Your landlord or leasing agent will ask you to show your immigration documents or passport when you start or renew your lease. This is called a “right to rent check” and it was introduced by the Home Office with the aim of making it harder for people to live and work illegally in England. Leases in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not subject to right-to-rent checks. Certified Identity Service Providers (IDSP) offer the ability to conveniently write checks, but not all agents will be able to offer checks with the right to rent through an IDSP.
Right to rent checks involve verifying the immigration status of a potential tenant. It's about making sure they have the legal right to live in the UK. Right-to-rent checks have been introduced as part of broader government reforms to the immigration system. Entitle-to-rent checks involve verifying the identity and immigration status of your potential tenants before they move out.
If you follow the steps and advice in this blog post, you can write rent checks correctly and avoid legal problems. If you are trying to get a rental from abroad, landlords can agree to the lease, in principle, after checking your identity on arrival. If you can't prove your right to rent, there's a chance you won't be able to rent the property you've chosen. If it is determined that the tenant is not a citizen of the United Kingdom, it is the responsibility of the landlord (or a designated agent) to check the current term of their immigration status and to carry out follow-up checks to monitor the situation over time, in case there are any time limits.
If you are unable to provide accepted documents confirming your identity and right to live in the UK, you will not be able to rent property in England. You must perform these checks before your current right to rent expires or within 28 days of receiving new information about your status. The LCS is an online service that allows you to request a right-to-rent check directly from the Ministry of the Interior. If you don't have any restrictions on your right to stay in the UK (for example, if you're a British or Irish citizen or an EU citizen and you have documents to prove your “resident status”), your landlord or leasing agent won't have to do more checks.
Right-to-rent checks are designed to prevent illegal immigration and ensure that only people who have the right to live in the UK can access the private rental sector. We've detailed everything you need to know about right-to-rent checks, from why they're required to what information you'll need to provide. If the agent is unable to complete this verification, they will have to submit a report about you to the Home Office; otherwise, you could incur significant fines.
