As you will be aware, before entering a tenancy agreement, landlords must check that their existing or prospective tenants can legally rent their property in England to avoid a civil penalty, which has been the case since 2015.
The immigration system is digitising and moving away from a system reliant on people proving their rights through physical documents that are sometimes decades old, to a streamlined system that is digital by default. As part of this, the Home Office are making some changes.
You can use the right to rent online checking service on GOV.UK to view the immigration status of existing and prospective tenants. The service is simple, secure, free to use and enables checks to be carried out by video call.
From 6 April 2022, the right to rent online checking service must be used for biometric residence card and permit (BRC/P) holders, as they will no longer be able to use their BRC/P for a manual right to rent check, even if it shows a later expiry date.
Also from 6 April 2022, landlords will be able to use certified Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) service providers to carry out digital checks on behalf of British and Irish Citizens who hold a valid passport (or Irish passport card).
