Right to Rent checks: what changes on 1 October 2026?

One duty which the majority of private sector landlords in England, including residential landlords taking in lodgers, need to comply with is the duty to check whether an applicant has the ‘right to rent’ in the UK.

It is important to carry out the check correctly and keep evidence. If a landlord rents to someone who does not have the right to rent, the Home Office can impose a civil penalty for each disqualified occupier:

• For lodger landlords, the fine for a first offence is £5,000, and
• For a repeat offence, £10,000
• For ordinary residential landlords, the fine for a first offence is £10,000, and
• For a repeat offence, £20,000

However, landlords who can prove that they carried out the prescribed check will normally have a “statutory excuse” and will not be fined.

A new code is coming

All landlords need to be aware that a new code will come into force on 1 October 2026. It will apply to all checks carried out after that date, including follow-on checks. You will find it here.

However, for most landlords, things will not change. They must continue to check all adults who will occupy the property, including:

• British and Irish citizens;
• people who are not named in the tenancy agreement;
• lodgers;
• adult occupiers added later; and
• occupiers under oral or implied agreements.

The scheme will continue to apply only in England. So Welsh, Scottish and Irish landlords do not need to worry about it.

So what will change on 1 October?

1. More documents can be checked digitally

Until now, commercial digital checks have generally been limited to British and Irish citizens with current passports or Irish passport cards.

From 1 October, a registered digital provider will also be able to check:

• British and Irish passports and Irish passport cards which expired no more than six months earlier; and
• documents from the Code’s Lists A and B which have been issued and supplied digitally by the relevant authoritative source.

A scan or photograph of an ordinary paper document does not automatically become an acceptable digital document.

Expired British and Irish passports can still be checked manually. The six-month restriction relates to the commercial digital route.

2. Digital checking providers must be registered

Landlords do not have to use a commercial digital checking service.

However, anyone choosing to do so must use a Right to Rent Digital Verification Service Provider, or RtR DVSP, which:

• appears on the official register; and
• is registered specifically to provide Right to Rent checks.

Using an unregistered provider will not give the landlord a statutory excuse.

You can check providers on the government’s Digital Verification Services Register. Select “Right to Rent” under “Supplementary codes”. Make sure the particular service you intend to use is listed for Right to Rent and that its certification has not expired.

3. Facial recognition is regulated

Landlords can continue comparing a document photograph with the occupier in person or during a live video call.

However, if facial-recognition technology is used to make the comparison, this must be provided through a registered RtR DVSP. The landlord must keep the comparison result and give the applicant a reasonable opportunity to prove their identity another way if the technology fails.

4. Digitally issued documents

The new Code permits some authoritatively issued digital documents to be used in a manual check.

The landlord must take reasonable steps to verify the document’s source and validity.

The Code strongly encourages landlords to use a registered RtR DVSP for this. Although that is not compulsory, an ordinary landlord may find it difficult to verify some digital documents personally.

The three ways to carry out a check

1: A manual document check

This will remain the simplest route for most British and Irish tenants.

The landlord must:

• Obtain the appropriate original document or documents.
• Check them while the applicant is present, either in person or by live video.
• Check that they are genuine, belong to the applicant and are not obviously false.
• Make a clear copy, including both sides where appropriate.
• Record the date of the check.
• Keep the evidence securely throughout the tenancy and for one year afterwards.

For example, a British citizen may provide a current or expired British passport. Someone without a passport may use two documents from List A, Group 2, such as a UK birth certificate together with another prescribed document.

2: The Home Office online service

Someone with an eVisa or other digital immigration status will normally provide the landlord with:

• a Right to Rent share code; and
• their date of birth.

The landlord must use the official Home Office checking service. Merely looking at the applicant’s own immigration-status page is not sufficient.

The landlord must check that the photograph matches the applicant, save the dated result and note whether a follow-up check will be required.

This service is different from a commercial DVSP. The Home Office service checks immigration status, whereas a DVSP verifies identity and eligible documents digitally.

3: A registered RtR DVSP check

A landlord can pay a registered provider to conduct an eligible digital check.
However, the landlord must still:

• check that the photograph and personal details match the applicant;
• ensure that there is nothing obviously wrong with the result; and
• keep a copy throughout the tenancy and for one year afterwards.

What about tenants with time-limited permission?

There is no real change here:

Where someone has an unlimited right to rent, no follow-up check is normally needed.

Where the right is time-limited, the initial check must normally be carried out during the 28 days before the tenancy starts. The landlord must then complete a follow-up check before their statutory excuse expires.

The Home Office result or Positive Right to Rent Notice should say when another check is required.

What if the tenant cannot produce the usual evidence?

The landlord may need to use the Home Office Landlord Checking Service, particularly where the applicant:

• has an outstanding immigration application, appeal or administrative review;
• cannot generate a share code because of a digital-status error;
• is an asylum seeker;
• has a non-digital EU Settlement Scheme document requiring verification; or
• claims to be a long-term UK resident who arrived before 1988 but lacks the normal documents.

A positive response normally gives the landlord a statutory excuse for 12 months.

Do previous checks need to be repeated?

No. A check properly completed before 1 October will be assessed under the Code applying when it was made.

But a follow-up check due on or after 1 October must comply with the new code.

Avoiding discrimination

A revised discrimination Code also takes effect. Landlords should:

• check all prospective adult occupiers—not merely those who appear “foreign”;
• not reject someone because their right to rent is time-limited;
• accept any appropriate prescribed checking route; and
• allow applicants a reasonable opportunity to resolve documentary or digital problems.

In other words, you must check everyone—even your mother!

What about retaining documentation?

You should keep evidence of the check securely throughout the tenancy and for one year after it ends.

The new Code says that it must then be securely destroyed.

This applies just to the Right to Rent records. It does not mean that the landlord must destroy the rest of the tenancy file.

Other tenancy records will normally need to be kept for longer. In many cases, keeping them until six years after the tenancy ends will be appropriate, although the correct retention period may depend on the type of document and any actual or potential claim.

If a dispute or official investigation is already underway, relevant evidence may need to be preserved until it has concluded.

What landlords should do before 1 October

Here is a suggested list of actions to take now

• Update Right to Rent procedures and forms.
• Ensure that any commercial checking company used is properly registered for Right to Rent checks.
• Train staff to distinguish a DVSP check from the Home Office share-code service.
• Continue offering manual checks where these are permitted.
• Record the date and method of every check.
• Keep the result throughout the tenancy and for one year afterwards.
• Diary every required follow-up check.
• Apply the process consistently to every prospective adult occupier.

And finally

Perhaps the main point to note is that you do not have to start carrying out digital checks.

However, if you choose to use a digital checking provider after 1 October, it must be properly registered for Right to Rent checks.

The new rules can be found in

the new statutory Right to Rent Code, and
the new discrimination Code.