get advice from the NRLA about the next steps.
As a student landlord I will often sign an agreement six months before the start date. Do I check before signing the agreement or just before the start date? If the latter, can I legally treat the signed agreement as void if test is failed?
This is probably a really silly question, but can I ask *how* you made copies? The only practical option I have is to meet the prospective tenant at the property to carry out the in-person right to rent checks, but I don’t know how I’m going to make copies of the documents. Unless taking a photo on my phone is sufficient? Any advice gratefully received 🙂
I take a copy on my phone and then save it in my electronic file.
Right to rent before entering the UK?
Tenant A: Already in the UK, has the legal “Right to Rent.”
Tenant B (Partner/Dependant): Currently outside the UK, will arrive later with a 3-month visa, and therefore cannot provide a Right to Rent share code or documentation until entry.
Can both be listed on the tenancy before Tenant B arrives, or whether you must wait and perhaps list Tenant A first and add Tenant B later.
Is there a way to make this work?
Thanks
Because of the huge fines, I recommend you speak to the Home Office on the helpline I mention in the blog post. In any event, you can’t grant a tenancy to someone who doesn’t have the right to rent. They also can’t become an occupier without the right to rent. The Home Office will be able to say what that means for someone who moves in with a 3 month visa.
Thanks for your answer!
Two back to back AST’s, Could this work or is be compliance and legal quagmire?
Tenant A has the AST in their name only, they are in the UK and have the right rent.
Tenant B arrives two months later in the UK and can prove the right to rent (assuming)
A new AST is given for A and B, whilst A reminds in the property.
Sorry but I can’t give legal advice
Thanks for your good works. I have searched everywhere for an understanding of what position I am in vis-a-vis a properly documented and checked tenant whose RtR expires and they remain in situ. Can I continue to receive rent after informing the HO of their status? What action will the HO take and how long?
Best regards
Peter.