Thursday, 17 September 2026
A tenant can pass affordability checks, provide references, pay the required deposit and appear ready to move in.
There is still another question landlords in England are legally required to answer: does every adult who will occupy the property have the right to rent?
That requirement is not new, but an updated Home Office Code of Practice comes into force on 1 October 2026. For landlords and letting agents, it is a timely reason to examine how tenant onboarding is actually being handled.
The danger with Right to Rent is treating it as an immigration check performed only when somebody “looks international”. That is precisely the approach landlords should avoid.
Every prospective adult tenant needs to be treated consistently
Before a new tenancy begins, landlords must check prospective tenants aged 18 or over where the Right to Rent scheme applies. This can include adults who are not named on the written tenancy agreement.
The process should be applied consistently.
Government guidance specifically warns against checking only people whom a landlord assumes are not British. The updated anti-discrimination Code of Practice, also taking effect on 1 October, reinforces the importance of carrying out checks fairly rather than making assumptions based on nationality, ethnicity, accent or appearance.
This makes a standard onboarding procedure particularly valuable.
When every relevant applicant goes through the same defined process, compliance becomes less dependent on individual judgement.
A passport is not the only route
Right to Rent checks have increasingly become digital.
Depending on the person's circumstances, the landlord may be able to conduct the check using a Home Office share code and the government's online service. Other applicants may establish their status through acceptable documents or another prescribed route.
The important point is not to invent a method because it feels sufficient.
The landlord needs to carry out a check that complies with the statutory scheme and retain the appropriate evidence.
Where somebody has only time-limited permission to remain in the UK, follow-up checks may also become necessary. That means Right to Rent cannot always be treated as a one-time document collection exercise that disappears into the tenancy folder forever.
Timing can create problems at the end of onboarding
Imagine a tenant is due to move in on Saturday.
The agreement has been prepared, keys are ready and everybody assumes the administrative work is complete. On Friday afternoon somebody realizes that the Right to Rent check has not been properly completed.
That is exactly the kind of situation a structured onboarding process should prevent.
For a person with a time-limited right to rent, the prescribed check needs to be carried out within the relevant period before the tenancy starts.
Compliance works much better when it forms part of the sequence from application to move-in rather than appearing as an afterthought immediately before key collection.
Good record-keeping matters after the check
A landlord needs more than the memory that somebody showed a document.
The evidence generated by the appropriate check should be retained in accordance with the rules. Where an agent is responsible for conducting checks, the agreement between landlord and agent should also make responsibilities clear.
This becomes particularly important across a portfolio.
A landlord with one property may remember the circumstances of an individual tenant. A property manager dealing with dozens of occupancies cannot sensibly depend on memory.
The file needs to tell the story.
Compliance and discrimination need to be considered together
Right to Rent creates an unusual responsibility.
Landlords are required to check immigration status for the purposes of the scheme, but they must do so without unlawfully discriminating against applicants.
Those responsibilities are not contradictory.
They are the reason a consistent procedure is so important.
Check everyone who needs to be checked. Use the prescribed process. Avoid assumptions. Keep the evidence. Complete follow-up checks where they are required.
From 1 October 2026, the updated Codes of Practice make this an especially appropriate time for landlords and agents to review whether their onboarding process actually does all five.
*DISCLAIMER- THIS PHOTO HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM PINTEREST. *