What is Right to Rent and what documents do I need?

If you are looking to rent a property in England, you will be asked by your prospective landlord to prove your ‘Right to Rent’.

This is a requirement that was introduced by the government in 2014, to ensure that tenants living in private rented accommodation are legally entitled to reside in the country.

How you prove your right to rent depends on your nationality and your immigration status. However, it is only required for people over 18 looking to rent in England, and does not apply to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Below we break down how to prove your Right to Rent and what documentation you will need.

What is Right to Rent?

The government introduced the Right to Rent policy as part of the Immigration Act 2014. The first phase was launched in parts of the West Midlands and then rolled out across the country in 2016.

It means that anyone over the age of 18 needs to prove their right to reside in the England, by providing the required documentation to landlords or lettings agents before renting a property.

If landlords fail to carryout the required checks, they could face a fine of up to £3,000 per tenant.

What documents do I need to prove my Right to Rent?

The documents you need to prove your right to rent depend on your immigration status and nationality.

If you’re a British or Irish citizen

If you’re a British or Irish citizen, you can prove your right to rent in England by showing your landlord one of the following:

A British passport (current or expired)
An Irish passport or passport card (current or expired)
A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen

If you do not have a passport, passport card or citizenship certificate, you may be able to use other documents to prove your right to rent.

You may be able to use an online identity service provider (IDSP) to prove your right to rent instead of giving your landlord your documents to check. Ask your landlord if they offer this.

If you’re not a British or Irish citizen

If you’re not a British or Irish citizen, you can prove your right to rent in England with:

A share code – you can get a share code online
Your original immigration documents

What immigration documents do I need?

If you’re not a British or Irish citizen, you can use one of the following documents to prove your right to rent:

A passport
A travel document issued by the Home Office
An immigration status document sent to you when you were given permission to stay in the UK

Your passport, travel document or immigration status document needs to have a Home Office endorsement in it – for example, a stamp or a vignette (a sticker).

This must say that you have one of the following:

Indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK
No time limit to your stay in the UK
A certificate of entitlement to the right of abode
Exemption from immigration control
Limited leave to enter or limited leave to remain in the UK, or permission to stay for a time limited period – this must cover the time you’ll be renting
A certificate of entitlement to readmission to the UK

You can no longer use a physical biometric residence permit or card to prove your right to rent – you’ll need to get a share code instead.

You can choose which option you use. Your landlord cannot reject your application because you gave them an eligible immigration document instead of a share code, for example.

Right to Rent sharecode

If you’re not a British or Irish citizen, you can usually get a share code by visiting the government website, to prove your right to rent.

Your landlord can use the share code to check if you can rent and how long for.

Who can get a share code

You can use this service to get a share code if you have:

A biometric residence card or permit
A UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account

You’ll have a UKVI account if you’ve ever:

Applied to the EU Settlement Scheme
Used the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to prove your identity when applying for a visa
Created one when applying for a visa (you’ll have received a UKVI account confirmation email)
Created one to get access to an eVisa (an online record of your immigration status)

If you cannot prove your right to rent

If you’re not a British or Irish citizen, your landlord can ask for a Home Office right to rent check to see if you can rent in England.

If you’re a Commonwealth citizen, you may be able to get documents to show that you can rent in the UK through the Windrush Scheme.

How do landlords check Right to Rent?

It is essential that landlords carry out the required checks to avoid any fines or penalties. Below we break down the government guidance on how landlords should carry out Right to Rent checks.

How to do a Right to Rent check?

Landlords can either

Check the tenant’s original documents
View the tenant’s right to rent online if they have a ‘share code’

How to check original documents

Check which adults will use your property as their main home (your ‘tenants’).
Ask them for original documents that prove they can live in the UK.
Check their documents to see if they have the right to rent your property.
Check that each tenant’s documents are genuine and belong to them, with the tenant present.
Make and keep copies of the documents and record the date you made the check.

Which documents can be used

If the tenant is a British or Irish citizen, they can usually prove their right to rent with:

A British passport (current or expired)
An Irish passport or passport card (current or expired)
A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen

They may be able to use a combination of other documents.

You can check a British or Irish citizen’s physical documents yourself or use an online identity service provider (IDSP) to check them.

If the tenant is not a British or Irish citizen, they can usually prove their right to rent with their original immigration documents or a sharecode.

You cannot accept biometric residence cards or permits. If your tenant has one, ask them for a share code instead.

What to look out for

You need to check that:

The documents are originals and belong to the tenant
The photos on the documents are of the tenant
The dates of birth are the same in all documents (and are believable)
The documents are not too damaged or do not look like they’ve been changed
If any names are different on documents, there are supporting documents to show why, such as a marriage certificate or divorce decree

If the tenant is not a British or Irish citizen, you’ll also need to check that their permission to stay in the UK has not ended.

Get help with a check

If you need assistance or support to carry out a check, visit the government website or call the landlord’s helpline – 0300 790 6268.