Right to Rent Check Wizard — Compliance & Penalty Calculator
Check whether a right to rent check is compliant, work out the follow-up-check deadline for a time-limited visa, and see the civil penalty exposure if it's wrong — England only.
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A right to rent check only protects you if it is done the right way, before the tenancy starts, on every adult occupier. Get any part of that wrong and you lose the “statutory excuse” that stands between you and a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per occupier for a repeat breach — or, if you knew, a criminal offence carrying up to five years in prison. This wizard checks whether a given check qualifies, works out when the next one is due for a tenant with a time-limited right to rent, and shows the penalty exposure if it turns out to be wrong.
Who has to be checked
Every adult who will use the property as their only or main home needs a right to rent check — named on the tenancy or not, and whether the agreement is written, oral or simply understood between you. Landlords cannot check selectively: gov.uk is explicit that “it’s against the law to only check people you think are not British citizens,” however confident you are that someone already has the right to rent.
The three routes to a statutory excuse
A statutory excuse is the Home Office’s own term for a landlord’s defence against a civil penalty — its guidance defines it as “a landlord’s or letting agent’s defence against a civil penalty, which can be obtained where they carry out prescribed right to rent checks.” There are three ways to get one, and each has to happen before the tenant moves in:
- A manual document check. A List A document (a British or Irish passport, indefinite leave to remain, and similar) proves an unlimited right to rent and gives a continuous excuse — no follow-up needed. A List B document proves a time-limited right to rent and only gives a time-limited excuse.
- A digital ID check (IDVT / DVS). Available since 6 April 2022, this route covers only British and Irish citizens holding a valid passport (or Irish passport card) — it also gives a continuous excuse.
- The Home Office online service. A tenant with a digital immigration status (settled or pre-settled status, a visa, or an eVisa) generates a share code; you enter it with their date of birth on gov.uk to view their status directly. This works for both unlimited and time-limited cases — the service itself states which applies and, for a time-limited result, the date a follow-up check is required.
For someone with a time-limited right to rent, the check must happen no sooner than 28 calendar days before the tenancy starts; there is no such window for an unlimited right to rent, which can be checked at any time beforehand. A check carried out after the tenant has already moved in cannot create a statutory excuse for that tenancy at all — the Home Office guidance is direct on this: a statutory excuse “can only be maintained when you have correctly conducted initial right to rent checks before the beginning of the tenancy,” and a late check cannot fix that afterwards.
The follow-up check: 12 months or expiry, whichever is later
A List B document, a time-limited online result, or certain visitor checks all give a time-limited excuse rather than a continuous one. Home Office guidance is specific about how long that lasts: the excuse runs until the latest of — 12 months from the date of the check, the date the tenant’s permission to be in the UK expires, or the date their Home Office document stops being valid. Miss that date and the excuse lapses even if nothing else has changed. If the follow-up check then shows the tenant no longer has the right to rent, you must report it to the Home Office to keep your statutory excuse — not reporting it can itself mean a fine or up to five years in prison.
If a check goes wrong — the penalty
Getting the check wrong, or skipping it, exposes you to the same civil penalty covered in full on the right to rent fines page: £10,000 per tenant in rented accommodation for a first breach, £20,000 for a repeat one — £5,000 and £10,000 respectively for a lodger taken into your own home. Pay within 21 days and gov.uk knocks 30% off. None of that applies if you can show a correctly conducted, correctly timed check with the right evidence retained; it applies in full, multiplied by every occupier without the right to rent, if you cannot. Knowingly letting to someone with no right to rent is separate and criminal — an unlimited fine and, in the most serious cases, up to five years in prison.
Where this fits with the rest of your compliance
Right to rent sits alongside the other checks a new tenancy needs. See the Renters’ Rights Act hub for everything else that changed in England from 1 May 2026, the tenancy agreement generator and written statement of terms guide for the paperwork a new tenancy needs, and the tenancy deposit calculator for the other 30-day deadline every new tenancy carries. The right to rent scheme itself is England-only — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own separate immigration and tenancy frameworks.
Sources: Home Office, “Landlord’s guide to right to rent checks” (cover-dated 26 June 2025; gov.uk publication page shows “last updated 10 August 2026”), read in full 13 Sep 2026. gov.uk step-by-step guide “Check a tenant’s right to rent in England” (who you must check, how to check, follow-up checks), read 13 Sep 2026. Civil penalty figures, the 30% early-payment discount and the criminal offence are reused exactly as sourced on the right to rent fines page from gov.uk “Penalties for illegal renting,” read 5 Sep 2026. General information, not legal advice — a genuine dispute over a document, a share code or a penalty notice should go to a solicitor or an immigration adviser.
Asked constantly
List A documents (a British or Irish passport, indefinite leave to remain, and similar) prove an unlimited right to rent and give a continuous statutory excuse. List B documents prove a time-limited right to rent and only give a time-limited excuse, which needs a follow-up check. Since 6 April 2022 you can also use a digital ID check (IDVT/DVS) for British or Irish passport holders, or the Home Office online service (a share code) for anyone with a digital immigration status.
The follow-up check is due by the later of: 12 months from the date of the last check, or the date the tenant's immigration permission or Home Office document expires — whichever comes later. Miss that date and the statutory excuse lapses even if nothing else about the tenancy has changed.
It's the Home Office's own term for a landlord's or letting agent's defence against a civil penalty for illegal renting, obtained by carrying out the prescribed right to rent checks in the right way and at the right time. With it, you won't be penalised even if a tenant turns out not to have the right to rent. Without it, you're exposed to the full penalty.
It doesn't create a statutory excuse for that tenancy at all. Home Office guidance is explicit that a statutory excuse can only be maintained where the initial check was correctly carried out before the tenancy began — you can't fix a missed or late check by doing one afterwards, or by reporting the tenant to the Home Office at a later date.
£10,000 per tenant in rented accommodation for a first breach, £20,000 for a repeat one — £5,000 and £10,000 respectively for a lodger in your own home — with a 30% discount if you pay within 21 days. Knowingly letting to someone with no right to rent is a separate criminal offence carrying an unlimited fine and up to 5 years in prison.
No — British and Irish citizens don't hold the kind of digital immigration status the share-code service checks, so there's no online record to view. They're checked with a List A document (their passport) or, since 6 April 2022, a digital ID check (IDVT/DVS) instead.
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Sources
The primary documents this page is built from. Links checked 5 September 2026.