Right to rent immigration checks

Private landlords are prohibited from letting out accommodation to someone who is disqualified from renting because of their immigration status.[1]

Landlords must carry out document checks for every adult who will occupy the property. They must also carry out follow-up checks in some circumstances. A landlord could incur civil and criminal penalties if they let accommodation to a person without a right to rent.

Some people automatically have a right to rent, for example British and Irish citizens. For others it depends whether they have leave or permission to be in the UK. A person with no leave to remain in the UK has no right to rent.

An occupier with no right to rent can be evicted without a court order in certain circumstances.

A person can have either:[2]

• an unlimited right to rent

• a time limited right to rent

• permission to rent

• no right to rent

Unlimited right to rent

A person has an unlimited right to rent if they are:

• a British citizen

• an Irish citizen

• a Commonwealth Citizen with right of abode in the UK

• a person with indefinite leave to remain, including settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

• a person with no time limit on their stay in the UK

Time-limited right to rent

A person has a time limited right to rent if they have leave to remain in the UK for a set period.

This includes someone with:

• refugee status or humanitarian protection

• leave outside immigration rules

• a study, work or family visa

• a spousal visa

• pre-settled status under the EU settlement scheme

• leave under the Ukraine or Afghan resettlement schemes

• automatic leave to enter after passing through an automated gate

Permission to rent

The Home Office use discretion to grant someone time-limited right to rent. For example a victim of human trafficking waiting for a grant of discretionary leave.

No right to rent

A person has no right to rent if they do not have leave to enter or remain in the UK, and they have not been given permission to rent by the Home Office.

This might include someone who:

• has never had leave to enter the UK

• had leave to remain which has expired and who has not applied in time to extend it

A person also has no right to rent if their leave to remain is subject to a condition preventing them occupying that accommodation.

Right to rent checks must be carried out by anyone letting out private residential accommodation in England.

This includes private landlords and agents appointed in writing by a landlord to take responsibility for carrying out checks.[3]

Anyone taking in a lodger or subletting accommodation must carry out checks. This includes owner occupiers, private tenants and tenants of social landlords. Head landlords can agree and confirm in writing that they will carry out checks on a subtenant on behalf of their tenant.[4]

Where a landlord acquires a property with existing occupiers, they must confirm with the original landlord that checks were carried out. If there was a breach of the requirements prior to a new landlord taking over, the landlord at the time of the breach is responsible.[5]

The landlord must carry out a check on all tenants and any other adults named in the agreement.[6]

They should also ask the tenant about any other prospective adult occupiers. The landlord might face civil or criminal penalties if someone with no right to rent occupies the premises and either:[7]

• the landlord did not make enquiries

• enquiries revealed that the person would be living there

Checks are not required for people under the age of 18.

A landlord must carry out checks for private rented accommodation that the occupier lives in as their main home. The agreement must provide for payment of rent.[8] This does not include holiday lets or tied accommodation. House guests are exempt from the checks if their only or main home is elsewhere.[9]

Certain types of letting do not require checks, including:[10]

• social housing tenancies allocated by a local authority to new and existing tenants

• accommodation provided under a homelessness duty, including private rented accommodation

• secure and flexible tenancies following assignment or succession

• accommodation provided under the Children Act or Care Act

• student halls of residence managed or owned by a university, education institution or charity

• private tenancies where the tenant is a student nominated by an education institution

• accommodation for people seeking asylum

• hostel and refuge accommodation

Hostels and refuges are only exempt if the accommodation is not self-contained and is managed by a public authority, housing association, voluntary organisation or charity.

Checks are not required for long leases (21 years or more) or agreements that grant a right of occupation of seven years or more. This includes shared ownership leases.

Housing associations

Lettings by social housing providers are only exempt if they are through an allocation by the local authority. Housing associations that operate their own waiting list or let properties directly without a nomination from a local authority must carry out right to rent checks.

The Chartered Institute of Housing has guidance and a checklist on right to rent for registered providers of social housing.

Pre-tenancy checks were not required for tenancy agreements that started before 1 February 2016.[11]

Pre-tenancy checks can be carried out at any time before the tenancy starts for people with an unlimited right to rent. If the prospective occupier has a time limited right to rent, the landlord or agent must carry out checks no earlier than 28 days before the start of the tenancy. [12]

Follow up checks

A landlord must carry out a follow up check during the tenancy if an occupier has a time limited right to rent.

The follow up check must be carried out within 12 months of the previous check, or when the person’s leave to remain expires, whichever is the later. This is called the eligibility period.[13]

A landlord can check with the Home Office if a tenant has made a fresh application to vary or extend their leave in the UK, but has not had their documents back from the Home Office at the time of the follow-up check.

Checks following a change to the tenancy

A landlord must carry out a further check if there is a change to the tenancy agreement which allows new people occupy the property. This includes if the tenancy is:[14]

• assigned to another person

• varied to allow new adults the right to occupy the property

• surrendered and a new joint agreement is granted to an original occupier and a new joint occupier

A periodic tenancy that arises at the end of a fixed term is not treated as a new letting. The landlord does not need to carry out another check.[15]

Tenancies that started before February 2016

Right to rent checks were not required for tenancy agreements that started before 1 February 2016.[16]

Depending on the occupier' immigration status, the landlord can either:[17]

• check the occupier's documents manually

• use the online checking service

• use an identity provider service

The Home office has published a code of practice for landlords and a user guide to right to rent document checks.

The landlord must keep a record of the check for 12 months after the letting agreement ends.[18]

Manual checks

The landlord must check the original documents in the presence of the document holder or through a live video link.

There is a prescribed list of documents that can be used individually or in combination. [19]

Between 30 March 2020 and 30 September 2022 landlords could accept scanned copies or photographs of the original documents sent via email or a mobile app and arrange to check the prospective tenant's identity via a video call. This was a temporary measure brought in during the coronavirus pandemic. Guidance states that landlords do not need to carry out retrospective checks on people checked in this way between 30 March 2020 and 30 September 2022.

The landlord cannot carry out a manual document check if the person has a biometric residence card or permit. They must check online instead.

Online checks

A landlord can carry out a right to rent check online if the person has either:

• a biometric residence card or permit

• status under the EU settlement scheme

• an eVisa

The person must use the online service Prove your right to rent in England to get a nine character share code to give to the landlord. The landlord uses the share code and the person’s date of birth to access the right to rent information on the online service View a tenant’s right to rent in England. The share code is valid for 90 days from the issue date. It can be used as many times as needed.

A landlord cannot insist that the person uses the online service if they can provide the original documents for checking.

Identity provider services

Landlords can use an identification document validation technology service provider to carry out digital checks for British and Irish citizens who have a valid passport.

A person with a British or Irish passport does not have to agree to the use of an identity provider service. The landlord or agent can check the documents manually.

If a person’s documents are with the Home Office

A landlord can request verification from the Home Office if either the:

• Home Office has the person’s documents

• person has been granted permission to rent by the Home Office

• person has an ongoing immigration application or appeal

The landlord can request a Home Office right to rent check. The person must provide the landlord or agent with the Home Office reference number.

If the Home Office does not respond within two working days of the request, the landlord can treat this as if the Home Office had issued confirmation that the person has a right to rent.

Permission to rent

The Home Office can grant someone discretionary permission to rent. A landlord can check this by contacting the Home Office.

EEA nationals

Proof of settled and pre-settled status under the EU settlement scheme is digital only. A landlord can check the person’s status online using a share code.

If someone has applied to the settlement scheme but not yet had a decision, they can ask the Home Office for a certificate of application. This can be checked online with a share code. The landlord’s guide to right to rent checks confirms that EEA nationals and their family members can enter into new tenancy agreements while waiting for a decision from the EU Settlement Scheme.

Windrush generation

The government has published guidance on right to rent and people from Commonwealth Caribbean countries who settled in the UK before 1973 and have lived here permanently since, often called the Windrush generation.

A person has a right to rent if they have resided in the UK permanently since before 1973 and have not left the country for long periods. Someone who arrived in the UK after 1 January 1973 but before 1988 might not have an automatic right to rent. They might be able to apply for leave to remain.

A landlord should check with the Home Office if a prospective tenant indicates they were resident in the UK before 1988 but do not have the required documents. The Home Office can provide a Positive Right to Rent Notice to confirm the landlord can allow the person to occupy the accommodation.

Anyone letting out a property must not unlawfully discriminate against someone because of a protected characteristic.[20] Race is a protected characteristic. It can include a person’s colour or nationality, and their ethnic or national origins.[21]

Discrimination by a landlord or agent in the context of a right to rent check could include:

• refusing to consider prospective tenants because they do not have British citizenship

• only carrying out checks on people that the landlord or agent believes are not British citizens

• refusing to consider tenants from overseas

It is unlawful for a landlord to harass someone who seeks to occupy the premises.[22] Harassment is unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic, with the purpose or effect of violating an individual's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.[23]

The government has published a code of practice on how landlords and agents can avoid discrimination while carrying out right to rent checks.

Legal action to challenge on discrimination

A tenant or prospective tenant who has experienced discrimination can bring a claim in the County Court for any remedy that could be granted by the High Court.[24] This includes:

• damages

• an injunction to compel compliance

• a declaration that the landlord or agent has unlawfully discriminated against the tenant

Damages can include compensation for injured feelings.[25]

A person bringing a discrimination claim must notify the Equality and Human Rights Commission and file a copy of that notice with the court.[26]

Legal challenge to the scheme

The Court of Appeal held that the right to rent scheme leads to discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived nationality against people who have a right to rent, but do not have a British passport.[27] The Court held that the scheme was lawful because the:

• discrimination was justified as proportionate means of achieving a legitimate objective

• scheme was capable of being operated proportionally in most individual cases

A landlord or agent cannot lawfully let a property where one or more occupiers has no right to rent.[28]

The landlord might face civil or criminal penalties if they let to someone without a right to rent or allow them to remain after their right to rent has expired.

Eviction if at least one occupier has a right to rent

If a follow up check shows that some but not all occupiers have no right to rent, the landlord must take reasonable steps to end the tenancy.

There is an additional mandatory ground for possession for assured and assured shorthold tenancies where someone in the property has no right to rent. A landlord of an assured shorthold tenant might be able to use a section 21 notice.

There is a discretionary ground or case for Rent Act tenancies where someone has no right to rent.

Eviction if no one has a right to rent

A landlord can peaceably take possession of the property without a court order if both:[29]

• no one in the property has a right to rent

• the Home Office has served a disqualification notice on the landlord

The landlord can give the occupiers at least 28 days written notice in a prescribed form.[30] The disqualification notice must be attached to the prescribed form. On expiry of the notice, the landlord can peaceably evict the occupiers, for example by changing the locks while they are out.

The notice takes effect as though it is an order of the High Court. This means the landlord can also enforce it by applying for a writ of possession from High Court. A copy of the disqualification notice from the Home Office must be filed at court with the application for permission to issue the writ of possession.[31]

Landlords who let to a person without a right to rent can face civil or criminal penalties. This includes someone who takes in a lodger or sublets part of their home to someone without a right to rent.

Civil penalties

The Home Office can give a landlord or agent a penalty notice for renting a property to someone without a right to rent.[32] The amount of the penalty depends on the type of accommodation and whether they have been given a civil penalty before.

The Home Office can send a referral notice to a landlord it believes has rented to someone without a right to rent. It then sends an information request to ask the landlord to provide evidence the checks were carried out.

The Home Office sends a penalty notice if it concludes that the landlord is liable for a civil penalty. The landlord has 28 days to object to the penalty or amount. The Home Office must then set out its decision in an objection outcome notice. The landlord can appeal this decision to the County Court.

The landlord has a defence if they can show they carried out the checks in the correct way when required or notified the Home Office that a person’s time-limited right to rent expired.

Criminal penalties

A landlord can be prosecuted if they know or have reasonable cause to believe that their property is occupied by an adult without a right to rent. They can also be prosecuted for failing to notify the Home Office that a person’s time-limited right to rent expired.[33]

The landlord can be fined or imprisoned on conviction. A local authority can apply for a banning order if a landlord or agent is convicted.

The landlord has a defence if the person had a time-limited right to rent and they are still in the eligibility period. The landlord might also have a defence if they took reasonable steps to end the tenancy agreement following the end of the eligibility period or following a notice from the Home Office that the person had no right to rent.

The government has published statutory guidance that sets out what are reasonable steps to end a tenancy or licence.