A new code of practice for the Right to Rent scheme, a new code on avoiding unlawful discrimination and a new landlord’s guide all took effect on 1 October 2026. The duty itself has not changed: check before the tenancy starts. This guide covers what is new and what is not.
Right to Rent applies in England only. Under the Immigration Act 2014, landlords and letting agents must check that adult occupiers have the right to rent before the tenancy starts. It applies to certain residential tenancy agreements, not every arrangement, so the landlord’s guide is the place to confirm whether yours is covered.
There are three ways to do the check: the Home Office online service using a share code, a digital check through a registered Digital Verification Service Provider, or a manual check of documents from the lists in the landlord’s guide. Each is set out below.
This guide is part of our landlord compliance series, sourced guides to the deadlines and duties facing English landlords right now.
A new code of practice for the scheme. From 1 October 2026 the seventh code of practice for the Right to Rent scheme, issued under section 32 of the Immigration Act 2014, is in force.
A new anti-discrimination code. Also in force from 1 October 2026 is a new code of practice on avoiding unlawful discrimination when conducting right to rent checks, issued under section 33. It replaces the 6 April 2022 version.
A new landlord’s guide. A new landlord’s guide to right to rent checks, dated 1 October 2026, was published alongside the codes. If you use a provider for digital checks, it must be a registered one (see below).
Digital versions of documents. From 1 October 2026 each of the acceptable document lists can include the authoritatively digitally issued version of a document, where one exists.
For a tenant with an eVisa, you use the Home Office service “Check a tenant’s right to rent in England: use their share code”. The tenant gets the code themselves, through the service View your eVisa and get a share code to prove your immigration status.
The share code is valid for 90 days, and you use it together with the person’s date of birth.
Where you carry out a Home Office online check, you do not need to see the documents in the lists as well.
This route will matter more over time. Visa vignettes are being replaced by eVisas, with the move away from vignettes from 1 July 2026.
You can use a Digital Verification Service Provider (DVSP) to check a tenant’s documents digitally. You do not have to. The landlord’s guide puts it this way: “Whilst it is not mandatory to conduct right to rent checks digitally in this way, if a landlord chooses to do so, it is mandatory that the DVSP is registered.”
A DVSP can check valid British or Irish passports, or Irish passport cards, including ones up to 6 months past their expiry date.
If an agent or a referencing company does this step for you, it is worth asking which provider they use and confirming it is registered.
List A is for a continuous right to rent. It comes in two groups.
List A, Group 1. Examples include a British passport, current or expired; an Irish passport or Irish passport card, current or expired; and naturalisation or registration certificates.
List A, Group 2. Any two documents from this group. Examples include a UK birth certificate, letters from government or employers, and a current UK driving licence.
List B is for time-limited permission.
These are examples, not the full lists. The landlord’s guide dated 1 October 2026 sets out every acceptable document and the conditions attached to each, and from that date each list can include the authoritatively digitally issued version of a document where one exists.
For breaches on or after 13 February 2024, the maximum penalties are:
First breach: up to £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier.
Repeat breach (a previous penalty within 3 years): up to £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier.
These figures come from the code of practice dated 13 February 2024. The 1 October 2026 changes are to the codes, the guide and the documents you may accept, not to these penalty levels.
1. Work from the 1 October 2026 documents. The scheme code, the anti-discrimination code and the landlord’s guide all changed on that date. If your process was written against the 6 April 2022 anti-discrimination code or an older guide, it is out of date.
2. Check before the tenancy starts. That is when the duty bites, for every adult occupier.
3. For an eVisa holder, ask for a share code. Use it with their date of birth in the Home Office service, within its 90-day validity.
4. If you check digitally, use a registered provider. Digital checks are optional, but a DVSP you use must be registered.
Does Right to Rent apply outside England? No. The Right to Rent scheme applies in England only, to certain residential tenancy agreements, under the Immigration Act 2014.
What changed on 1 October 2026? A new (seventh) code of practice for the Right to Rent scheme, issued under section 32 of the Immigration Act 2014, came into force, along with a new code of practice on avoiding unlawful discrimination when conducting right to rent checks, issued under section 33, which replaces the 6 April 2022 version. A new landlord’s guide to right to rent checks dated 1 October 2026 was also published.
When do I have to do the check? Before the tenancy starts. Landlords and agents must check that adult occupiers have the right to rent.
Do I have to use a digital check? No. Digital checks through a Digital Verification Service Provider are optional. If you choose to use one, the provider must be registered.
How do I check a tenant who has an eVisa? Use the Home Office service “Check a tenant’s right to rent in England: use their share code”. The tenant gets a share code through “View your eVisa and get a share code to prove your immigration status”. The code is valid for 90 days and must be used with the person’s date of birth. If you do a Home Office online check, you do not need to see the documents in the lists.
Can I accept an expired passport? A British passport and an Irish passport or passport card are in List A, Group 1 whether current or expired. A DVSP can check valid British or Irish passports or Irish passport cards, including ones up to 6 months past expiry.
Did the penalties go up on 1 October 2026? No. The current maximums have applied to breaches on or after 13 February 2024: up to £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier for a first breach, and up to £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier for a repeat breach, meaning a previous penalty within 3 years.
UK Property Portal is written and published by Dan Woodcock, working independently from UK. It is a one-person operation — there is no newsroom and no research team behind it — and every figure, date and threshold on this page is sourced, attributed and dated to the document it comes from. Read the full editorial standard →
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