Private renting
Document checks
You must prove that you have a right to rent property in England if you’re:
- starting a tenancy on or after 1 February 2016
- renting it as your main home
Exemptions
You will not have to prove your right to rent if you live in:
- student accommodation, for example halls of residence
- accommodation provided by your employer as part of your job or training
- social housing
- accommodation provided by the council
- hostels and refuges
- a care home, hospital or hospice
- accommodation with a lease of 7 or more years
- a mobile home (unless you’re renting the mobile home from the owner)
Find out more about exemptions (also known as ‘excluded agreements’) in the landlord’s guide to right to rent checks.
Proving your right to rent
How you can prove your right to rent depends on where you’re from.
If you’re a British or Irish citizen
You can prove your right to rent by showing your passport or your Irish passport card to your landlord.
Your landlord may also use a Digital Verification Service to check your passport digitally. If so, you’ll upload a photo of your passport to a secure online platform to verify your identity. Your landlord will tell you how to do this.
If you do not have a passport, you may be able to prove your right to rent using other documents.
If you’re not a British or Irish citizen
If you’ve been given an eVisa, you must get a share code to prove your right to rent.
You may be able to create a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account to access your eVisa if you have one of the following documents:
- an expired biometric residence permit (BRP)
- a biometric residence card (BRC)
- a passport containing an ink stamp or a visa vignette sticker
If you cannot access your eVisa, you may be able to prove your right to rent using your immigration documents.
What your landlord must do
Your landlord must:
- check your documents or carry out a digital right to rent check to make sure you can rent a property in England
- check the documents or carry out a digital right to rent check of any other adults living in the property
- keep copies of your documents or evidence of the digital right to rent check - they can keep these for one year after you’ve left the property
- return your original documents to you once they’ve finished the check
Your landlord must let you try to prove your right to rent. They must not discriminate against you, for example because of your nationality.
If you cannot prove your right to rent
You will not be able to rent property if you cannot provide the acceptable documents.
If the Home Office has your documents
If the Home Office has your documents, ask your landlord to request a Home Office right to rent check using the Landlord Checking Service (LCS).
Give your landlord your Home Office reference number to do the check.
If your circumstances mean you can still rent in the UK
In some circumstances, you can request permission to rent (PTR) even if you’re not allowed to stay in the UK - for example if you’re:
- a victim of slavery
- using the Home Office’s voluntary departure scheme
Check with the Home Office team that’s dealing with your case.
If you’re allowed permission to rent, you’ll have the right to rent for a maximum of 12 months.
Follow-up checks
You will not have a further check if you stay in the same property and either:
- you’re a British or Irish citizen
- you have no time limit on your right to stay in the UK
If there’s a time limit on your right to stay in the UK, your landlord will need to check your right to rent again. This is known as a ‘follow-up check’.
They’ll do this check after 12 months or just before your permission to stay runs out, if that’s sooner.