Right to Rent in the UK - Tenant Checks

Right to rent in the UK – Documentation and Biometric Residence Permit (Work Visa)

Under the Immigration Act 2014, it is your responsibility to ensure that your tenant has the right to rent in the UK before offering a tenancy agreement.  You can do this by seeing original ID documents from your prospective tenants, making sure that you keep a copy of them for each OCCUPIER (that is all tenants and occupiers, anybody who is residing in the property, whether they are named on the tenancy agreement or not).  From the ID documents, you are able to check the immigration status (Biometric Residence Permit) of the residents, and ensure they have ‘the right to rent’ your property.

Austin D’arcy will undertake tenant checks on your behalf for all of our lettings service packages, and reserve the right to refuse to grant a tenancy if we are, in any way, unsure of the validity of your tenant’s documentation.

Permitted Documents:

The list below provides details of each document that can be accepted to satisfy a Right to Rent check, either in isolation or in combination. In each instance, an original document/s must be seen, and copies taken for your records. If an original is not available, a copy may be accepted only if it has been certified by a Law Society registered solicitor.

  • A passport (current or expired) showing that the holder is a British Citizen, or a citizen of the UK and Colonies having the ‘right of abode’ in the UK.
  • A passport or national identity card (current or expired) showing that the holder is a national of the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland.
  • A registration certificate or document (current or expired) certifying or indicating permanent residence issued by the Home Office, to a national of the European Economic Area country or Switzerland.
  • A ‘permanent’ residence, ‘indefinite leave to remain’, ‘indefinite leave to enter’ or ‘no time limit’ card issued by the Home Office (current or expired), to a non-EEA national who is a family member of an EEA or Swiss national.
  • A biometric ‘residence permit’ card (current or expired) issued by the Home Office to the holder indicating that the person named has ‘indefinite’ leave in the UK, or has ‘no time limit’ on their stay in the UK.
  • A passport or other ‘travel document’ (current or expired) endorsed to show that the holder is either ‘exempt from immigration control’, has ‘indefinite’ leave in the UK, has the ‘right of abode’ in the UK, or has ‘no time limit’ on their stay in the UK.
  • A current immigration status document issued by the Home Office to the holder with a valid endorsement indicating that the holder is either ‘exempt from immigration control’, has ‘indefinite’ leave in the UK, has the ‘right of abode’ in the UK, or has ‘no time limit’ on their stay in the UK.
  • A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen.

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