Right to Rent Guidance Notes for Residential Landlord
These Right to Rent Guidance Notes explain the immigration-checking requirements for residential landlords in England. They cover who must be checked, the available checking routes and the records needed to establish and maintain a statutory excuse against a civil penalty.
What the guidance covers
The scope of the scheme, excluded arrangements and responsibility for checks.
Unlimited and time-limited right to rent, including the position for granted EU Settlement Scheme status.
Manual documents, Home Office online checks, registered digital verification services and the Landlord Checking Service.
Initial and follow-up check timing, evidence retention and reporting to the Home Office.
Civil penalties, objections and appeals, and the limited routes for ending a tenancy on immigration grounds.
Checks must be carried out under the requirements in force when they are made. Since 1 October 2026, a check made through a digital verification service provider must use a provider registered for Right to Rent services, with the prescribed confirmations and records, and any facial recognition technology used in a check must be provided by such a provider. An ordinary identity or referencing check is not sufficient on its own.
The scheme concerns all relevant adult occupiers, including those not named as tenants. Apply the process fairly and do not assume that difficulty producing evidence means a person has no right to rent.
Use with these documents
Right to Rent Checklist for Residential Landlord (PROP.RES.104).
Right to Rent Responsibility Transfer Agreement (PROP.RES.273).
These notes concern England and should be read with the current Home Office guidance. They do not provide advice on an individual’s immigration status or authorise eviction following a failed check.
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