A Right to Rent check is the check a landlord in England makes, before a tenancy starts, that each adult who will live in the home is allowed to rent in the UK. Check everyone aged 18 or over who will live there as their main home, named on the agreement or not, and check them all the same way.
There are three ways to do it (GOV.UK, "Checking your tenant's right to rent", read 5 November 2026):
- 1Original documents, in person. A British passport (current or expired), an Irish passport or passport card, or another document on the Home Office lists, checked with the person there. Copy it so the copy cannot be changed, and write down the date.
- 2A share code, online. Anyone with an eVisa or EU Settlement Scheme status gives you a share code, and you view their right to rent on GOV.UK with their date of birth. Keep the result with its date. A biometric residence permit is no longer accepted: ask for a share code instead.
- 3A registered digital verification service, for a British or Irish passport or an Irish passport card.
Where the person's permission is time-limited, make the check in the 28 days before the tenancy starts and diarise a follow-up. Keep the copies for the tenancy and one year after it ends. Letting to someone without the right to rent can cost up to £10,000 for each occupier on a first breach and £20,000 on a repeat.
To find which check fits one applicant, and the date of any follow-up, use the Right to Rent check wizard.
What changed on 1 October 2026
A new Home Office code of practice for landlords and agents has applied since 1 October 2026 (brought into force by SI 2026/700). The points that change how you check:
- Digital checks for British and Irish citizens go through a Right to Rent digital verification service provider on the government's OFDIA register (GOV.UK, "Find registered digital verification services"). A British or Irish passport, or an Irish passport card, can be checked this way while valid or up to six months after it expired.
- eVisa holders can only be checked with the Home Office online service, using the share code they give you.
- Timing: where the person's right is time-limited, make the check no earlier than 28 days before the tenancy starts.
- Follow-up: the excuse from a time-limited check lasts until the latest of 12 months after the check, the end of the permission and the expiry of the document. Recheck before then.
- Records: keep the copies for the tenancy and one year after it ends, then destroy them securely.
Source: the landlords' code of practice on GOV.UK.
Who must comply?
Before a new tenant moves in, you have to check that every adult who will live there has the right to rent in the UK. The duty applies to all private landlords in England and their agents, and the check must happen before the tenancy starts. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate rules. This guide walks you through the check, the documents, the follow-ups and the records to keep.
Step 1: Obtain acceptable documents or an online check
You can use List A (unlimited right) or List B (time-limited right) documents in person, or the Home Office online service where the tenant has a share code. Take a clear copy (physical or PDF) and note the date of the check.
Step 2: Check authenticity
For a manual check, look at the original documents with the person there, check they are genuine and belong to them, and copy each one (front and back) in a format that cannot be altered, recording the date. For a digital or online check, keep the result the service gives you, with its date.
Step 3: Follow up on time-limited status
If the tenant has a time-limited right, recheck before the statutory excuse runs out: the latest of 12 months after the check, the end of their permission and the expiry of the document. Keep the evidence of each check.
Penalties
Civil penalties: up to £10,000 per occupier for a first breach and up to £20,000 per occupier for a repeat breach (increased 13 February 2024; lodger arrangements £5,000 / £10,000). Criminal sanctions (an unlimited fine and up to 5 years' imprisonment) apply for knowingly letting to someone without the right to rent. Always verify current penalty levels at GOV.UK.
Record-keeping
Keep the copies and the check dates for the tenancy and one year after it ends, then destroy them securely. Good records are your defence if challenged; keeping them for longer than that is not.
Right to Rent 2026: digital checks and penalties → · Let the property from one login →
Acceptable Right to Rent documents (2026 list)
The Home Office publishes the full list; below are the most common categories.
List A (unlimited leave, British citizens):
- UK or Irish passport (current or expired)
- UK driving licence + birth certificate (in combination)
List B (time-limited leave, follow-up check required):
- Current passport with time-limited entry stamp or visa
- Home Office online status via a share code (eVisa and EU Settlement Scheme status can only be checked this way)
Online checks: for anyone with an eVisa or EU Settlement Scheme status, use the GOV.UK view a tenant's right to rent service with the share code they give you. It gives you a dated result to keep on file. If someone can't show their right to rent, the Home Office Landlord Checking Service answers within 2 working days.
Key rule: Carry out a fresh check before the statutory excuse from the last one runs out: the latest of 12 months after that check, the end of the permission and the expiry of the document. LetCompliance handles the applications, the referencing and the e-signed tenancy agreement from one login, and the check sits on the tenancy with the rest of the let: the check date, the follow-up date, and a reminder by email (and by SMS on paid plans) before the follow-up is due.
The eVisa shift: what changed, and why old guides are wrong
The biggest practical change is that physical immigration documents have largely gone. Anyone issued with an eVisa can only prove their right to rent through the Home Office online checking service, using a share code the tenant generates and gives you along with their date of birth. Biometric residence permits are no longer the route.
Two details matter. A share code is valid for 90 days, so get it close to the check rather than months ahead. And the online service is the only way to obtain a statutory excuse for an eVisa holder, so a photocopy of an old card is worth nothing.
If a guide still tells you to take a copy of a biometric residence permit, it was written before the transition and you should not rely on it. The code of practice in force since 1 October 2026 is explicit: an eVisa holder can only be checked with the online service.
Digital identity checks for British and Irish citizens
British and Irish citizens do not have an eVisa, so historically they had to hand over a passport in person. There is now a route through a Right to Rent digital verification service provider registered on the government's OFDIA register. A tenant with a British or Irish passport, or an Irish passport card, can prove their right to rent this way while the document is valid or up to six months after it expired.
Here is the part landlords get wrong. A British or Irish citizen can choose to present physical documents instead of using a digital provider, and that choice must not lead to less favourable treatment. You cannot refuse an applicant, delay them, or push them down the list because they declined the digital route.
What the check actually buys you: the statutory excuse
The point of doing a check correctly is not the paperwork. It is the statutory excuse, which is your defence if an occupier later turns out to have no right to rent.
You get it when the check was done in the prescribed way, before the tenancy started, on every adult occupier, with the evidence retained. You do not get it if the check was late, if you checked only the named tenant and not the other adults living there, or if you kept nothing.
That is why a rushed check on move-in day is worse than useless. The tenancy has begun, and the excuse has gone with it.
Check everyone the same way
Right to Rent is the compliance duty most likely to turn into a discrimination claim. The Home Office publishes a separate code of practice on avoiding unlawful discrimination precisely because the temptation is to check harder on people who seem foreign.
The rule is simple. Check every prospective adult occupier in the same way, at the same stage, whatever their name, accent or appearance. Record that you did. A consistent, documented process is both your immigration defence and your discrimination defence, and they are the same file.
See the guide on tenant screening and discrimination for how the Equality Act interacts with this.
A worked example
Nadia is letting a two-bed flat to a couple. One is a British citizen, the other holds an eVisa with leave to remain until March 2028.
She checks both. For the British applicant she checks the original passport with them in person and keeps a copy that cannot be altered, with the date. For the eVisa holder she asks for a share code within the 28 days before the tenancy starts, runs it through the Home Office online service, and saves the response with the date. Both checks happen before the tenancy agreement is signed.
The excuse for the eVisa holder lasts until the latest of 12 months after the check, the end of the leave in March 2028 and the document's expiry, so she diarises a follow-up check before March 2028. The duty to recheck sits with her.
Total time, about fifteen minutes. What she has bought is a statutory excuse on both occupiers, plus a record showing identical treatment if either ever alleged she checked one of them harder than the other.
Follow-up checks, and what to do if something is wrong
Where an occupier has a time-limited right, you must repeat the check before it expires. Diarise the date, do not rely on memory, and keep the follow-up evidence alongside the original.
If a follow-up check shows the person no longer has the right to rent, report it to the Home Office online as soon as reasonably practicable, and before the excuse runs out. Reporting is what preserves your position. Quietly doing nothing is what creates criminal exposure. Take advice before taking any step on the tenancy itself, because possession is a separate legal question with its own ground.
Sources and scope
- GOV.UK publication: Right to Rent code of practice and checks (landlords)
- GOV.UK: Online right to rent check (eligible tenants)
- GOV.UK: Prove your right to rent (tenant hub)
Every source listed above is on GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk or HSE and reviewed against the live source every quarter. This is guidance, not individual legal advice.
2026 UK Landlord Compliance Cheat Sheet
The main duties, deadlines and maximum penalties for a private let in England on two printable A4 pages, and which failures stop a possession order. Updated for the rules in force since 1 May 2026.
- Duties before and during the tenancy, with the deadline for each
- Maximum penalties, including the £40,000 electrical safety figure
- Which failures bar a Section 8 possession order, and which do not
- The possession grounds landlords use most, with notice periods
Frequently asked questions
What documents can a tenant use for a Right to Rent check?
A British or Irish citizen can usually use 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; some can use a combination of other documents from the Home Office lists. Anyone else proves it with original immigration documents or, for an eVisa or EU Settlement Scheme status, a share code you check online. A biometric residence permit can no longer be accepted.
When must a landlord complete Right to Rent checks?
In England, you must check every adult who will live in the property before the tenancy starts. Keep copies and the date of check; for time-limited rights, schedule the follow-up before the statutory excuse runs out (the latest of 12 months after the check, the end of the permission and the expiry of the document).
What are the fines for Right to Rent mistakes?
Civil penalties are up to £10,000 per occupier for a first breach and up to £20,000 for a repeat breach (lower amounts apply to lodgers in your own home). Criminal offences apply where someone knowingly lets to a person without the right to rent.
Do I have to check every adult living in the property?
Yes: every occupier aged 18 or over, not just the person named on the tenancy and not just the lead applicant. This is the most common way a check is incomplete: the landlord verifies the tenant and never sees the partner who moves in with them. If somebody joins the household later, check them before they move in.
How do I check someone who has an eVisa rather than a passport?
Through the Home Office online service, using a share code the person generates, which you verify against their date of birth. You cannot rely on a printed screenshot they bring you. Two practical points: send the share-code instructions with your application form, because an applicant unfamiliar with the process is a common half-day of delay; and do not treat applicants who are entitled to use physical documents less favourably, which would be discriminatory.
Do Right to Rent checks need to be repeated?
Only where the person has time-limited permission to be in the UK. In that case a follow-up check is required, and the practical failure is forgetting: the date arrives long after everyone has moved on. Diary it the day you do the first check. Where someone has an indefinite right, no repeat check is needed. Keep the evidence for the tenancy plus one year, then delete it, because holding immigration documents longer than necessary is itself a data-protection breach.
