A collection of guides to help landlords, homeowners and rental agents carry out the correct checks on the right to rent and avoid civil penalties. Guide for landlords, homeowners and leasing agents affected by the introduction of immigration checks on the right to rent. Our Right 2 Rent service is no longer available. See our resources for information on how to prove your right to rent or how to check the status of a tenant. In England, private landlords are required to pay the right to rent to all adults in a household when a property is rented or sublet, or when a person is a paying tenant.
In some circumstances, housing associations will need to process checks on the right to rent. A person will have an unlimited right to rent, a right to rent for a limited time, or will not have the right to rent, depending on their immigration status. The Home Office may grant permission to rent to some people who do not have the right to rent. Landlords usually determine if a person has the right to rent by checking their documents or digital status, or by directly contacting the Ministry of the Interior for verification.
Some types of accommodation are exempt from the right to rent regime. Landlords must verify the right to rent in a fair, justifiable and consistent manner. The controls must apply to all potential tenants. When the checks are done, it would be useful for people with little command of English to be accompanied and advised by a third party, such as a friend or family member, a councilor or a charity worker.
Landlords found guilty of not complying with the right to rent plan will be subject to civil punishment. Limited stay in the United Kingdom Landlords and rental agencies have a legal obligation to re-verify the right to rent if the identity document you provide belongs to “list B”, as these documents only make it possible to establish a legal excuse for a limited time. If you cannot provide it, but the tenant claims the continuity of the right to rent, the landlord must request a check from the Ministry of the Interior on the right to rent. If you paid rent on time in the past, show them your lease agreement and the rent book or bank statements to prove it.
To access the online checking service, landlords will need the tenant's date of birth and a 9-character “participation code” provided by the tenant. You'll also need to prove that you and any other adult living with you have the “right to rent” in the UK. In the case of proving that you have the right to rent, this means that the stock code must begin with the letter “R”. When a tenant has a limited right to rent due to a limited stay in the United Kingdom, the landlord will be considered to have a legal excuse limited in time and, therefore, must have carried out the necessary documentation checks to preserve this excuse.
We must also check the situation of tenants whose limited-time rental right is about to expire during the tenancy. The landlord is not required to prove the right to rent in connection with rental agreements concluded before the dates indicated above. Under the legislation, landlords who rent to a person who has no right to rent could face fines of up to 3,000 pounds sterling if they don't follow government guidelines, or even a penalty from prison. As already mentioned, the penalties are severe for landlords or agents who rent properties in violation of the rules of the right to rent.
A legal excuse could be that the landlord has correctly made the prescribed checks on the right to rent using the documents from lists A or B and has continued to submit the necessary reports. If the rent is for an extended period, of three months or more, landlords should, without a doubt, proceed to check the right to rent. You can ask the landlord to carry out the checks on your behalf. This agreement must be agreed in writing and you must keep a copy as evidence.
Those who do not belong to the previous three categories will have a limited-time rental right and may submit documentary evidence (physical or digital) to prove it.
