Record of Immigration Status Checks Carried Out by Lettings Agent

This Right to Rent Checklist for Lettings Agency helps a lettings agent to check a new tenant’s “right to rent”. Since 1 February 2016, all landlords in England, or their agents, must check that a new tenant has the “right to rent”.

The Checklist has been updated to take account of the changes made to the Right to Rent scheme on 2 November 2020. The list of acceptable documents has been revised; there is a new procedure for checking the status of tenants from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and South Korea; and a new online right to rent check is available.

If carrying out right to rent checks does not form part of the Agency’s contract with the landlord, the landlord must carry out these checks himself using the Right to Rent Record/Checklist for Landlord template in our Residential Landlords folder (under Pre-Contract Documents).

Unless the agent is using the new procedure referred to above, or the online check, the agent will need to check the tenant’s identity documents, such as a passport, driving licence, birth certificate or immigration document, to establish that the tenant has the right to reside in the UK. The right to reside may be unlimited or time-limited. If the right is time-limited the agent will need to carry out a further check in 12 months or just before the end of the leave to remain (whichever is later).

This template includes some brief guidance for agents and a detailed list of acceptable documents, with instructions on what copies need to be taken and a list of matters that need to be checked for each document. It includes information about the temporary changes to the checking procedure during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This document is in open format. Either enter the requisite details in the highlighted fields or adjust the wording to suit your purposes.

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