Right to rent: what checks must a landlord actually do?

Check every adult aged 18 or over who will use the property as their only or main home, before the tenancy is entered into — British citizens included, named on the agreement or not. Do it one of three prescribed ways, keep the evidence for the tenancy plus a year, and you hold a statutory excuse against a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per occupier.

This follows the code of practice in force from 1 October 2026, issued under section 32 of the Immigration Act 2014. Two things moved since 2024: the digital route is now a registered service, and the 28-day rule is narrower than most summaries make it.

Who has to be checked

A check is required on "everyone over the age of 18, including British citizens, who will use the property as their only or main home, even if they are not named on the tenancy agreement", and whether that agreement is written, oral or implied.

The partner who moves in, the adult child: both get checked. Section 22(4)(c) catches an unnamed adult occupier, and section 22(6) excuses you only where "reasonable enquiries" were made of the tenant before signing. Ask in writing; keep the answer.

Some lettings are outside the scheme entirely: social housing, care settings, hostels, mobile homes, student and tied accommodation, and leases of seven years or longer.

When

• Unlimited right to rent — British and Irish citizens, settled status, indefinite leave. The check "may be undertaken at any time before the residential agreement is entered into." No 28-day window.
• Time-limited right to rent. The check "must be undertaken and recorded no earlier than 28 calendar days (including Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays) before the start date of the tenancy agreement."

That is the 28-day rule: a floor on how early you may check time-limited permission, not a universal deadline for everyone.

The three ways to check

1. A manual check. Take original documents from List A or List B; confirm they are genuine and belong to the person "whilst in their presence – in person or via video link"; copy each unalterably and record the date. List A gives a continuous excuse, List B a time-limited one.

2. The Home Office online check. For an eVisa holder this is not optional — landlords "must use the Home Office online right to rent checking service". Take the share code, use the landlord-facing service, confirm the photograph is of the person in front of you, keep the dated response. British and Irish citizens cannot get a code.

3. A registered digital verification service. The old "IDSP" label is gone. The 2026 code calls these RtR DVSPs, resting on the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, and registration is mandatory: the provider must be on the OFDIA register "and has a note on the register to confirm that they can provide right to rent checks." It can verify a British or Irish passport up to six months past expiry. Using one is optional; using an unregistered one is worthless.

Retention is the same whichever route: "for the duration of the tenancy and for one year after the tenancy has come to an end", then secure destruction.

The statutory excuse

A statutory excuse is "a landlord's defence against liability for payment of a civil penalty" — section 24 for landlords, section 26 for agents. It cannot be added afterwards.

A List A check gives a continuous excuse. A List B check gives one lasting an eligibility period: "the longest of the following: one year from the date the last checks were carried out; the date the individual's permission to be in the UK expires; or the expiry date of the document that evidences the individual's right to be in the UK."

You lose it by not checking; by checking a time-limited occupier outside the 28-day window; by letting the eligibility period lapse; or by proceeding after a negative result. Section 24(5) removes it where you knew the letting would breach section 22.

Follow-up checks

Required only where permission is time-limited, before the eligibility period expires. If continued permission cannot be evidenced, report it. Reporting "maintains a statutory excuse where the eligibility period has expired", but "a landlord who failed to conduct those checks cannot establish a statutory excuse by reporting at a later date." No time limit, no follow-up check.

What it costs

From the 1 October 2026 code:

• Occupier — a tenant in rented accommodation: £10,000 first breach, £20,000 repeat.
• Lodger in a private household: £5,000 first breach, £10,000 repeat.

A repeat means a previous penalty within the preceding three years. The Faster Payment Option takes 30% off a first-breach penalty paid within 21 calendar days of the notice: £10,000 becomes £7,000, £5,000 becomes £3,500. Not on repeats, not on instalments.

Section 33A also creates a criminal offence where the landlord "knows or has reasonable cause to believe" the premises are occupied by a disqualified adult. On indictment, section 33C provides for "imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, to a fine or to both".

Discrimination

A second statutory code, under section 33 of the same Act, covers unlawful discrimination. The rule is one line: check everyone the same way. It tells landlords to "be consistent in how they conduct right to rent checks on all prospective tenants, including those who the landlord believes are more likely to be British citizens". GOV.UK: "It's against the law to only check people you think are not British citizens."

Nor can you insist on the digital route: a British citizen may hand over a passport instead, and that "choice must not lead to less favourable treatment."

Agents

Liability moves, but only on paper. "Where an agent has accepted responsibility in writing for compliance with the Scheme, liability for any civil penalty will rest with the agent rather than the landlord." Say whether the agent covers initial checks, follow-up checks or both. And "liability cannot be transferred beyond the agent." A verbal arrangement transfers nothing: see tenant-find or fully managed.

Checklist

1. List every adult aged 18+ occupying as their only or main home; ask the tenant in writing about unnamed occupiers.
2. Pick the route: manual, online (mandatory for eVisa holders), or a registered DVSP.
3. Time-limited permission: no earlier than 28 calendar days before the start date.
4. Confirm the person matches the document or profile, in person or by video link.
5. Copy unalterably and record the date of the check.
6. Diary the eligibility period: the latest of one year, permission expiry, document expiry.
7. Follow up before it expires; report if continued permission cannot be shown.
8. File it with the pre-tenancy pack, deposit paperwork and, for shared houses, your HMO duties.
9. Destroy securely one year after the tenancy ends.

General information, current at October 2026, and not legal advice. The code changed on 1 October 2026 and the position turns on each occupier's immigration status — confirm on GOV.UK before you let.

To have your right to rent process checked before the next tenancy starts, ring 0161 710 4510, or call in at 12–14 Midland Street, Manchester M12 6LB. Our fees are published in full.