Right to rent checks: a landlord’s step-by-step guide

What is a right to rent check?

A right to rent check is the check a landlord must make that a tenant or lodger can legally rent a residential property in England. GOV.UK says you must check all tenants aged 18 and over, even if they are not named on the tenancy agreement and even if there is no written agreement at all.

The rule applies in England only. You do not need to check a tenant’s right to rent in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The Home Office guide for landlords says the scheme does not apply to children, so occupiers under 18 are not checked.

Doing the check correctly, before the tenancy starts, gives you what the Home Office calls a statutory excuse. That is your protection against a civil penalty if it later turns out the person had no right to rent. A check done late or done on the wrong documents gives no such protection.

Sources: GOV.UK: check your tenant’s right to rent · Home Office: landlord’s guide to right to rent checks, 1 October 2026

Who do you have to check?

Check every adult who will live in the property as their only or main home. That includes a partner or adult child who is not on the agreement. Check everyone in the same way: the Home Office guide says to apply the same process to all prospective adult occupiers, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, appearance, accent or perceived immigration status. Checking only people you think are from abroad is discrimination.

Some kinds of accommodation are 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 provided as part of a job, and leases of seven years or more.

If a letting agent manages or lets the property, you can ask the agent to do the check for you, and GOV.UK says you should have that agreement in writing. If a tenant sublets without your knowledge, the tenant is responsible for checking their sub-tenants and is liable for any civil penalty.

Sources: GOV.UK: check your tenant’s right to rent · GOV.UK: right to rent, agents and subletting · Home Office: landlord’s guide to right to rent checks, 1 October 2026

The three ways to check a tenant’s right to rent

There are three routes, and the tenant’s status decides which ones are open. British and Irish citizens cannot get a share code, so they show documents or use an identity provider. People from other countries who hold a digital immigration status, called an eVisa, prove it with a share code. The Home Office guide notes that visa stickers in passports stopped being issued on 1 July 2026, so share codes are becoming the usual route.

Whichever route you use, you must be satisfied that the person in front of you, in person or on a live video call, is the person in the documents or the online record. The Home Office guide of 1 October 2026 also made it mandatory that any digital provider you use is on the government’s register of digital identity providers.

Sources: GOV.UK: how to do a right to rent check · Home Office: landlord’s guide to right to rent checks, 1 October 2026

How to check a right to rent share code

A right to rent share code is a short code the tenant generates on GOV.UK and gives to you. The Home Office guide says the code is valid for 90 days and must be used together with the person’s date of birth. Tenants get theirs from the GOV.UK service called prove your right to rent.

Enter the code and the date of birth on the landlord’s side of the service: check a tenant’s right to rent on GOV.UK. Use the landlord service yourself, so that the result you save is the one the Home Office shows to landlords.

The result shows the person’s photograph and whether their right to rent is unlimited or has an end date. Check the photograph is of the person you are dealing with, then save or print the profile page and record the date. GOV.UK says to keep it for the length of the tenancy and one year after.

Sources: GOV.UK: how to do a right to rent check · Home Office: landlord’s guide to right to rent checks, 1 October 2026

How to do a manual right to rent check on documents

A manual check has three steps in the Home Office guide: obtain original documents from its lists of acceptable documents, check them in the presence of the holder, then copy them and keep a secure record of the date. List A documents show an unlimited right to rent. List B documents show a right that is limited in time.

When you look at the documents, GOV.UK says to check that they are originals and belong to the tenant, that the photographs look like the person, that dates of birth are the same across documents, that nothing is damaged or altered, and that any change of name is explained by a supporting document such as a marriage certificate. For a person who is not British or Irish, check their permission to stay has not ended.

Copies must be in a form that cannot be changed, such as a photocopy or a good quality photograph. For a passport, copy every page with the expiry date or the holder’s details, and any page with endorsements. For other documents, copy all of it. The guide says an original but expired biometric residence permit is not acceptable for a manual check.

If the tenant cannot give you documents or a share code, use the Home Office landlord’s checking service with the tenant’s Home Office reference number. GOV.UK says you get an answer within two working days. You cannot let to someone who has no acceptable documents, no valid share code and no positive answer from the Home Office.

Sources: GOV.UK: how to do a right to rent check · GOV.UK: making copies of right to rent documents · Home Office: landlord’s guide to right to rent checks, 1 October 2026

When are follow-up right to rent checks needed?

You need a follow-up check only where the tenant’s permission to stay in the UK has a time limit. No follow-up is needed for a British or Irish citizen or for someone with indefinite leave to remain.

For a person with a time-limited right, the first check must be done and recorded no earlier than 28 days before the tenancy agreement is entered into. GOV.UK says the follow-up must then be done just before whichever is later: the date their permission to stay ends, or 12 months after your previous check. A positive answer from the landlord’s checking service lasts 12 months.

If a follow-up check shows the tenant can no longer legally rent, you must tell the Home Office using its online report. GOV.UK warns that you could be fined or sent to prison for up to five years if a tenant fails a follow-up check and you do not report it. Reporting is a separate step from ending the tenancy. If it comes to that, read the legal process to evict a tenant and take advice before you act.

Sources: GOV.UK: follow-up right to rent checks · Home Office: landlord’s guide to right to rent checks, 1 October 2026

Right to rent penalties in 2026

The civil penalty for letting to someone without the right to rent is £10,000 for each tenant and £5,000 for each lodger for a first breach. For a later breach it is £20,000 for each tenant and £10,000 for each lodger. GOV.UK says you can save 30% by paying within 21 days.

You have 28 days from the date of the penalty notice to object, on the grounds that you are not the person liable, that you did the checks correctly, or that the amount was worked out wrongly. If the objection fails, you have 28 days from the outcome notice to appeal to the county court.

There is also a criminal offence. A landlord who lets to someone they knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, had no right to rent can face up to five years in prison or a fine.

Sources: GOV.UK: penalties for illegal renting

Right to rent checks: the record to keep

Your record is your defence, so treat it as part of the tenancy file from the first viewing. Copies of identity documents are personal data: GOV.UK says you must follow data protection law, which means storing them securely and not keeping them longer than you need to.

Right to rent is one of several jobs to finish before you hand over keys. The checklist for becoming a landlord puts them in order.

• List every adult who will live in the property as their main home, named on the agreement or not.
• Ask each of them the same question in the same way: a share code, original documents, or an identity provider check.
• For anyone with a time-limited right, do the check in the 28 days before the agreement is entered into.
• See each person in the flesh or on a live video call and compare them with the photograph.
• Save the profile page, document copies or provider output, and write down the date of the check.
• Put any follow-up date in your diary, and note it against the tenancy with the other landlord certificates and records.
• Take a holding deposit only on clear written terms, because a failed right to rent check is one of the few reasons it can be kept.
• Keep everything for the whole tenancy and for one year after it ends, then destroy it securely.

Sources: GOV.UK: making copies of right to rent documents · GOV.UK: how to do a right to rent check · Home Office: landlord’s guide to right to rent checks, 1 October 2026

Common questions