Right to Rent Checklist for Lettings Agency
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”.
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 Home Office online service, 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 which will end on the 30 September 2022.
From the 06 April 2022, biometric residence permits, biometric residence cards and frontier worker permits cannot be used for a manual right to rent check and an online right to rent check must be carried out instead. The identity of British and Irish Citizens who hold a valid passport can also be checked using 'identity verification technology' via the services of an identity service provider. The checklist has been updated to account for these changes.
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