Who needs a Right to Rent check

Everyone aged 18 or over

Check all adult occupiers before they move in:

• tenants named on the agreement;
• other adults who will live there, even if they aren’t named;
• lodgers and sub-tenants.

You don’t need to check children under 18 or short-stay house guests.

If people move in at different times, check each one before they move in. If an adult is added later (for example through a variation or assignment of the tenancy), check all the adult occupiers, not just the new one.

Accommodation that’s excluded

The Code of Practice lists types of accommodation where the scheme doesn’t apply, including:

• social housing and accommodation arranged by local authorities;
• care homes, hospitals and hospices;
• hostels and refuges;
• student accommodation such as halls of residence;
• tied accommodation provided with a job;
• mobile homes covered by the Mobile Homes Act 1983;
• long leases (7 years or more).

These are summaries. Read the Code of Practice for the exact conditions before relying on an exclusion.

Check everyone the same way

The Home Office’s anti-discrimination code says to apply the same process to every prospective adult occupier, whatever their nationality, ethnicity, appearance or accent. Don’t:

• only check people you think might be migrants;
• treat someone with a time-limited right to rent less favourably;
• insist on one particular way of proving their right to rent.

Treating people differently can breach the Equality Act 2010.

What happens if you don’t check

If you let to someone without the right to rent and haven’t done the correct checks, you can be fined. The Code of Practice sets civil penalties of up to £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier for a first breach, rising to £10,000 and £20,000 for a repeat breach within three years. Knowingly renting to someone without the right to rent is a criminal offence.