Why Right to Rent matters before a tenancy begins

If you are letting a property in Bath, the Right to Rent check is one of the first jobs to tick off — ideally well before the keys change hands. Since the scheme was rolled out across England in 2016, landlords and their letting agents have had a legal duty to confirm that every adult who will live in the property as their only or main home has the right to be in the UK. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland operate their own arrangements, so the rules below apply to properties in Bath and the rest of England.

Bath's rental market makes this particularly relevant. Between the two universities, a steady flow of overseas students on short courses, visiting academics, healthcare staff on placements at the Royal United Hospital, and professionals relocating from abroad, landlords here are more likely than most to let to someone with time-limited immigration permission. Right to Rent applies to every tenancy, not just the ones that look "international". It also covers lodgers, sub-lets you have consented to, and verbal arrangements where nothing is written down.

Get it right and the process takes minutes. Get it wrong and the civil penalties are significant, so it is worth building a simple routine rather than relying on memory.

Who you need to check, and when

The duty applies to all occupants aged 18 or over who will use the property as their only or main home. That includes people named on the tenancy agreement and adults who are not named but will still be living there, such as a partner or a grown-up child.

• Check before the tenancy begins. You must complete the check before you grant the tenancy and before anyone moves in. If you skip it and the tenant later turns out to have no right to rent, you cannot rely on a defence.
• Check everyone equally. Applying checks only to tenants who sound or look foreign is unlawful discrimination. A consistent process for every applicant is both fairer and safer.
• You can delegate, but you stay responsible. A letting agent can carry out the checks on your behalf, but unless there is a written agreement transferring the duty, the legal responsibility remains with you as the landlord.
• Watch for changes during the tenancy. If a new adult moves in mid-tenancy, or a child in the household turns 18, you should carry out a check at that point.

Acceptable documents: List A and List B

The Home Office splits acceptable evidence into two lists. List A documents show an unlimited right to rent in the UK; List B documents show permission that is time-limited. List A includes a British or Irish passport, a certificate of naturalisation or registration as a British citizen, a passport or travel document confirming the right of abode, and certain combinations such as a UK birth or adoption certificate alongside official confirmation of a National Insurance number. A current biometric residence permit showing indefinite leave to remain also sits on List A.

For time-limited permission, List B covers documents such as:

• A biometric residence permit or biometric residence card
• A passport containing a visa, stamp or endorsement showing limited leave to enter or remain
• An immigration status document issued by the Home Office
• A share code from the Home Office online checking service

Share codes are now the most common route, especially for EU, EEA and Swiss tenants who hold settled or pre-settled status. The applicant generates the code themselves through the online service and passes it to you. Codes are typically valid for 90 days, and you must use them before they expire. You then enter the code and the applicant's date of birth into the landlord checking service and receive confirmation of their status.

How to carry out and record the check

Where you are checking physical documents, you need to see the originals — not photographs or scans sent by email. Check that the documents are genuine, that the photographs match the person in front of you, and that the dates of birth are consistent across everything you are shown. The check should be done in the presence of the document holder, though a video call is acceptable where they cannot attend in person.

Then take a clear, legible copy. For a passport, copy the photo page plus any page containing a stamp, visa or endorsement. Record the date you carried out the check. Keep the copies securely for the duration of the tenancy and for 12 months after it ends, then dispose of them properly. You must not retain the original documents themselves.

Follow-up checks where permission is time-limited

If a tenant's permission to be in the UK expires during their tenancy, you are expected to carry out a follow-up check before that date. The simplest approach is to note the expiry date in your calendar the day the tenancy starts and set a reminder for roughly two months beforehand.

Where the original check was done with a share code, you can use the landlord checking service to run a follow-up check using the same code, provided it has not expired. If the tenant cannot demonstrate a continuing right to rent, you should report this to the Home Office rather than simply ending the tenancy yourself, as ending a tenancy without following the correct process can create its own problems.

Penalties, discrimination and getting it right in Bath

The consequences of getting this wrong are serious. A civil penalty can be issued for each tenant without the right to rent — up to £5,000 per tenant for a first breach and up to £10,000 for a repeat breach. It is also a criminal offence to knowingly let to someone who does not have the right to rent, which can carry an unlimited fine or a prison sentence.

Alongside that sits the duty not to discriminate. A tenant who is a British citizen should never be asked for more paperwork than anyone else, and you should not make assumptions based on a name, accent or nationality. If you are unsure whether a document is acceptable, the Home Office landlord checking service is the quickest way to get a definitive answer.

Right to Rent sits alongside the wider reforms to the private rented sector, and it remains very much in force. For Bath landlords, the practical answer is a short, repeatable routine: request documents or a share code from every adult applicant, verify them before the tenancy starts, save dated copies in a secure folder, and diarise any expiry dates. Done consistently, it protects you and gives your tenants a smooth, professional start to their tenancy.