Right to Rent
Quick answer
The legal requirement on all private landlords in England to check every adult occupier has the legal right to rent in the UK before the tenancy starts. Introduced by the Immigration Act 2014. Civil penalties: up to £10,000 per occupier for a first breach, rising to £20,000 for repeat breaches (since 13 February 2024).
At a glance
- Scope
- Every adult occupier (England)
- Timing
- Before tenancy starts
- First-breach penalty
- Up to £10,000 per occupier
- Repeat/severe
- Up to £20,000 per occupier + criminal offence
Full guide
Read the complete landlord guide on Right to Rent
Deadlines, fines and step-by-step compliance in our in-depth resource.
Open full guideWhy Right to Rent matters for landlords
Right to Rent is the check that goes wrong most often at tenancy setup because it feels like a formality. Landlords who accept a passport photo over SMS and never verify a digital share code are exposed to the full civil penalty. Since 2022 the digital check route (via the Home Office Landlord Checking Service) produces a dated audit record the landlord can store — that is the cleanest defence.
Worked example
A landlord in London takes on two adult tenants and a baby in March 2026. They check passports for both adults but miss that one passport was issued by a country requiring a visa, and they did not run a digital share-code check via the Home Office Landlord Checking Service. Six months later the Home Office runs an enforcement sweep and identifies the tenant as overstaying. The first-breach civil penalty for one disqualified occupier is up to £10,000; for repeat breaches up to £20,000 per occupier. A 5-minute share-code check before move-in would have produced a date-stamped Home Office record providing a complete defence.
Illustrative scenario based on real UK landlord casework patterns. Names and addresses are fictitious.
Common Right to Rent mistakes UK landlords make
- Accepting a passport photo over SMS without an in-person or live video call check.
- Skipping the digital share-code check for tenants who could use it (most non-British nationals can).
- Failing to check every adult occupier including non-tenant partners and adult children.
- Not setting follow-up checks for time-limited visas — the duty repeats when status expires.
What to do this week
- Use the Home Office Landlord Checking Service for every non-British adult before move-in and store the dated check record.
- Build a Right to Rent template that records the check method (in-person, video, share-code) and the next-check date.
- Audit current tenants and re-check anyone whose status had a fixed end date in the original check.
- Document agent delegation in writing if you have outsourced checks — verbal delegation does not transfer liability.
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Official sources
LetCompliance editorial reviews this entry every quarter against the sources above. Always confirm specific duties with a qualified solicitor or your local council.
Related terms
Immigration Act 2014
The Act that created Right to Rent, requiring landlords in England to check every adult occupier has the legal right to rent in the UK. Civil penalties for failing to check reach up to £10,000 per occupier for a first breach and £20,000 for a repeat breach; knowingly renting to a disqualified person is a criminal offence (unlimited fine, up to 5 years).
Rent Bidding Ban
A Renters’ Rights Act 2025 rule that stops landlords and letting agents in England inviting or encouraging offers above the advertised rent. From 1 May 2026 a property must be advertised at a fixed asking rent, and the landlord cannot accept — or invite a tenant to make — a bid higher than that figure. It targets the "sealed-bid" rent auctions that pushed prices up in high-demand areas.
Rent Increase Notice (Section 13)
A notice under Section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 used to increase rent on an assured periodic tenancy. Under the Renters Rights Act 2025 (in force 1 May 2026) the landlord must give at least 2 months’ notice on the prescribed Form 4A (Form 4 was the pre-reform version), can use it only once in any 12-month period, and cannot raise rent in the first 12 months of a tenancy. Tenants can challenge the increase at the First-tier Tribunal, which can no longer set a higher rent than the landlord proposed.
Rent Repayment Order (RRO)
A First-tier Tribunal order requiring a landlord to repay up to 12 months’ rent (24 months under the Renters Rights Act 2025 for some offences) for specified housing offences: unlicensed HMO, breach of selective licensing, illegal eviction, harassment, failure to comply with an Improvement Notice or Banning Order. Sought by the tenant or, separately, by the local council. Triggered without needing a criminal conviction — the tribunal applies the criminal standard of proof to the underlying offence, then orders repayment.
Rent-to-Rent (R2R)
An arrangement where a middle party rents a property from the owner on one agreement, then sub-lets it (often room by room as an HMO) to occupiers for a higher total rent, keeping the margin. Legitimate only with the owner’s written consent, the correct tenancy type and — critically — the right HMO licence held by whoever is the "person in control". Done without consent or a licence it is a common source of unlawful-eviction, deposit and licensing liability.
Renters Rights Act 2025
UK legislation that received Royal Assent in 2025 and came fully into force on 1 May 2026. Abolished Section 21 no-fault evictions, converted all ASTs to assured periodic tenancies and gave tenants the right to request a pet. It also contains powers, not yet exercised, for a private rented sector database (phased rollout from late 2026), a Landlord Ombudsman (expected 2028) and a Decent Homes Standard for the PRS (proposed 2035 or 2037).