All landlords must check whether a tenant has the legal right to rent a property in England.
All tenants aged 18 years or older must be checked even if they are not named on the tenancy agreement and even if no tenancy agreement exists.
On 1 July 2021, an amendment to the Right to Rent checks came into effect such that all EEA citizens now require immigration status in the UK and whilst electronic and remote checks have been allowed under Coronovirus restrictions, the regulations revert back to requiring face to face and original document checks on 1 September 2021.
Landlords must follow a three point check to confirm Right to Rent: a landlord must 1) obtain acceptable documents on which to conduct the check 2) check the documents to confirm the validity of the Right to Rent 3) Record and retain evidence that they have satisfactorily conducted the check.
There are also ongoing obligations to conduct further Right to Rent checks where a tenant’s residency in the UK is subject to a time period limitation or fixed date.
Failing to conduct the checks and/or retain evidence that the checks have been conducted could give rise to a landlord facing civil penalties.
All tenants sourced through Belvoir are subjected to full tenant referencing which includes the Right to Rent checks, so that a Landlord can be assured that their obligations are fully met.
If you have a tenant in your property and you are unsure as to whether you have conducted Right to Rent checks on your tenant then contact us on 01942 826096.
