Right to rent rules have changed from 1 October: what landlords and agents need to do

Right to rent has had a quiet but important overhaul. From 1 October 2026 the Home Office rules on how checks must be carried out in England have changed, and the change lands at a moment when getting the pre-tenancy checks right matters more than it ever has. With Section 21 gone and every tenancy now periodic, a mistake at the front door is not something you can tidy up later with a no-fault notice.

The duty itself is the same as before. What has changed is the detail of how you discharge it, and in particular which digital checks now count. Here is our summary of what landlords and letting agents need to know, and what we would suggest you do about it.

Right to rent applies to residential tenancies in England only. This post is general information rather than legal advice, so please refer to the current Home Office guidance and take professional advice where you need it.

Where the changes come from

The new rules come from amending regulations made in June 2026 that took effect on 1 October. They update the 2014 order setting out how right to rent checks must be done, replace both statutory codes of practice (one on the scheme and its penalties, the other on avoiding discrimination) and the Home Office has reissued its landlord guide to match.

Two bigger shifts sit behind them. The first is the move to a fully digital immigration system: physical immigration documents are giving way to eVisas, and vignette stickers in passports were phased out from July 2026. The second is the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, which created an official government register of digital verification services. Right to rent is now tied directly to that register, which is the part that affects anyone using technology to run their checks.

What has not changed

Before a tenancy starts you must still check that every adult who will live in the property as their only or main home has the right to rent. That includes people not named on the agreement and it includes British citizens. If someone has a time-limited right to rent, the check must be done no more than 28 days before the tenancy is entered into. Checks that were carried out correctly under the old guidance remain valid.

The three ways to check

1. A manual check. You look at original List A or List B documents with the applicant present, either in person or on a live video call where they hold the originals up to the camera. A photo or scan emailed over in advance does not count. You then take copies and keep them on file.

2. The Home Office online service. This covers anyone whose status is held digitally, which now means every eVisa holder. The applicant gives you a right to rent share code (it starts with R and lasts 90 days) plus their date of birth, and you run the check yourself on the GOV.UK service. A screenshot or the applicant's own phone screen is not enough. You also need to be satisfied that the photo matches the person in front of you. Note that eVisas cannot be checked through a third-party provider.

3. A registered digital verification provider. This is where the real change is. The old rules talked about certified identity document validation technology. The new rules say that if you use a digital service it must be a provider on the government's digital verification services register, and listed as providing right to rent checks specifically. An unregistered photo-matching app, a generic screening tool or a passport image sent by email will not give you a statutory excuse, however polished the result looks.

The scope of digital checks has also widened. Registered providers can now verify British and Irish passports (and Irish passport cards) for up to six months after expiry, provided the document chip can be read. They can also verify digital versions of List A and B documents where the issuing authority offers them. Facial comparison remains available through a registered provider, and you must keep a copy of the comparison together with the provider's confirmation.

One practical point catches people out. British and Irish citizens cannot get a share code, so they have to be checked manually or through a registered provider. In other words, you need more than one route in your process, whichever you use most.

Why a statutory excuse matters

The statutory excuse is the legal defence that protects a landlord or agent from a civil penalty if it later turns out an occupier had no right to rent. You only get it by carrying out the check in one of the prescribed ways. Convenience is not a defence, and from October neither is a digital check from a provider that is not on the register.

Discrimination: the other half of the rules

The revised discrimination code gives applicants a degree of choice. You cannot insist that someone uses a digital check, and you cannot demand a specific document if they can offer an acceptable alternative. If a digital or facial check fails to complete, you should offer another route. The code also makes the point that automated processes must not produce discriminatory outcomes.

Just as importantly, applicants whose status is quick to verify (typically British or Irish nationals) must not be favoured over others, and tenants with a time-limited right to rent must not be treated less favourably once that comes to light. Consistency is the whole game here: check everyone, in the same way, and keep a written record that shows you did. Checking only the applicants who "seem foreign" is a race discrimination claim waiting to happen, and compensation under the Equality Act has no upper limit. Discrimination by an agent can also be attributed to the landlord unless the landlord took reasonable steps to prevent it, so landlords are entitled to ask their agents how the process works.

This dovetails with the Renters' Rights Act, which now bars blanket refusals of applicants with children or those receiving benefits. Landlords are understandably more cautious about who they let to now that tenancies are open-ended. That is fine, provided the same process is applied to everyone and you can evidence it.

The penalties

• Civil penalties are charged per disqualified person. For a lodger: up to £5,000 for a first breach and £10,000 for a repeat within three years. For any other occupier: up to £10,000 and £20,000 respectively
• There is also a criminal offence where a landlord knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, that an occupier is disqualified. The maximum sentence is five years. It is aimed at rogue operators, but ignoring obvious warning signs is not a high bar to clear

Possession and follow-up checks

If an occupier turns out to be disqualified, possession runs through Ground 7B, a mandatory ground with two weeks' notice. It is only available once the Home Office has served written notice identifying the person, so you cannot use it simply because someone's leave has expired. If you suspect a problem you can ask the Home Office for a Notice of Letting to a Disqualified Person, but the Home Office controls the timing.

Follow-up checks deserve more attention than they used to get. For a tenant with a time-limited right to rent, your statutory excuse lasts until the later of one year from the check or the end of their permission to stay. You must re-check before then, and if the tenant fails you must report it to the Home Office promptly to keep your excuse. Under the old regime most tenancies ended within a year or two anyway. Now that every tenancy is periodic and potentially indefinite, those follow-ups can recur for years, so you need a reliable diary system rather than a sticky note.

Who carries the liability

Where a landlord appoints an agent in writing to carry out the checks, liability for civil penalties passes to the agent. The appointment has to be in writing, so it is worth both sides reading the management agreement and confirming exactly who is responsible for the initial check and for follow-ups. If a tenant takes in a lodger or sub-lets, the tenant is responsible for checking that occupier unless the landlord has agreed otherwise in writing.

What we would do now

• Ask your referencing or ID provider, in plain terms, whether their right to rent check is delivered through a provider on the government's digital verification services register. If they cannot answer, that is your answer
• Write down your process for all three routes and apply it to every adult occupier, British citizens included
• Review management agreements so landlords and agents both know who owns the initial and follow-up checks
• Set up a follow-up diary for every tenant with a time-limited right to rent, and keep it running for as long as the tenancy does
• Keep copies of everything: document copies, share code results, facial comparisons and provider confirmations

At Vorensys our digital identity checks are delivered through Yoti, a UK government-certified digital identity provider, and the results are stored alongside the rest of the reference so there is nothing to file separately. We covered the background to share codes and digital ID in our earlier right to rent guide, and the wider picture in our post on why referencing matters more without Section 21. If you would like to talk through how the October changes affect your process, call us on 01630 318181.