Landlord Right to Rent Checks

Here’s a summary of the essentials you need to know about Right to Rent checks.

We have outlined some key features of the new Right to Rent checks. It outlines who is responsible for the checks, lists acceptable documentation, and explains what follow up action you may need to take.

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Responsibility

The liability for the checks is with the actual landlord of the property. The only time this will change is if the letting agent and landlord enter into an agreement that the agent will accept responsibility for carrying out the checks.

Acceptable documents

The requirements differ for potential tenants from EEA countries (EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and Switzerland, and for those from outside these countries.

Tenants within the EEA or Switzerland: One of the following:

British /EEA passport (current or expired)
Valid biometric immigration document
Certificate of naturalisation as a British citizen.

Two of the following:

Birth certificate
Letter dated within the last three months from an employer
Letter from UK educational institution
Full or provisional driving licence (with counterpart).

Tenants from other countries

The following documentation must be endorsed to indicate that the named person may stay in the UK for a time-limited period:

Valid passport/travel document
Biometric immigration document
Residence card
Immigration status document issued by the home office
A ‘yes’ response from the Landlords Checking Service.

These checks need to be followed up either, a) 12 months from the date of the previous check or b) before the expiry of the person’s right to live in the UK.