Landlords in England must check every tenant's right to rent in the UK before a tenancy begins. This guide explains the rules, what documents are accepted, and what happens if checks go wrong.
Before renting a property in England, your landlord must check that you have the legal right to rent. These checks are a legal requirement under the Immigration Act 2014 and apply to all new tenancies.
Right to rent checks are a legal requirement for landlords in England (not Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland) before entering into a new tenancy. Landlords must verify that all adults who will live in the property as their only or main home have the right to rent in the UK.
The checks apply to:
The Home Office publishes a Code of Practice on Right to Rent. Documents in List A give an unlimited right to rent; documents in List B require time-limited checks.
Examples:
For people with limited leave to remain. Examples:
Where a List B document is used, the landlord must re-check when the document expires.
Since Brexit, EEA/EU citizens who have status under the EU Settlement Scheme no longer have a physical document — their status is digital. Landlords must use the Home Office online right to rent checking service (at gov.uk) to verify their status. The tenant provides a share code and the landlord checks it online.
This also applies to UK nationals who have an eVisa rather than a physical document.
Temporary COVID-19 adjustments allowing checks to be done over video call using scanned documents ended in August 2021. Physical document checks or use of the online service are now required for all new tenancies.
Some people have a right to rent but cannot immediately produce documents — for example, those in the process of renewing their visa or resolving a status issue. In these cases:
Landlords must carry out right to rent checks on all tenants — not just those who appear to be non-British. Checking only people who "look foreign" or have accents is unlawful race discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.
JCWI and Liberty have challenged the right to rent scheme on this basis, arguing it leads to discriminatory behaviour by landlords. The courts have found the scheme compatible with human rights in some respects but challenges continue.
If you believe you were refused a tenancy because of your race or nationality rather than a genuine right to rent issue, you may have a discrimination claim.
Landlords who rent to someone without the right to rent — or who fail to carry out proper checks — face:
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