There are some key things you need to know about finding a place to rent and signing the tenancy agreement. In this first section of the guide we give a brief outline of what they are, and where to find more information.

In the second section of the guide we look at right to rent checks in more detail.

What is a tenancy 

• A tenancy is a type of contract between you and your landlord. It sets out what rights you and your landlord have, for example, how much and how often you will pay rent.
• Not all agreements between an individual and a landlord are tenancies. You have different rights depending on what type of agreement you have. See our video for more information on tenancies and other types of housing agreements.
• If you are a new arrival in the UK check out this information on finding and starting a private tenancy.

Despite the rules that landlords and lettings agencies have to follow, we still hear from people who have had problems starting a tenancy. Next we explain what some of these problems are and what you can do if you encounter them.

Discrimination 

A landlord or letting agent:

• cannot refuse to let you rent a property,
• offer you different renting terms, for example, by charging you more; or
• treat you differently 

because of your race, disability, gender or other protected characteristic.

Private landlords have to check if a potential tenant has a right to rent, by checking if they have permission to enter or remain in the UK. They do this by checking their original documents or checking online. If the landlord does not carry out the checks and confirm that the tenant has permission to enter or remain in the UK, they are not allowed to rent to them. This is what is known as a ‘right to rent check’.

Law for Life has found that some landlords do not always understand these rules or do not follow them properly. For example, some landlords think they only need to carry out right to rent checks on people they think are not British. Or say they can only rent to people with a British passport. This is not correct, and is against the law – see 'Discrimination' in Problems you might experience.

In the next sections of this guide we are going to explain more about right to rent checks and how they work so that you can be prepared for your own right to rent check, and know what to do if you experience any problems.

When do you need to prove a right to rent?

You need to prove a right to rent if you want to rent a property as your main home in England, from a private landlord.

The landlord can ask you to prove your right to rent up 28 days before you sign the tenancy agreement.

This means you could be asked to prove your right to rent at the early stages of looking at a property if the tenancy is due to start soon. So it is good to be prepared for right to rent checks when you start looking for a home to rent.

A right to rent check is to find out which of the following categories you are in.

TABLE

To prove your right to rent you have to show the landlord evidence which confirms your immigration status, for example, that you are a British citizen, have EU settled status, indefinite leave to remain, or refugee status.

How it works - an overview of the process

To check that you have a right to rent, the landlord should:

1) ask for your evidence of your right to rent; which will be either:

• a share code from the Home Office online checking service; or
• an original document. 

2) Then, check your immigration status, by:

• using your share code in the View a tenant's right to rent service, or
• looking at your original documents. 

3) Keep copies of the document and record when they checked the evidence.

Below we explain this process in a bit more detail.

If you cannot provide a document to prove your right to rent, for example, because your passport is being held by the Home Office, landlords can check with the Home Office by using the UK government’s landlord checking service.

Landlords are supposed to receive the result within two working days of making the request.

Long-term residents of the UK who do not have documents to prove their right to rent

Some long-term residents of the UK may not have been issued documents to prove their right to remain in the UK, for example, people originally from Commonwealth countries, including the ‘Windrush generation’.

The UK Home Office has issued guidance on this issue. It says that Commonwealth citizens who have lived in the UK permanently since before 1973, and have not been away from the UK for long periods in the last 30 years, have the right to live in the UK and to rent property.

Commonwealth citizens who came to the UK before the end of 1988 (and after 1 January 1973) might not have the automatic right to live or right to rent in the UK. This could be because:

• You have the right to live in the UK (called the ‘right of abode’), but you do not have the documents to prove it; or
• You do not have a ‘right of abode’. This may be because you have ceased to be a Commonwealth citizen (even temporarily) or because your country was not part of the Commonwealth on 31 December 1982 or has since left the Commonwealth. For instance, citizens of Pakistan and South Africa do not have the right of abode in the UK because these countries temporarily left the Commonwealth before 1982 (even though they later re-joined the Commonwealth). Citizens of the Gambia and the Maldives also no longer have the right of abode in the UK because these countries have now left the Commonwealth.

If you are a long-term resident of the UK and cannot provide any of the documents in List A Group 1, List A Group 2 or List B to prove your right to rent, the landlord should not refuse to rent to you. Instead they should contact the government’s Landlord Checking Service.  

If you are a Commonwealth citizen who arrived in the UK before the end of 1988 the Landlord Checking Service should notify the Windrush Help Team, who should contact you to confirm your circumstances and to try to sort out your status. Working with the Windrush Help Team, the Landlord Checking service will be able to confirm your right to rent.

You can call the Windrush Help Team yourself, to apply for documents to confirm your status and to apply for compensation under the Windrush Compensation Scheme. 

If you or someone you live with has no right to rent, the landlord can evict everyone from the property. They need to give the renters at least 28 days’ written notice of this. Once 28 days have passed, the landlord can evict everyone without needing to go to court.

Remember that you do not have to prove a right to rent to social landlords like the local council. Also right to rent checks only have to be carried out in England – not in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

If some renters in the shared accommodation do have a right to rent, the landlord needs to go to court to get an eviction notice. Once they have this, they can evict all of the renters (including those with a right to rent).

Landlords can be fined or go to prison if they do not end the tenancy and evict renters after they have been informed by the government that one or more people in the property does not have a right to rent.

It is also important to note that, while landlords do not have to report people without a right to rent when they are enquiring about renting a property, landlords are required to report their renters to the Home Office if their time-limited right to rent has expired when they carry out follow-up checks.

Advicelocal

A UK-wide service from the advice charity Lasa. Advicelocal can help you find help with problems including welfare benefits, housing and homelessness, and asylum and immigration. Enter your postcode, choose an advice topic from the drop down menu and search. This will tell you about any Citizen’s Advice, law centres, or independent advice agencies in your county.

The AIRE Centre (Advice on Individual Rights in Europe)

Provides free, specialist legal advice and other legal services to individuals on EU law and can help you apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. To find out if the centre can help you, you can either email: [email protected] or call 020 7831 4276. Open Monday to Friday, 10:30am - 6pm.

Citizens Advice

The national body for Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). See Contact Citizens Advice to find a CAB near you, details about their national helpline, and their chat and other services. Be aware that the national helpline is not free. Calls are charged at the same rate as calls to landlines.

Chartered Institute of Housing – Housing Rights Information

CIH sets out information on the housing rights attached to each immigration status, ranging from refugees to individuals with limited right to remain, to family members of European citizens. There are separate sections of the website for individuals looking for housing and housing advisors.

Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS)

The EASS helpline advises and assists individuals on issues relating to equality and human rights, across England, Scotland and Wales. Telephone: 0808 800 0082 Textphone: 0808 800 0084. Open Monday to Friday 9am-7pm, Saturday 10am-2pm. You can also email them using their online contact form.

Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)

A charity that supports immigrants of all backgrounds. It runs a free and confidential helpline for undocumented migrants on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 10am to 1pm, on 0207 553 7470 and can offer specialist immigration advice on whether they may be eligible for permission to rent from the Home Office. The helpline is confidential and advice is free. Calls cost up to 13p per minute from landlines, 3p to 55p from mobiles.

In 2019 they launched a legal challenge against the right to rent scheme, arguing that it causes racial discrimination.

LawWorks

Supports a network of over 280 free legal advice clinics that provide initial advice to individuals on various areas of law, including social welfare issues, employment, housing, and consumer disputes. During the coronavirus crisis, all clinics have closed face-to-face appointments. Use their search to see if there is a clinic near you offering advice on the area of law you need help with by phone, email or digitally. In order to use the time efficiently, please see What to bring to your appointment at a LawWorks clinic (PDF).

Refugee Council

Provides help and support to asylum seekers and refugees. It runs a freephone infoline on 0808 196 7272 which connects people seeking asylum, and recently recognised refugees, with information and services relevant to their individual needs. The Infoline is open Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays between 9.30am and 12.30pm.

In London the Refugee Council run a Private Rented Scheme which helps refugees who are homeless as a result of being granted protection in the UK. It offers advice and assistance with finding accommodation and applying for loans and grants for a deposit, and will sometimes provide a deposit bond on behalf of refugees who cannot afford a deposit.

Shelter (England)

Shelter is a national housing charity which offers useful advice and information on all aspects of housing and homelessness.

It gives advice over the phone about urgent housing problems. Call: 0808 800 4444. Open Monday to Friday, 8am-8pm, Saturday/Sunday 9am-5pm, 365 days a year. Calls are free from UK landlines and all major UK mobile operators. They ask that you look at their online advice first or use their webchat service before you call the helpline due to high demand.

Shelter (England) also has some advice centres where you can get personal, face to face advice. You can use your postcode to search for a centre local to you: Shelter advice centres.

Ukraine Advice Project

Free UK immigration advice for people fleeing Ukraine provided by volunteers. You can connect to a lawyer through the website.

If you can produce one document from this list you can prove an unlimited right to rent:

• 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 passport card (in either case, whether current or expired), showing that the holder is an Irish citizen.
• A document issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the Isle of Man, which has been verified as valid by the Home Office Landlord Checking Service, showing that the holder has been granted unlimited leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU(J) to the Jersey Immigration Rules, Appendix EU to the Immigration (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Rules 2008 or Appendix EU to the Isle of Man Immigration Rules.
• A passport or other travel document (in either case, whether current or expired) endorsed to show that the holder is exempt from immigration control, or is allowed to stay indefinitely in the UK, or has the right of abode in the UK, or has no time limit on their stay in the UK.
• An immigration status document (current or expired) containing a photograph issued by the Home Office to the holder with an endorsement indicating that the person named in it is allowed to stay in the UK indefinitely or has no time limit on their stay in the UK.
• A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen.

You can show two document from this list to prove an unlimited right to rent:

• A birth certificate issued in the UK.
• An adoption certificate issued in the UK.
• A birth certificate issued in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland.
• An adoption certificate issued in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland.
• A letter which:
  • is issued by a government department or local authority no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented,
    is signed by a named official stating their name and professional address
  • confirms the holder’s name,
  • confirms that the holder has accessed services from that department or authority or is otherwise known to that department or authority.
• A letter which:
  • is issued no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented,
  • is signed by a British passport holder who is or has been a professional person or who is otherwise of good standing in their community and confirms the holder’s name,
  • states how long the signatory has known the holder, such period being of at least three months’ duration, and in what capacity,
  • states the signatory’s name, address, profession, place of work and passport number.
• A letter issued by a person who employs the holder no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented, which indicates the holder’s name and confirming their status as an employee and employee reference number or National Insurance number and states the employer’s name and business address.
• A letter issued by a police force in the UK no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented, confirming that the holder has been the victim of a crime in which a document listed in List A (Group 1) belonging to the holder has been stolen and stating the crime reference number.
• An identity card or document issued by one of Her Majesty’s forces or the Secretary of State confirming that the holder is or has been a serving member in any of Her Majesty’s forces.
• A letter issued by Her Majesty’s Prison Service, the Scottish Prison Service or the Northern Ireland Prison Service confirming that the holder has been released from the custody of that service no longer than six months before the date on which that letter is presented and confirming their name and date of birth.
• A letter issued no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented by an officer of the National Offender Management Service in England and Wales, an officer of a local authority in Scotland who is a responsible officer for the purposes of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 or an officer of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland confirming the holder’s name and date of birth and confirming that the holder is the subject of an order requiring supervision by that officer.
• A current licence to drive a motor vehicle granted under Part 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (to include the photocard licence in respect of licences issued on or after 1st July 1998) or Part 2 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (to include the photocard licence).
• A certificate issued no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented, by the Disclosure and Barring Service under Part V of the Police Act 1997, the Scottish Ministers under Part 2 of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 or the Secretary of State under Part V of the Police Act 1997 in relation to the holder.
• A document, or a screen shot of an electronic document, issued no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented, by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Northern Ireland Department for Social Development or a local authority confirming that the holder is in receipt of a benefit listed in section 115(1) or (2) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
• A letter which is issued no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented, and
  • is issued by a public authority, voluntary organisation or charity in the course of a scheme operated to assist individuals to secure accommodation in the private rented sector in order to prevent or resolve homelessness,
  • confirms the holder’s name,
  • states the address of a prospective tenancy which the authority, organisation or charity is assisting the holder to obtain.
• a letter which:
  • is issued by a further or higher education institution in the UK,
  • confirms that the holder has been accepted on a current course of studies at that institution,
  • states the name of the institution and the name and duration of the course.

You can show one document from this list to prove a time limited right to rent:

• A current passport or travel document endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the UK for a ‘time-limited period’.
• A current immigration status document issued by the Home Office to the holder with an endorsement indicating that the holder has been granted limited leave to enter or remain in the UK.
• A document issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey or the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the Isle of Man, which has been verified as valid by the Landlord Checking Service, showing that the holder has been granted limited leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU(J) to the Jersey Immigration Rules, Appendix EU to the Immigration (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Rules 2008 or Appendix EU to the Isle of Man Immigration Rules.
• A document issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey, or Isle of Man, showing that the holder has made an application for limited leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU to the Jersey Immigration Rules or Appendix EU(J) to the Immigration (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Rules 2008 or Appendix EU to the Isle of Man Immigration Rules (as the case may be), together with a Positive Right to Rent Notice issued by the Home Office Landlord Checking Service.
• A document issued by the Home Office confirming an application for leave to enter or remain, under Appendix EU to the immigration rules (known as the EU Settlement Scheme), made on or before 30 June 2021 together with a Positive Right to Rent notice issued by the Home Office Landlord Checking Service.
• A Certificate of Application (digital or non-digital) issued by the Home Office showing that the holder has made an application for leave to enter or remain, under Appendix EU to the immigration rules (known as the EU Settlement Scheme), on or after 1 July 2021, together with a Positive Right to Rent Notice issued by the Home Office Landlord Checking Service.
• A passport of a national of an EEA country, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea or the USA who is a visitor to the UK, together with evidence of travel to the UK that provides documentary evidence of the date of arrival in the UK in the preceding six months. 

You can see images of these documents in the government’s right to rent checks user guide.

If you are from Ukraine (and not living with a host under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme or Ukraine Family Scheme) you can see images of documents you can use to prove your right to rent in the government’s specific guide on right to rent checks for Ukrainian nationals.

• Benefits - payments or practical help from the government to people on low incomes or with particular needs.
• Biometric residence permit – a document issued by the UK government which confirms your identify and your immigration status. It includes a digital photo of your face and a scan of your fingerprints.
• Brexit – the name given to describe the UK leaving the EU. As a result of Brexit lots of laws and processes, especially around immigration, have changed.
• Council housing – housing provided by the local authority (or council). There are rules about who qualifies for local authority housing.
• Deposit – a sum of money that you have to pay in advance, that will protect the landlord from losing money if there is damage to the property or if there is unpaid rent.
• Direct discrimination - Where someone treats you worse than they treat other people because of who you are.
• EU – the European Union – a union of countries who agree to make joint decisions about some political and financial laws. People who live in the European Union can live, study or work in any European Union country.
• EEA – an area made up of all the countries in the EU, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
• Equality Act 2010 - a law which protects people with ‘protected characteristics’ from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. For example, protected characteristics include race, disability and gender.
• Evicted – where the landlord can use the law to make you leave the property.
• Guarantor - someone who agrees to be responsible for your rent and other things you agree to in the tenancy agreement. This means that if you damage the property or do not pay your rent, the guarantor will have to pay the landlord what you owe them.
• Home Office – the UK government department responsible for managing immigration and the police.
• Housing Association – organisations which are set up to help local communities and provide cheaper rental accommodation than private landlords.
• Identity Verification Technology (IDTV) – a specific way of proving someone’s identify by creating a digital copy of a physical document.
  Immigration Reporting Centre – a. building run by the Home Office where you have to go to on a regular basis if you have applied for asylum or another immigration status and have not had a positive decision.
• Immigration status – the type of permission you have to be in the UK. For example, refugee status, EU settled status or British nationality.
  Indefinite leave to remain – a type of immigration status that gives you the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as you like.
  Indirect discrimination - Where someone has a rule or a way of doing things that they apply to everyone the same, but which puts you, and other people like you, at more of a disadvantage and cannot be justified.
• Landlord - an individual or company who offers a property to rent.
• Landlord Checking Service – a service run by the Home Office for landlords which allows them to check if you have a right to rent if you do not have the correct documents, for example, because you are still waiting for a decision from the Home Office.
• Lettings agency – a company which manages properties for private landlords. This may include finding a tenant, collecting the rent and sometimes maintaining the property.
• Local council /authority – the local organisation which is responsible for managing local services, for example, running some schools and dustbin collections. They are also responsible for looking after people who are homeless in their area.
• No DSS – ‘DSS’ is an old term for welfare benefits. You may see adverts for housing which say ‘no DSS’, which means that the landlord does not want you to apply if you are on benefits. But they are not allowed to do this.
• Permission to rent – the Home Office can grant ‘permission to rent’ to someone who does not have a right to rent. This power is discretionary, meaning the Home Office does not have to grant it in every case.
• Points-based immigration system – the UK’s new approach to immigration after Brexit. People who want to live and work in the UK can apply for a visa, if they have enough points.
• Pre-settled status – the immigration status granted to EU, EEA or Swiss citizens (and their family members) who have not yet lived in the UK for a continuous five year period.
• Private landlord – an individual or company who rents out a property they own. It is different from a social housing landlord, for example, a local council or housing association.
• Protected characteristics – personal characteristics such as race, religion, gender, sexuality disability and age. It is against the law to discriminate against you because of protected characteristics.
• Rent bond scheme – a legal agreement between the provider of the scheme and the landlord which gives the landlord a guarantee, instead of a cash deposit, to cover damage or unpaid rent.
• Rent guarantee scheme – a legal agreement between the provider of the scheme and the landlord which gives the landlord a guarantee against unpaid rent.
• Right to rent checks – Right to rent is the name given to a UK government policy that says that all adults who need permission to enter or remain in the UK, but do not have it, cannot rent a property from a private landlord. Landlords have to check that you have permission to enter or remain in the UK by viewing your documents, either face to face or online.
• Right of abode – the right to live and work in the UK without any immigration restrictions. All British citizens have a right of abode. Some Commonwealth citizens who are not British citizens may also have a right of abode:
  • Commonwealth citizens with a parent or adoptive parent who, at the time of their birth or adoption, was a citizen of the UK and Colonies, or
  • female Commonwealth citizens who are, or have been, married to a man with the right of abode at any time before 31 December 1982.  

You must also not have ceased to be a Commonwealth citizen at any time since then.

• Settled status – a type of immigration status that gives you the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as you like.
• Share code – a number which you can create online, through the online checking service, and give to the landlord to allow them to check your immigration status.
• Social housing provider – organisations that provide housing to rent at a cheaper cost than private landlords and which usually offer longer and more secure tenancies. Social housing providers are often local councils and housing associations. They do not aim to make a profit from renting the accommodation.
• Tenancy agreement – a type of contract between you and your landlord. It sets out what rights and obligations you and your landlord have. This will include, for example, how much and how often you will pay rent.
• Tenant – a person who lives in accommodation rented from a landlord.
• Visa – a document issued by the UK government to allow you to enter and stay in the UK for a period of time.
• Windrush generation – people arriving in the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries to take up jobs in the UK where there were a shortage of workers. The name ‘Windrush’ refers to one of the ships – ‘Empire Windrush’ which brought workers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other islands.

Disclaimer

The information in this guide applies to England.

The law is complicated. We have simplified things in this guide. Please don’t rely on this guide as a complete statement of the law. We recommend you try and get advice from the sources we have suggested.

The cases we refer to are not always real but show a typical situation. We have included them to help you think about how to deal with your own situation.

Acknowledgements

November 2022

This guide was updated in November 2022 with thanks to funding from Help Accessing Legal Support (HALS).

April 2022

Law for Life would like to thank all those who provided advice and feedback on this guide, including Allen & Overy, and Sam Lister and John Perry of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Original material for this guide was funded by Matrix 

Chambers and created with support from Allen & Overy. This guide was created in April 2022 with thanks to funding from the Litigants in Person Support Service and with support from Allen & Overy.