The duty

Before a tenancy in England starts, the landlord must check that every adult who will occupy the property has the right to rent, every adult occupier, not just the tenants named on the agreement. The government’s guidance and acceptable documents are at GOV.UK: check a tenant’s right to rent ↗.

How to check

• Document check: see the original documents with the person present, check they look genuine and belong to them, and copy them.
• Online check: for those with a Home Office share code, run the online check and keep the result.

Check everyone the same way. Applying different levels of scrutiny to different applicants is where landlords drift into discrimination; one consistent process protects the tenant and you alike.

What to keep, and why it is the whole point

The checks before the tenancy plus the records are your statutory defence. A check you cannot evidence might as well not have happened. Keep the copies or online-check results for the length of the tenancy and beyond, dated, filed per property, findable on a bad day. If you cannot lay hands on them today, treat that as a gap to close, our free exposure quiz counts this among the eight duties it checks.

Follow-up checks

If someone’s right to rent is time-limited, diary a follow-up check before it expires. A time-limited right is a renewable item with a date on it, like the gas certificate, and it belongs in the same per-property file.

The habit

• Check every adult occupier before the tenancy starts, never after.
• Copy or record everything, date it, file it per property.
• Diary follow-ups for anything time-limited.
• Same process for everyone, every time.

Based on UK government guidance for England, current at the date above. This guide is general information, not legal advice: for your specific situation, consult a qualified letting agent, solicitor or your local authority.