Right to rent changes: What you need to know

Right to rent guidance for landlords and letting agents has been updated this month, but what has changed, and how will it affect you and your lettings? Here, NRLA policy officer Dan Cumming runs through what you need to know.

Updates to the way in which right to rent checks are carried out have been made this month. While there has been no major overhaul of requirements there are a few things you need to be aware of to stay compliant.

What has changed? 

Biometric Residence Permits and Cards

Sometimes referred to as BRP or BRC, these have now been decommissioned, with both being treated as having expired on 31 December last year, something we previously discussed here. 

The guidance confirms individuals who were using a physical immigration document like a BRP or BRC should instead create a UK Visa Immigration (UKVI) account and use the eVisa process to confirm their right to rent in the UK.

For most tenants, this will involve using the UKVI app and showing the landlord a share code alongside their date of birth to prove right to rent.

The guidance also confirms that tenants can - for now -  use the expired BRP and BRC to generate their share code.

This will make it easier for them to prove right to rent whilst the move to eVisas is taking place. 

Acceptable documents

There have also been some minor but important amendments to Annex A which lists the documents that a landlord can accept to prove right to rent during a manual right to rent check. 

Within Annex A:

List A: concerns itself with documents that prove an unlimited right to rent.

Within that:

• Group 1 documents can be used one their own to prove right to rent
• Group 2 documents must be presented alongside another document from group to to prove right to rent 

List B: outlines documents that can be used to prove temporary right to rent.

The guidance now clarifies that a clipped British or Irish passport is not acceptable as proof for right to rent.

This is a key distinction, as landlords can still check an expired British or Irish passport for right to rent (as a List A, Group 1 document) but, as a clipped one is cancelled rather than expired, it cannot be accepted 

Clarity is also provided with regards to List A Group 2, with the new rules allowing short and long birth certificates to be accepted when presented alongside official evidence of name and national insurance number. 

Ukrainian nationals

Annex C details the different schemes available to Ukrainian nationals to prove their right to rent, with guidance updated to confirm the opening of the Ukrainian Permission Extension Scheme this month.

Covid-19 

Further changes were made by removing the section on COVID-19 temporary adjusted checks.

Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)

ETAs allow an individual to travel to the UK and be permitted entry for up to six months for tourism, visiting family and friends, business or short term study. This is used either to enter through an ePassport gate or by seeing a Border Force Officer, whio will stamp their passport. This can then be treated as a valid passport for the purposed of the right to rent check to prove their time limited leave to remain in the UK. 

More information 

Landlords should of course continue to follow our guidance on how to perform a right to rent check to ensure they stay compliant. If you require any assistance with this process don’t hesitate to contact our support team on 0161 962 0010.

The NRLA's award-winning Training Academy also runs an Immigration and Right to Rent course. For more information and to book click here.