eVisa / BRC / BRP / FWP Holders
Individuals who have the right of abode in the UK, or who have been granted settlement or have settled status, including via the EU Settlement Scheme, or have no time limit on their permission to stay in the UK have unlimited right to rent. You can conduct checks on those with an unlimited right to rent at any time before the start of a tenancy agreement but you do not need to conduct any further checks.
Individuals who have valid immigration permission for a limited period of time will also have a time-limited right to rent. They will have a right to reside in the UK and will be able to provide documentary evidence (physical or digital) to demonstrate this. This includes individuals with valid Permission to Enter or Stay for a time limited period (including pre-settled status via the EU Settlement Scheme) or time-limited permission under the points-based immigration system, and individuals with an outstanding application with the Home Office.
For those individuals who have been granted an eVisa, the Home Office online service will confirm whether you will need to conduct a follow-up check and, if so, the deadline for when the follow-up check is required. You must conduct checks on those with a time-limited right to rent no sooner than 28 days before the start of a tenancy.
From 6th April 2022 applicants that hold an eVisa, Biometric Residence Card, Biometric Residence Permit or Frontier Work Permit must prove their right to rent via the Home Office website only. Using this online service applicants can generate a 9-character share code beginning with the letter ‘R’ for right to rent checks. When entered on the Home Office website alongside the individual’s date of birth, it enables you to access the information to verify the tenant’s right to rent. The share code will be valid for 90 days from the point it has been issued and can be used as many times as needed within that time. You cannot accept share codes which begin with the letter ‘W’ or ‘S’ as these are designed for other services. You cannot accept physical cards for the purposes of a right to rent check even if it shows a later expiry date.
Step 1
Use online service
The tenant may provide the share code with you directly, or they may choose to send it to you via the service. If they choose to send it to you via the service, you will receive an email from right.to.rent.service@notifications.service.gov.uk. We recommend asking applicants to provide their share code directly via the service to reduce the risk of fraud.
To check the tenant’s right to rent details, you will need to:
- access the service via the button below
- enter the ‘share code’ provided to you by the applicant
- enter their date of birth
Step 2
Check
You must check that the photograph from their profile page is of the tenant (i.e. the information provided by the check relates to them and they are not an imposter). If you enter into a tenancy agreement with someone on the basis of the online check, but it is reasonably apparent that the person in the photograph on the online service is not the prospective tenant, you may be liable for a penalty if they do not have the right to rent.
The online service will confirm that no further check is required for someone who has a continuous right to rent. For someone with a time-limited right to rent the service will advise when a further check is required.
Government-Certified Digital Right to Rent Checks Now Available
With our digitised Right to Rent checks, we use facial biometrics and Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) to verify the authenticity of your applicant’s ID document and ensure your tenant is the rightful owner of the document.
Find out more
For Tenant Authenticate customers please access this service here.
Step 3
Retain evidence of online check
You must retain evidence of the online check; this should be the profile page confirming the person’s right to rent. You have the option of printing the profile page (the response provided by the Home Office online service) or saving it as a PDF or HTML file.
You should store this securely (electronically or in hardcopy) for the duration of the tenancy agreement and for one year after the tenancy has come to an end. The file must then be securely destroyed.
Applicants with a Pending Biometric Residence Permit
For migrants overseas, who are granted permission to enter the UK for more than six months, they are issued with a vignette (sticker) in their passport which will be valid for 30 days to enable them to travel to the UK. Following their arrival, they will have 10 days or before their vignette expires (whichever is later) to collect their Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) from the Post Office branch detailed in their decision letter.
BRP holders must still collect their card, but they prove their right to rent using the Home Office online service rather than showing the physical document. They are strongly encouraged to collect their BRP before they enter into a tenancy agreement in order to use the information to generate a right to rent share code. If they need to enter into a tenancy agreement prior to collecting their BRP, they will be able to evidence their right to rent by producing the short validity vignette in their passport which they used to travel to the UK. You will need to conduct a manual right to rent check on the basis of this vignette, which must be valid at the time of the check. However, as this will expire 30 days from issue, you will have to repeat the check using the online service for the statutory excuse to continue.
If the follow-up check indicates that a tenant no longer has the right to rent you must make a report to the Home Office using an online form as soon as reasonably practicable after discovering that the tenant no longer has a right to rent and before your existing time-limited statutory excuse expires.