A landlord in Leeds lets a two-bedroom flat to a couple through a high-street letting agent. The agent conducts referencing — credit check, employer reference, previous landlord confirmation — and confirms the tenants are "good to go." Six months later, the landlord receives a civil penalty notice from the Home Office: £5,000 per occupier, £10,000 total. Neither tenant had the right to rent in the UK. The referencing process checked creditworthiness. It never checked immigration status.
The landlord calls the letting agent. The agent says their standard referencing package does not include right to rent checks. The landlord assumed it did. The penalty stands.
Right to rent checks have been a legal requirement for landlords in England since 2016. A decade later, compliance levels remain alarmingly low — particularly among private landlords who let one or two properties and have never heard of the scheme.
What is the right to rent scheme?
The right to rent scheme was introduced under the Immigration Act 2014 and came into force in England on 1 February 2016. It requires landlords to check that tenants and other occupiers have the right to be in the UK before granting them a tenancy.
The scheme applies to all residential tenancies in England where the property is the occupier's only or main home. It covers assured shorthold tenancies, assured tenancies, and most other private rental agreements. It does not currently apply in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, although the legislative framework exists to extend it.
The purpose mirrors the right to work scheme: to create a "hostile environment" for people without legal immigration status by requiring private actors — in this case, landlords — to verify immigration status before providing access to housing.
The penalty regime
Civil penalties for non-compliance are issued by the Home Office and follow a tiered structure:
First offence: Up to £5,000 per occupier. If a flat houses two adults who both lack the right to rent, the first-offence penalty is up to £10,000.
Repeat offence: Up to £10,000 per occupier. A landlord who has previously received a civil penalty and commits a further breach faces doubled penalties.
Criminal offence: In cases where the landlord knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the occupier does not have the right to rent, a criminal prosecution can follow. The maximum sentence is five years' imprisonment.
The penalty amounts were increased in 2023, bringing them closer in line with right to work penalties. The Home Office publishes penalty notices and has been increasing enforcement activity, particularly in areas with high concentrations of private rented housing.
What documents to check
The right to rent document lists mirror the right to work lists but are not identical. The Home Office publishes the full document lists in the landlord's guide to right to rent checks.
List A: unrestricted right to rent
These documents demonstrate an ongoing, unrestricted right to rent. A compliant check using a List A document provides a statutory excuse for the duration of the tenancy.
- UK or Irish passport (current)
- Certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen
- EU/EEA permanent residence card (for those with settled status before the EU Settlement Scheme transition)
- Travel document showing indefinite leave to remain (where the person has no time limit on their stay)
- Confirmation of settled status via the Home Office online service (share code check)
For British and Irish citizens with valid passports, landlords can also use an Identity Service Provider (IDSP) to verify identity digitally, in the same way that employers can for right to work checks.
List B: time-limited right to rent
These documents demonstrate a time-limited right to rent. A compliant check using a List B document provides a statutory excuse until the permission expires. The landlord must conduct a follow-up check before that date.
- Current passport with valid UK visa (e.g., Skilled Worker, Student, dependent visa)
- Biometric Residence Permit (noting the same BRP expiry issues as right to work — expired BRPs must be verified via share code)
- Confirmation of pre-settled status or time-limited status via the Home Office online service
- Certificate of Application under the EU Settlement Scheme (verified through the Home Office Landlord Checking Service)
- Positive verification notice from the Landlord Checking Service
How right to rent differs from right to work
Although the schemes share a similar structure, there are important differences that trip up landlords who are also employers, and vice versa.
Different checking services. Employers use the Employer Checking Service. Landlords use the Landlord Checking Service. The share codes are generated from the same system, but the verification portals are distinct.
Different penalty levels. Right to work penalties reach £45,000 (first offence) and £60,000 (repeat). Right to rent penalties are £5,000 and £10,000 respectively. The criminal penalties also differ in scope and sentencing.
Different scope of obligation. Right to work checks apply to every worker. Right to rent checks apply to every adult occupier who will use the property as their only or main home. This includes the named tenant, their spouse or partner, and any other adult living in the property — even if they are not named on the tenancy agreement.
Different timing. Right to work checks must be completed before the first day of employment. Right to rent checks must be completed before the tenancy is granted — but there is a window: the check can be conducted up to 28 days before the start of the tenancy. Checks conducted more than 28 days before are not valid for establishing a statutory excuse.
Common landlord mistakes
The most frequent compliance errors follow predictable patterns.
Assuming the letting agent handles it. This is the single most common failure. Many landlords delegate property management to a letting agent and assume the agent conducts right to rent checks as part of their service. Some agents do. Many do not, or only do so if the landlord specifically requests (and pays for) it. The legal obligation rests with the landlord regardless of whether an agent is involved. If you use an agent, you need an explicit written agreement specifying that the agent will conduct right to rent checks on your behalf — and you should verify that they actually do.
Checking only the named tenant. The right to rent obligation covers all adult occupiers, not just the person who signed the tenancy agreement. If a couple moves in and only one person is named on the tenancy, both must be checked. If a flatmate arrangement involves three adults, all three must be checked.
Not conducting follow-up checks. As with right to work, a check based on a time-limited document only provides a statutory excuse until the permission expires. If a tenant's visa expires mid-tenancy, the landlord must conduct a follow-up check. Failing to do so means the statutory excuse lapses — even if the tenant's permission has been extended. The landlord needs to verify, not assume.
Accepting photocopies or photographs. For manual checks, the landlord must inspect original documents in the presence of the holder. A photocopy emailed by the tenant, a photograph of a passport sent via WhatsApp, or a scan attached to a letting application are not acceptable for establishing a statutory excuse.
Not retaining records. The statutory excuse requires the landlord to retain a clear, legible copy of every document checked, together with a record of the date the check was conducted. These records must be kept for the duration of the tenancy and for one year after the tenancy ends. Landlords who check documents but fail to keep copies lose their statutory excuse.
Applying the scheme to exempt tenancies. Certain tenancies are exempt from right to rent checks, including social housing allocated by a local authority, accommodation provided by the Home Office to asylum seekers, student accommodation directly tied to a course of study, and hostels or refuges. Conducting checks on exempt tenancies is not harmful but is unnecessary.
The letting agent's obligation
Under the Immigration Act 2014, a letting agent who acts on behalf of a landlord can also be liable for civil penalties if they are responsible for the tenancy arrangements and fail to conduct checks. The key question is the nature of the agency agreement.
If the letting agent has a written agreement to conduct right to rent checks on the landlord's behalf, the agent assumes the liability. If there is no such agreement — or if the agreement is ambiguous — the landlord retains the liability.
Best practice is to ensure the agency agreement explicitly addresses right to rent compliance, specifying who will conduct checks, how records will be retained, and who bears responsibility for follow-up checks on time-limited permissions. This should be a standard clause in every property management agreement, but in practice it is often missing.
For landlords using multiple agents across a portfolio, the compliance picture becomes fragmented. Different agents may have different processes. Some may use IDSPs for digital verification. Others may conduct manual checks. Some may not check at all. A centralised record of compliance status across all properties is essential for landlords with more than one or two lets.
Conducting a compliant check: step by step
The Home Office code of practice for landlords sets out the required process.
Step 1: Identify all adult occupiers. Before the tenancy begins, establish who will be living in the property. This includes the named tenant(s) and any other adults who will use the property as their only or main home.
Step 2: Obtain acceptable documents. Request original documents from each adult occupier. Provide them with the GOV.UK guidance on which documents are acceptable so they know what to bring.
Step 3: Check the documents. Inspect the original documents in the presence of the holder. Check that the documents are genuine, relate to the person presenting them, allow them to rent in the UK, and have not expired. For online checks (share code), verify through the Landlord Checking Service.
Step 4: Copy and retain. Make a clear, legible copy of every document. Record the date of the check. Store the records securely — you will need them for the duration of the tenancy and for one year after it ends.
Step 5: Set follow-up dates. For any occupier with time-limited permission, record the expiry date and set a reminder to conduct a follow-up check before that date. The follow-up process is identical to the initial check.
The discrimination risk
The right to rent scheme has been criticised for creating a risk of discrimination. A 2019 evaluation by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants found evidence that landlords were more likely to reject prospective tenants who appeared to be foreign nationals, even when those tenants had the right to rent. The scheme was found to have created a "chilling effect" on landlords' willingness to rent to people with non-British passports or accented English.
Landlords must be aware that the right to rent scheme does not authorise discrimination. Checks must be conducted consistently for all prospective tenants, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or accent. Refusing to rent to someone because they "look foreign" or because checking their documents seems complicated is discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.
The safest approach — both for compliance and for equality — is to make right to rent checks a standard, non-negotiable part of the tenancy process for every prospective tenant, conducted in the same way every time.
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