One of the many responsibilities of landlords in south east London is completing right to rent checks for prospective tenants. If you have not carried out these checks before, you might be a little overwhelmed by the different processes and requirements.
The consequences of not carrying out right to rent checks for tenants are serious, with penalties including large fines of up to £10,000. If you are a landlord in south east London with a property in Surrey Quays, Vauxhall or Wapping, you will need to follow all the correct tenant onboarding processes, including performing right to rent checks.
This article explains how to complete the checks correctly and stay compliant with your landlord responsibilities.
It’s coming soon and you need to prepare your property business. Get ahead of the curve with our FREE guide so you stay compliant & avoid fines.
The government introduced right to rent checks in 2016 to help ensure that tenants living in private rented property in England have the legal right to live and rent in the UK. Broadly, the process involves checking documents to prove that a tenant has the right to live in the UK by verifying a tenant’s immigration status.
All tenants aged 18 and above require right to rent checks, including British and Irish citizens. Adding to the complexity, there are different ways to complete the checks, depending on the immigration status of the prospective tenant(s). Letting agents or Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) can perform the checks on a landlord’s behalf but ultimately, it is the landlord’s responsibility to ensure the checks are carried out.
The process for establishing a tenant’s right to rent in the UK varies depending on the immigration status category that they fall into:
Unlimited right to rent applies to the following people:
If an individual is issued with Indefinite Leave to Remain status, this grants them an unlimited right to rent in England.
Want to be a more informed landlord? Right to rent checks are one part of vetting – see what happens when a tenant reference check fails and the broader approach to how to choose a tenant.
If a person has been issued a time limit on their stay in the UK, for example, they have a working visa for a set period, they will be in the limited right to rent category. This includes individuals with settled or pre-settled status.
Keeping a record of the expiry date of a visa and requesting new immigration documents prior to the deadline, will help landlords to check that tenants do not continue living in their property past their permitted time in the UK.
Checks for tenants in the limited right to rent category should be completed no more than 28 days before the tenancy start date. A further right to rent check must be carried out again prior to the date that they are permitted to stay in the UK.
If a person does not have valid immigration status in the UK or their status has expired, they are deemed as having no right to rent. If you perform checks and identify that the prospective tenant has no right to rent, you must inform the Home Office. This also applies if you complete a follow up rent to rent check for an existing tenant whose immigration status has expired.
Allowing a tenant to continue living in your property without the right to rent could land you in serious legal trouble, including the possibility of a prison sentence in some cases.
Prior to any new tenancies, landlords must complete right to rent checks for any occupier aged 18 and above. This requirement is stipulated in the Immigration Act 2016 and is a legal responsibility.
If landlords have tenants who are on a limited right to rent, they also have a responsibility to complete further checks before the immigration status expires to check whether the tenant is legally allowed to continue living in the UK.
Some landlords choose to transfer the responsibility over to a letting agent or IDSP but it is important that the landlord has a written agreement for this, to protect them against legal proceedings if the correct right to rent check process has not been completed.
Compliance duties are growing under the Renters’ Rights Act 2026, and landlords in licensed areas should also read up on Southwark selective licensing.
Here’s a list of the acceptable documents to check, based on the category the person is within:
To make sure that you complete your tenant right to rent checks correctly, here are the steps to follow:
A. Verify original documents
Request to see the original documents for all occupants aged 18 and over, including for all nationalities. Copies are not acceptable; you must check the original documents and check that the identity document matches the appearance of the person. You should also check that date of births appear to be accurate. Landlords are also required to take a copy of the document and keep it for the duration of the tenancy plus a further 12 months.
B. Perform an online Home Office check
If the tenant has a share code issued by the Home Office, the landlord can use the online check service to verify their immigration status. Anyone who has been issued with an eVisa should be provided with a share code, making the checks easier to complete.
C. Use an Identity Service Provider (IDSP)
Landlords have the option of using an Identity Service Provider (IDSP) to do the checks on their behalf. This will usually require a setup fee to be paid plus fees for all subsequent checks completed.
Follow-up right to rent checks are periodic checks for existing tenants who are in the limited right to rent category. After the initial right to rent check that is conducted prior to the start of the tenancy, the date of expiry of immigration status should be recorded so that a follow-up right to rent is completed to check the tenant still has the right to live in the UK and can continue to live in the property legally.
There are some exemptions for right to rent checks, such as children aged under 18 and tenants with long standing tenancy agreements dating prior to February 1997. People living in social housing, student accommodation and healthcare facilities are also exempt but for private rented property, all tenants aged 18 and over must be checked for their right to rent.
We provide a full managed property service including carrying out right to rent checks and many other legal responsibilities to make your life easier as a landlord. If you have a rental property in Elephant & Castle, Waterloo or Bermondsey, please contact our team of experienced letting agents to find out more about how we can help you become a successful landlord.
We’re here to help with any property-related queries you may have
Becoming a landlord can be very profitable, but you must pay tax on rental income. To avoid penalties, you must understand your tax oblig...
What are a London landlord’s repair obligations in 2026? Landlords have long had obligations to make repairs under the Landlord and Tenan...
In London areas like SE1, warehouse conversions have become highly in-demand rental properties. High-earning professionals are attracted ...
Lee Whitelock
Director
Being a landlord in London can be confusing. How do you make sure you are compliant?