Right to Rent Checks Now Mandatory for ALL New Tenants

From 1 July 2021, all landlords must check the immigration status of prospective tenants, no matter their nationality. Citizens of the European Economic Area (EEA) and members of their families must now hold an immigration status in the UK, just the same as any foreign national. Whilst an EEA passport or national ID card was previously adequate to prove a right to rent, these can no longer be relied upon.

EEA citizens will generally have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme and so will have digital evidence of their UK immigration status.

The EU Settlement Scheme was put in place to officially permit people from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein to carry on residing in the UK after Brexit. It was also open to family members of eligible Northern Irish citizens.

30 June 2021 was the deadline for applications to the scheme, although anyone who was living in the UK or who had a family member living here as of 31 December 2020 may still have the chance to apply, as can those who are able to meet the criteria for a later application deadline, or who were reasonably unable to apply by 30 June. It is not necessary for Irish citizens to apply to remain in the UK, neither is it for anyone with indefinite leave to enter or remain.

A right to rent in the UK comes via settled status. However, landlords won’t have to evict tenants who do not hold such a status, unless they are issued with a ‘Notice of letting to a disqualified person’ by the Home Office. The government has also confirmed that retrospective checks will not be required for EU, EEA or Swiss tenants.

Why must landlords carry out right to rent checks on ALL prospective tenants?

Under the Equality Act 2010, landlords could be accused of discrimination for only undertaking right to rent checks on tenants they believe to not be UK citizens. This is why it is necessary for all tenants to be checked, no matter their status or nationality.

Proving a Right to Rent

Tenants with settled status can digitally share their immigration status via the Right to Rent service on GOV.UK. Landlords may also make hard copy checks using a freshly updated property documents list.

During the pandemic, it was temporarily unnecessary for landlords to physically inspect Right to Rent documents or conduct face to face checks. Coronavirus Right to Rent checks made it possible to accept documents as scans or by video call.

Full checks were supposed to be reinstated on 21 June 2021, but the government elected to put back the move after the COVID-19 ‘freedom date’ was shifted from 21 June to 19 July. Now the physical inspections will return at the end of August, meaning that currently, scanned or video-based documentation can still be accepted.

Failure to carry out Right to Rent checks

Landlords in England who fail to conduct the necessary Right to Rent checks could be subject to an unlimited fine or a five-year prison sentence if they are found to be renting property to someone they know or have reasonable cause to believe does not have a legal Right to Rent. This includes where there was reason to believe the tenant didn’t have permission to enter or remain in the UK, their leave had expired or their papers had been falsified or were not in order.

A landlord may also be fined for renting property to someone without permission to remain in the UK, unless they are able to demonstrate that the relevant Right to Rent checks were carried out.

Looking for a property management service that will shoulder your Right to Rent burden AND guarantee your rent?

If the thought of additional red tape around Right to Rent checks fills you with dread, why not offload the responsibility to a property management service that also guarantees your rent?

By reassigning your property management responsibilities, including Right to Rent checks, to homes2let, you can take advantage of guaranteed rent on top of all the other benefits.

The homes2let guaranteed rent scheme allows you to go hands-off with your buy to let investment, whilst we take care of every aspect of the legal side of renting out your property.

We’ll also handle everyday maintenance, property inspections and tenant sourcing, as well guaranteeing your rent every month, even during void periods.

To learn more about how we can reduce your headaches as a landlord, you are welcome to get in touch with our helpful team.