What does this mean to me as a Landlord?
What is a Right to Rent check?
This is when a prospective adult occupant of a rental property shows their identity documents in person to a landlord or letting agent. This is a similar checking process to presenting your passport (and visa) to a border control officer at an immigration checkpoint.
As a Letting Agent, The Cotswold Letting Agency must take a copy of the documents seen, and record the check being completed. If a tenant has a time limited right to rent (e.g. a visa or Biometric Residency Permit with an expiry date) then the check must be done within 28 days of the tenancy start date and the visa must be valid for the proposed tenancy start date.
What are our responsibilities?
We must:
- Check all adult tenants who will live in the property as their only or main home
- Ask tenants for the original documents that show they have the right to be in the UK
- Check the original documents with the tenant physically present and ensure they are valid
- Make copies of the original documents and record when the check was completed
- Conduct follow up checks at the appropriate time (e.g. repeat the check when a tenant’s visa expires)
If follow up checks reveal that an occupant in a rental property no longer has a valid ‘Right to Rent’ then we must report that person to the Home Office.
