Right to rent checks

Who has to check, and who gets checked

• England only. There is no right-to-rent requirement in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
• Every landlord letting a home, including homeowners taking in a lodger. A tenant who sublets a room normally makes the check themselves, unless their own landlord or a letting agent has agreed in writing to take responsibility.
• Every adult aged 18 or over who will live in the property as their only or main home - whether or not they are named on the agreement.
• Without assumptions. Check every prospective occupier, not only those you guess are not British. Checking selectively is discrimination.

How to check

Check before the tenancy or lodging arrangement starts - and, for someone whose permission to be in the UK is time-limited, within the 28 days before. There are several routes:

• Original documents. Hold the original document - a passport, for example - and check it is genuine and belongs to its holder, who must be present in person or on a live video call.
• An online share code. People with a digital immigration status give you a share code to check on GOV.UK. You cannot insist on documents instead.
• A digital identity check. For British and Irish citizens with a valid passport (or Irish passport card), a certified identity service provider can carry out the check.
• The Landlord Checking Service. When someone cannot show their right to rent - for example because an immigration application is still being decided - you can ask the Home Office to check.

What to keep, and when to check again

Keep a copy of the documents, or of the online check, with the date you made it, for as long as the person lives there and for one year after. If their right to rent is time-limited, you must check again before your first check stops protecting you - usually the later of the end of their permission and twelve months after your check.

Why it matters

Letting to someone without the right to rent can mean a civil penalty of thousands of pounds for each person affected - more for a repeat breach - and in serious cases a criminal offence. A correct check, made in time and recorded, gives you a statutory excuse against the civil penalty.

More on letting a room

See our guides to taking in a lodger and the Rent a Room scheme, and the legal requirements for letting a room.