Right to Rent
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. Fines: £1,000 per adult for a first offence, rising to £20,000 for repeat breaches.
At a glance
- Scope
- Every adult occupier (England)
- Timing
- Before tenancy starts
- First-offence fine
- £1,000 per adult
- Repeat/severe
- Up to £20,000 + 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-offence civil penalty for one disqualified adult is £1,000; for repeat or severe cases up to £20,000 per tenant. 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.
Tracked inside LetCompliance
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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. Penalties for failing to check or for knowingly renting to someone disqualified can reach £20,000 per tenant or a criminal offence.
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 4, 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.
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 periodic tenancies, extended the Decent Homes Standard to the PRS, introduced a private rented sector database and gave tenants the right to request pets.
Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016
The standalone Welsh statute (commenced 1 December 2022) that replaced the assured / assured shorthold / common-law regime in Wales with two new contract types: Standard Contract (private rented sector default) and Secure Contract (mainly social housing). Different from England’s framework: notice is six months under a no-fault Section 173 (Wales’ equivalent of Section 21), Written Statement of Contract is mandatory within 14 days, and the Renters Rights Act 2025 does NOT apply in Wales. LetCompliance is England-only; Welsh landlords need a Wales-specific compliance product.
Arrears (Rent Arrears)
Unpaid rent that is past its due date. Ground 8 of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 (mandatory) requires at least 3 months of rent arrears under the Renters Rights Act 2025 (previously 2 months). Grounds 10 and 11 remain as discretionary grounds.