Right to rent: what do landlords need to do?

Under the right to rent scheme, landlords must verify the immigration status of tenants before they move into their property.

Failure to do so could result in a fine or custodial sentence. And with research showing the number and value of fines has increased significantly in recent years, understanding your responsibilities is more important than ever.
Find out how immigration status can impact the length of time a tenant can rent for, which documents you can accept, and what could happen if you don’t comply.

What are right to rent checks?

The right to rent scheme was introduced as part of the Immigration Act 2014.

Put simply, it aims to make sure that all private tenants in England have the ‘right’ to rent their landlord’s property.

A tenant’s right to rent could be permanent, or it could be for a limited time due to their immigration status.

It’s up to landlords (or letting agents acting on their behalf) to check the immigration of all prospective tenants before they move in.

When did right to rent checks start?

Right to rent first started as a pilot scheme in the West Midlands in December 2014. It was rolled out nationally in February 2016.

Since then, the scheme’s guidance has been updated regularly. The most recent version was published in June 2025 and you can read it on the government website.

How to do right to rent checks in 4 steps

Getting your immigration checks right is a crucial part of the pre-tenancy process. Read on for an overview of the steps you need to take.

1. Check the immigration status of every tenant

When a tenant applies to rent your property, it’s a legal requirement to check their immigration status before you allow them to move in.

You’ll need to carry out a right to rent check for all prospective tenants over the age of 18.

Some tenants will have an unlimited right to rent, including:

British or Irish citizens
citizens with an EU Settled Status
people with the ‘right of abode’ or ‘indefinite leave to remain’
people with no limit on the time they can stay in the UK

Other tenants will have a time limit on their right to rent in the UK. When checking their immigration status, you’ll need to take a note of how long they’re allowed to stay for and then complete a follow-up check before the end of that time.

It’s important that landlords don’t discriminate by only checking the immigration status of tenants they believe not to be British citizens. If you’re found to discriminate when completing immigration checks, you could face legal action.

What are the rules for Ukrainian tenants?

In response to the war in Ukraine, the government launched the Homes for Ukraine Scheme in March 2022.

The scheme allowed Ukrainian nationals to stay with British residents for up to three years, allowing landlords to provide accommodation to those in need.

Homes for Ukraine closed in February 2025 and replaced with a Ukrainian Permission Extension Scheme (UPES).

The UPES provides Ukrainian nationals and eligible family members who have been living in the UK to apply for 18 months further permission to remain in the UK.

There are more details on how the scheme works and the rules landlords need to follow on the government website.

Right to rent checks are sometimes complex and the consequences can be serious if you don’t do them properly. If you’re unsure about any part of the process, you should get professional legal advice.

2. Check the right documents

There are several documents you can accept from tenants to complete a right to rent check. These include:

a valid passport or travel document that shows the holder is allowed to stay in the UK
a valid immigration status document issued by the Home Office
a certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen
a birth or adoption certificate issued in the UK

This list isn’t exhaustive. There are plenty more documents you can accept that are outlined in the government guidance.

What documents can’t be accepted?

Biometric Residence Cards, Biometric Residence Permits, and Frontier Worker Permits were removed from the list of accepted documents for immigration checks in April 2022.

If a prospective tenant presents one of these documents, you’ll need to use the Home Office’s online portal to check their immigration status.

To use this service, tenants will need to enter their details. They’ll then be provided with a ‘share code’ to give to their landlord. The landlord then enters this into the portal to check their immigration status.

Meanwhile if your prospective tenant has an outstanding case with the Home Office, you can use the landlord’s checking service to see if they have the right to rent in the UK.

3. Complete immigration checks in person or online

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, all right to rent checks needed to be completed in person. However, the success of temporary measures introduced during the pandemic means checks can now be done via video call.

These documents must then be checked against the tenant’s identity, either in person or on a video call.

If you need to use the landlord checking service or online portal, you’ll still need to do this in the presence of the prospective tenant (either in person or online).

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Checking identity documents – what to look out for

When checking your prospective tenants’ identity documents, it can sometimes be difficult to work out whether they’re genuine.

Here are some of the key things to look out for:

matching names – if they don’t, the tenant will need to provide a valid reason
damaged documents – if the identity document is or looks like it’s been changed, it could be fraudulent
matching birth dates – make sure the birth dates on the tenant’s application and identity document are the same
realistic dates – if a tenant looks a lot younger than their document suggests, they may be being fraudulent

4. Make copies of identity documents

After you’ve checked prospective tenants’ documents, you’ll need to make a copy of them.

The copy needs to be something that can’t be changed, such as a photocopy or high quality photo.

It’s important to keep a record of the date you made the copy. Copies of documents should be kept for as long as the tenant lives in your property and a year after they leave.

Remember to follow GDPR regulations when making copies of documents and speak to an expert if you’re worried about data protection.

What are the penalties for non-compliance with the right to rent scheme?

You could receive a five-year prison sentence or fine up to £20,000 if the Home Office suspects you had ‘reasonable cause’ to believe one of your tenants didn’t have a legal right to rent in the UK.

This could include letting to the tenant even though:

they weren’t allowed to stay in the UK
their permission to stay in the UK had expired
the identity documents they provided were fake or included false information

You could also be fined if you can’t prove that you completed a right to rent check. This is why it’s so important to complete checks in the presence of the tenant and keep records of the documents you’ve checked.

The right to rent penalties are as follows:

for a first breach, the civil penalty for landlords will be raised from £1,000 per occupier to up to £10,000 per occupier
any repeat breaches will be up to £20,000 per occupier (previously £3,000)

Right to rent fines surge

Since late 2024, there’s been a surge in rent to rent fines as enforcement increases. Right to rent fines have increased to £4.2 million between the end of 2024 and October 2025, according to analysis of Home Office figures by identity verification software Credas. This is up from £596,400 in the preceding period.

There were 375 civil penalties for right to rent offences between late 2024 and October 2025, up from 235 in the preceding year.

With the number and value of fines on the rise, it’s more important than ever for landlords to make sure they’re compliant with the right to rent scheme.

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Right to rent checks – how to verify a tenant’s immigration status