The Immigration Act 2014 (as amended in 2016) introduced new requirements for landlords and letting agents to check that all adult occupiers living in rented property have a right to rent property in the UK.
What action is required?
The provisions require landlords (and by implication, agents) to carry out immigration checks on all adult occupiers. The rules will affect you if you are:
- Renting out accommodation for people to live anywhere in England (including taking in a lodger)
- A letting agent who provides a service for landlords by finding people to live in rented property
- A hotel or guest house, or provider of similar accommodation and you take in guests who stay for
three months or more.
Responsibility for completing the checking process will primarily lie with the landlord unless this responsibility has been transferred to a letting agent –which must be agreed in writing. Agents will be allowed to make additional charges to carry out the checks but this also needs to be agreed in the agency terms. Letting agents have a duty of care to inform landlords of their responsibilities when renting out a property.
Checking process
Before renting accommodation, landlords must ask prospective tenants and occupiers to produce evidence (from a checklist of documents) of their permission to be in the UK. Landlords and agents will check this evidence and keep a copy for their records. Where an occupier has a time limited right to rent in the UK landlords and letting agents will need to carry out follow up checks. The exact nature of these checks is detailed in Government guidance (listed below) but the main ways to carry out a check are:
- a manual right to rent check (all citizens).
- A right to rent check using Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) via the services of an Identity Service Provider (IDSP) (British and Irish citizens only).
- A Home Office online right to rent check (non-British and non-Irish Citizens)
Penalties
Where a landlord has authorised an adult to occupy a property without a legal ‘right to rent’, they may be subject to a penalty, imprisonment or both for any breach under the Act.
Guidance
More detailed guidance is available in the Letting Centre Factsheet No. 34 – Landlord’s Responsibilities under the Immigration Act.
The following guidance is currently available on the main government website – click here:
- Code of Practice on illegal immigrants and private rented accommodation
- Code of Practice for Landlords – Avoiding unlawful discrimination when conducting ‘right to rent’
checks in the private rented residential sector