Right to Rent checks for landlords in England: who to check, how, and the record to keep

Before a tenancy starts in England, the landlord must check that every adult who will live in the property as their only or main home has the right to rent in the UK, and keep a dated record of the check. That applies whether or not the person is named on the tenancy agreement, and even if there is no written agreement at all.

The duty comes from the Immigration Act 2014, the practical steps are in the GOV.UK guide to checking a tenant’s right to rent, and the Home Office’s code of practice for landlords and agents, updated on 1 October 2026, sets out how a check protects you from a penalty. Done correctly and on time, the check gives you what the code calls a statutory excuse: a defence if it later turns out the person did not have the right to rent.

The scheme applies in England only: there is no Right to Rent check for a home in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, as set out below.

Who you must check

• Every adult occupier: everyone aged 18 or over who will use the property as their only or main home, including partners and adult children who are not on the agreement.
• Everyone, the same way: it is against the law to check only people you think are not British citizens. Checking all applicants in the same way is also how you avoid discrimination.
• New adults during a tenancy: when you agree to add someone to a tenancy, or to a new joint tenancy that includes them, they need a check before they move in.
• Lodgers: a landlord who takes in a lodger, or a tenant who sublets, is a landlord for the scheme and does the check themselves.

Some accommodation is outside the scheme. GOV.UK lists social housing; care homes, hospices and hospitals; hostels and refuges; mobile homes; student accommodation; accommodation provided by a local authority; accommodation that comes with a job; and leases of seven years or longer. Children under 18 are not checked, but an occupier who turns 18 is included in the next follow up check if one is due.

When to do the check

Before the tenancy starts. For someone whose permission to be in the UK has no time limit, any time before the start date works. If their permission is time limited, GOV.UK says to do the check in the 28 days before the tenancy starts. The excuse comes from a check made before the person starts living there.

The three ways to check

1. Check original documents yourself

Obtain the original documents from the Home Office list and check them with the person present, in person or by video call. A British passport (current or expired), an Irish passport or passport card (current or expired), or a certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen are the usual documents for British and Irish citizens; others may use a combination of documents from the list. Check that:

• the documents are originals and belong to the person in front of you;
• the photos are of that person and the dates of birth match across documents and are believable;
• nothing looks damaged or changed;
• any difference in names is explained by a supporting document, such as a marriage certificate;
• for anyone who is not a British or Irish citizen, their permission to stay has not ended.

Biometric residence cards and permits are no longer accepted. If a tenant has one, ask for a share code instead.

2. Use a registered digital verification service

A registered Digital Verification Service provider can check a valid British or Irish passport, or an Irish passport card, digitally, and can use facial recognition to confirm the document belongs to the person in front of it. The 2026 code tightens this: only registered providers count, so check the provider is on the government’s register before you rely on its result.

3. View their right to rent online with a share code

Tenants with an eVisa, settled or pre settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or certain other digital status can give you a share code. Enter it on the GOV.UK right to rent checking service, check the photo on the profile matches the person, and save the profile page as a file or print it. British and Irish citizens cannot get a share code, so their check is always one of the first two routes. If a tenant can prove their right to rent with an accepted original document, you cannot insist they use a share code instead.

If the tenant has no documents or share code

Use the Home Office’s Landlord’s Checking Service. You need the tenant’s Home Office reference number, and GOV.UK says you will get an answer within two working days. It covers people whose documents are with the Home Office, who have an outstanding application or appeal, or who have been given permission to rent. Do not let the property if the person has no acceptable documents, no valid share code and the Home Office check says they are not allowed to rent. The landlord helpline is 0300 790 6268.

Follow up checks

Where a tenant’s right to rent is time limited, your excuse is time limited too. The code says it lasts until the latest of twelve months from your check, the end of the person’s permission to be in the UK, or the expiry of the document you checked. Do the follow up check before that date.

If the tenant no longer has the right to rent, or will not cooperate, you must report it to the Home Office, and the code says you should do so as soon as reasonably practicable and before your excuse runs out. GOV.UK warns that failing to report a failed follow up check can lead to a fine or a prison sentence of up to five years. There is no follow up check for someone whose permission has no time limit.

This is the date that gets lost. The initial check happens at the busiest moment of a let, and the follow up falls due a year or more later with nothing to prompt it. Put it in the diary on the day of the first check.

The record to keep

• Copies that cannot be changed: a photocopy or good photograph of each document; for a passport, every page with the expiry date or the holder’s details, and any endorsement such as a visa; for other documents, a complete copy. For an online check, the saved profile page.
• The date of the check, recorded with the copies, and who carried it out.
• The follow up date, for anyone with time limited permission, and the record of the follow up when it happens.
• How long: for the whole tenancy and one year after it ends, kept securely and in line with data protection law, then destroyed.

The property records guide sets this beside the other retention periods a letting agency works to.

Letting agents and the duty

A landlord can ask an agent who lets or manages the property to carry out the checks, and GOV.UK says the agreement should be in writing. The code goes further: where an agent has accepted responsibility for compliance in writing, liability for a civil penalty rests with the agent rather than the landlord. So the management agreement should say plainly who does the initial checks and who does the follow up checks. If a tenant sublets without the landlord’s knowledge, the tenant is responsible for checking the subtenant.

The penalties

The Home Office sets civil penalties per person, by whether the occupier is a lodger and whether it is a first breach or a repeat within three years:

• Occupier: up to £10,000 for a first breach, £20,000 for a repeat.
• Lodger: up to £5,000 for a first breach, £10,000 for a repeat.

Knowingly letting to someone without the right to rent is also a criminal offence. Because the figures apply per occupier, they grow fastest of any landlord penalty in shared homes and larger households. Every other figure is on the landlord fines and penalties page.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

The Home Office’s code of practice says the Right to Rent scheme “applies in England”. None of this page applies to a home in the rest of the UK:

• Wales: no Right to Rent check. The Home Office’s landlord’s guide puts the duty on landlords and their agents in England.
• Scotland: no Right to Rent check. The official record of section 22 of the Immigration Act 2014, the core Right to Rent rule, shows it in force for England only.
• Northern Ireland: no Right to Rent check. GOV.UK tells tenants they do not need to prove their right to rent in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

For a landlord or agency with homes in more than one nation, the checks, follow up dates and records on this page apply to the homes in England.

Where this lives in Verixad

For a letting agency, Verixad keeps a Right to Rent logbook on each contact: the date of a check you have carried out, how it was done (documents, a digital verification service or a share code), the document seen, and, for time limited permission, the follow up date. Saving a follow up date can create a task, so the re check shows on the dashboard and in reminders instead of relying on a diary. The logbook records the check; the check itself, and the decision, stay with you.

Right to Rent is one line of the landlord compliance checklist, which sets it beside the deposit, the gas record and everything else due before a tenant moves in.

Specific to England, and general information rather than legal advice. Checked on 23 October 2026 against the GOV.UK guide and the Home Office code of practice in force from 1 October 2026; the position in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland checked on 27 October 2026.