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 which will end on the 16 May 2021.
This document is in open format. Either enter the requisite details in the
highlighted fields or adjust the wording to suit your purposes.
Once you have purchased access to the appropriate document folder click on
the “Download Document” button below. You will be asked what you want to do
with the file. It is recommended that you save the document to a location
of your choice prior to viewing.