Advice for private landlords

The  Immigration Act 2014 (opens new window) requires landlords to check the immigration status of all new tenants before the property is let to them. 

You must check all new tenants.  It is against the law to only check people you think are not British Citizens.

You are required to do follow-up checks if there is a time limit on your tenant's their permission to stay in the UK.

You could be sent to prison for 5 years or get a fine for renting property in England to someone who you knew or had 'reasonable cause to believe' did not have the right to rent in the UK.

This includes if you had any reason to believe that:

• they did not have leave (permission) to enter or stay in the UK
• their leave had expired
• their papers were incorrect or false

You can also be fined if both of the following apply:

• you rent your property to someone who is not allowed to stay in the UK
• you cannot show that you checked their right to rent

To find out how to do the checks, refer to the Immigration Right to Rent Check (opens new window) information on GOV.UK for further details.