Right to Rent checks: UK landlord guide 2026

Before a tenancy starts in England, you must check that every adult who'll live there has the right to rent, whether or not they're named on the agreement, and keep a copy of the check. Get it wrong and the penalty is up to £10,000 per occupier for a first breach.

What are Right to Rent checks?

Since February 2016, landlords in England must check that all tenants aged 18 or over have the legal right to rent property in the UK. This applies before the tenancy starts and in some cases during the tenancy. The checks apply to private residential tenancies and lodgers where the property will be the person's only or main home. Genuine holiday lets don't need a check.

Right to Rent is an immigration control measure requiring landlords to prevent people without legal immigration status from accessing the rental market. Fail to conduct proper checks and you face civil penalties of up to £10,000 per occupier for a first breach, rising to £20,000 for a repeat breach within 3 years. Those who knowingly breach the rules risk criminal prosecution with unlimited fines or imprisonment.

The checks apply only in England. There is no Right to Rent scheme in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. This guide covers England only.

What documents you must check

There are two ways to check. For a manual check, the Home Office provides two lists of acceptable documents: List A (unlimited right to rent) and List B (time-limited right to rent). You must see original documents. Copies aren't acceptable. Many people don't have a physical document at all, so you check them online instead (see below).

List A documents (no follow-up required): a British passport or an Irish passport or passport card (current or expired), a certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen, or two documents from a second group, such as a UK birth certificate plus a current UK driving licence.

List B documents (follow-up checks required): a current passport endorsed to show time-limited permission to stay, or a paper Certificate of Application to the EU Settlement Scheme together with a Positive Right to Rent Notice from the Home Office Landlord Checking Service.

If a tenant provides List B documents, your check covers you for a set time, which the Home Office calls the eligibility period. It runs to the latest of three dates: 12 months from your check, the day their permission to stay ends, or the expiry date of the document that shows it. You must do another check before it ends. Set a reminder, because missing this follow-up check removes your statutory excuse if the tenant's status later becomes illegal.

Online checks with a share code: Biometric residence permits (BRPs) have been replaced by eVisas, and a physical BRP hasn't been acceptable for a manual check since 6 April 2022. People with an eVisa, including anyone with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, give you a share code instead, and for them the online check is the one you have to use. The code is 9 characters long and starts with R. You enter it on GOV.UK yourself and keep a copy of the result. Looking at the tenant's own screen doesn't count. EEA passports and ID cards on their own haven't proved a right to rent since 1 July 2021.

How to conduct the check

For a manual check, you must have the original documents and check them with the tenant present, in person or by video call. Take clear copies or scans of the documents, in a format that can't be altered. Record the date you conducted the check. For passports, copy the page showing the photograph, date of birth, and immigration status. For other documents, copy all relevant pages.

Check that the documents appear genuine and haven't been tampered with. Verify the photographs match the person. Check dates of birth are consistent across multiple documents. Look for signs of forgery like inconsistent fonts, poor quality printing, or obvious alterations.

You must take reasonable steps, and nobody expects you to be a forgery expert. If documents look suspicious, don't accept them. Ask for other acceptable documents, or don't go ahead with the tenancy.

The statutory excuse

Conducting the check correctly and keeping proper records creates a "statutory excuse." This protects you from civil penalties if it later turns out the tenant didn't have the right to rent. Without this excuse, you're liable for fines even if you didn't know the tenant's status was illegal.

To maintain your statutory excuse, you must: conduct the check before the tenancy starts, see original documents and take copies (or keep the result of an online check), record the date, and conduct follow-up checks for anyone with time-limited permission before the eligibility period ends.

Timing matters for one group. A check on someone with a time-limited right to rent must be done no earlier than 28 days before the tenancy starts. Someone with an unlimited right can be checked at any time before you agree the tenancy.

The excuse covers the specific tenancy you checked. If the tenancy continues as periodic, your original check still covers you, unless they had time-limited permission that has since expired.

What records you must keep

You must keep copies of documents and the date of the check for the duration of the tenancy plus one year after it ends. This applies to all tenants, including those with unlimited right to rent.

Good practice means recording: tenant's name, date of birth, document type and number, date of check, who conducted the check (you or your agent), and for List B documents, the date the next check is due.

Store these records securely. They contain sensitive personal information covered by UK GDPR. Don't share them except when legally required (Home Office enforcement officers, police with appropriate authorisation, tribunals or courts).

Follow-up checks for List B documents

If a tenant has time-limited permission to stay, you must conduct another check before the eligibility period ends: the latest of 12 months from your last check, the day their permission ends, or the expiry date of the document. An online check tells you the date. The process is the same as the first check: see original documents and take copies, or do a new online check, and record the date.

If a follow-up check shows the tenant no longer has the right to rent, you must report it to the Home Office. Without the report your statutory excuse ends, and GOV.UK says not reporting can mean a fine or up to five years in prison. You're not required to evict them immediately, but continuing to rent without conducting follow-up checks removes your statutory excuse.

Some landlords avoid tenants with time-limited permission to avoid follow-up checks. This is understandable but potentially discriminatory. Immigration status is not itself a protected characteristic, but the Equality Act 2010 bans race discrimination, and race includes nationality and national origin. Blanket bans on all non-British nationals risk discrimination claims.

Joint tenancies and multiple occupants

You must check every adult aged 18 or over who will occupy the property, whether they're named on the tenancy agreement or not. This includes lodgers in a room rental, all names on a joint tenancy, and any adult occupants even if they're not paying rent.

Each person needs separate checks and records. In an HMO with five tenants, that's five separate Right to Rent checks, each with individual documentation and potential follow-up requirements if any provided List B documents.

What happens if you don't comply

Civil penalties of up to £10,000 per occupier or £5,000 per lodger for a first breach (rising to £20,000 and £10,000 for a repeat breach within 3 years) apply if you fail to conduct proper checks. The Home Office issues a civil penalty notice. You can object in writing within 28 days of the due date on the notice, on the grounds that you aren't the landlord of the person concerned, that you did the check and have a statutory excuse, or that the amount is wrong. A first penalty paid within 21 days is cut by 30%, to £7,000 for an occupier or £3,500 for a lodger.

Landlords who knowingly rent to someone without the right to rent can face criminal prosecution. Convictions carry unlimited fines and up to five years imprisonment.

The Home Office conducts compliance visits and investigations. They target areas with high immigration enforcement activity, respond to reports from neighbours or ex-partners, and follow up on intelligence suggesting illegal occupation.

During an investigation, officers can request to see your Right to Rent records. If you can't produce them, you can't show a statutory excuse. This is why keeping organised records matters as much as conducting the initial checks.

Common mistakes landlords make

Not checking all occupants. You must check everyone aged 18+ who will live there, including anyone who isn't named on the tenancy agreement.

Accepting copies instead of original documents. For a manual check, copies don't provide a statutory excuse. You need to see the originals.

Missing follow-up checks. If you checked a tenant with time-limited permission three years ago and they are still there, your statutory excuse may have run out when their permission to stay did.

Not keeping dated records. You conducted the check but can't prove when. Without dated copies, you can't demonstrate your statutory excuse.

Discrimination. Refusing to rent to anyone who isn't a British citizen might seem safer but risks discrimination claims.

Using letting agents

If a letting agent manages your property, they typically conduct Right to Rent checks on your behalf. Who is liable depends on your agreement. If the agent has agreed in writing to do the checks, the agent is liable for a penalty instead of you. Without that written agreement, the responsibility stays with you.

Make sure your written agreement with the agent explicitly covers Right to Rent checks. Request copies of all check documentation. Don't assume the agent is doing it correctly. Check that you receive dated copies for every tenant.

Changes under the Renters' Rights Act 2025

The Renters' Rights Act maintains Right to Rent requirements. The abolition of Section 21 doesn't affect immigration checks. Landlords must continue conducting and documenting Right to Rent checks regardless of tenancy type.

Right to Rent checks are not a condition for getting possession under Section 8. The records still matter. They are your defence against a civil penalty, and organised records help in any dispute that reaches court or tribunal proceedings.

Digital identity verification

Digital Right to Rent checks have been a permanent way to get a statutory excuse since 6 April 2022. The company that does one is now called a digital verification service provider. You may know them by the older name, identity service provider. A provider can verify a British or Irish passport, or an Irish passport card, including one up to six months past its expiry date. It checks the document electronically instead of you seeing the original.

Since 1 October 2026 the provider has to be on the government's register, with a note that it offers right to rent checks. Check that before you rely on one. You still need to check that the photo and details match the tenant, and keep a copy of the result for the tenancy plus one year. Using a provider is optional. A tenant who has no passport, or would rather not be checked digitally, has to be offered a manual check and mustn't be treated less favourably for it.

Organising your Right to Rent records

Professional landlords maintain organised systems showing: each tenant's name and property address, date of initial check, documents verified, copies of those documents, for time-limited permission: expiry date and date of next check due, and date tenancy ended plus confirmation records retained for required period.

Manual systems work but require discipline. A spreadsheet tracking all tenants with check dates and follow-up requirements prevents missed deadlines. Store document copies securely, either in physical files per property or encrypted digital storage.

Digital record-keeping systems designed for landlord compliance can automate reminders for follow-up checks and store all documentation alongside other tenant records.