How often do right to rent checks need to be done, and how long is a check valid?

In England, right to rent is a landlord duty before allowing an adult to occupy a rented home; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland do not have the right-to-rent checking duty. The practical answer depends on whether the occupier has an unlimited or time-limited right to rent.

When do you have to do a right to rent check?

In England, you have to do a right to rent check before the residential tenancy agreement is entered into, and for a time-limited occupier the statutory window is the 28 days ending the day before the agreement is signed. That is sharper than much guidance that talks about when to carry out right to rent checks before the tenancy starts: the Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) Order 2014 ties the 28-day period to the day before the agreement authorising occupation is entered into, not to move-in day. For a person with an unlimited right to rent, the Immigration Act 2014 allows the prescribed check at any time before the agreement is entered into. The core rule is that a landlord must not authorise an adult to occupy under a residential tenancy agreement if that adult is disqualified by immigration status; in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the right-to-rent duty does not apply.

How long does a right to rent check take to come back?

A right to rent check in England is immediate for a Home Office online share-code check, while the only statutory turnaround rule is that the Landlord Checking Service is treated as positive after 48 hours excluding weekends, Christmas Day, Good Friday and bank holidays in England and Wales. That means the common answer that a right to rent check takes 2 working days is not the legal timer: the Order says 48 hours with specified excluded days, and if the Landlord Checking Service has not responded by then the landlord or agent may proceed as though a Positive Right to Rent Notice had been issued. Manual document checks have no statutory response time because the landlord is inspecting the evidence rather than waiting for a government decision. Abodient can store right-to-rent evidence against the tenancy record, which matters because the check date and evidence decide whether a landlord can show a statutory excuse later.

How often do right to rent checks need to be repeated?

In England, right to rent checks are repeated only for time-limited occupiers, and the recheck is due at the end of the longest of three statutory periods, one of which is exactly one year from the last check; a tenant with no time limit on their stay is never rechecked. That is the clean answer to how long a right to rent is valid, how long a right to rent check is valid, and how often right to rent checks need to be done: unlimited status lasts for the tenancy without follow-up, while limited status creates an eligibility period that can be renewed by doing the prescribed check again. The Immigration Act 2014 says the eligibility period for a limited-right occupier is the longest of the listed periods, including one year from the last prescribed check; GOV.UK also states that no follow-up check is needed where there is no time limit on the tenant’s permission to stay in the UK.

What happens if a tenant's right to rent expires during the tenancy?

If a tenant’s right to rent expires during an English tenancy, the tenancy is not void, but the landlord must preserve the statutory excuse by doing the required follow-up or reporting the contravention to the Home Office as soon as reasonably practicable. A tenant whose visa expires during a tenancy can create a post-grant contravention if they become disqualified and continue to occupy, but the Immigration Act 2014 says that a contravention does not affect the validity or enforceability of the residential tenancy agreement. The civil penalty figure now worth using is £10,000 per occupier for a first breach, reduced to £7,000 under the Faster Payment Option if paid within 21 days; older £3,000 figures still circulating in landlord advice are superseded by the Home Office Code of Practice in force from 13 February 2024. A landlord may use the section 33D termination route only after the Home Office notice condition is met.

Do you have to re-check tenants when you take over a tenancy mid-term?

In England, you do not have to run fresh initial right to rent checks on sitting occupiers when you take over a tenancy mid-term, but you should confirm the previous landlord’s checks, keep the evidence, and check any new adult occupier added by assignment as if they were joining afresh. For an incoming landlord or agent onboarding tenancies from an outgoing agent mid-term, the Home Office Code says the new landlord should confirm that checks were undertaken and retain evidence such as copies of documents checked by the previous landlord. If a time-limited occupier later loses the right to rent and the necessary follow-up checks were missed, the landlord in place when the breach is identified is responsible. If the transferring landlord cannot provide evidence that a due follow-up check was carried out, government guidance says it is advisable to conduct a check. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have no right-to-rent duty to inherit.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Immigration Act 2014 s.22 — “A landlord must not authorise an adult to occupy premises under a residential tenancy agreement if the adult is disqualified as a result of their immigration status.” Source
• Immigration Act 2014 s.24 — “The prescribed requirements may be complied with for the purposes of subsection (2)(a) at any time before the residential tenancy agreement is entered into.” Source
• Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) Order 2014 art.8 — “The prescribed period within which the prescribed requirements must be complied with for the purposes of sections 24(4) and 26(4) of the Act is 28 days ending on the day before the day on which the residential tenancy agreement which authorises occupation is entered into.” Source
• GOV.UK prove your right to rent — “You do not need to prove your right to rent in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.” Source
• Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) Order 2014 art.6 — “If the Landlord Checking Service fails to respond to a request made by a landlord or agent under article 4(b) or article 5A(1)(b) for confirmation of an occupier or prospective occupier’s eligibility to occupy private residential accommodation within a period of 48 hours, not including Saturdays or Sundays, Christmas Day or Good Friday, or any day which is a bank holiday in England and Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971(1), then the landlord or agent may proceed as though the Landlord Checking Service had issued a Positive Right to Rent Notice.” Source
• Home Office Code of Practice on right to rent, 13 February 2024 — “The online service allows checks to be carried out by video call, and landlords do not need to see physical documents as the right to rent information is provided in real-time, directly from Home Office systems.” Source
• Immigration Act 2014 s.27 — “An eligibility period established under subsection (1) may be renewed (on one or more occasions) by complying with the prescribed requirements again.” Source
• Immigration Act 2014 s.27 — “The length of an eligibility period established or renewed under this section in relation to a limited right occupier is the longest of the following periods—” Source
• Immigration Act 2014 s.27 — “(a)the period of one year beginning with the time when the prescribed requirements were last complied with in relation to the occupier;” Source
• GOV.UK further checks — “You do not have to do a follow-up check if there’s no time limit on your tenant’s permission to stay in the UK.” Source
• Immigration Act 2014 s.22 — “(c)the adult continues to occupy the premises after becoming disqualified.” Source
• Immigration Act 2014 s.22 — “A contravention of this section does not affect the validity or enforceability of any provision of a residential tenancy agreement by virtue of any rule of law relating to the validity or enforceability of contracts in circumstances involving illegality.” Source
• Immigration Act 2014 s.24 — “(a)the landlord has notified the Secretary of State of the contravention as soon as reasonably practicable;” Source
• Home Office Code of Practice on right to rent, 13 February 2024 — “Making a report to the Home Office maintains a statutory excuse where the eligibility period in respect of an occupier has expired.” Source
• Immigration Act 2014 s.33D — “The landlord under a residential tenancy agreement relating to premises in England may terminate the agreement in accordance with this section if the condition in subsection (2) is met.” Source
• Home Office Code of Practice on right to rent, 13 February 2024 — “If a landlord has not previously been in breach of the Scheme, they will be subject to the lower penalty amounts of £5000 per lodger or £10,000 per occupier.” Source
• Home Office Code of Practice on right to rent, 13 February 2024 — “Where the landlord qualifies for the FPO, the final penalty amount will be reduced from £10,000 to £7,000 per occupier (in the case of a tenant) or from £5,000 to £3,500 per occupier (in the case of a lodger).” Source
• Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Modification of Act) Order 2014 — “In relation to a residential tenancy agreement where the interest of a landlord is assigned to a new landlord, the provisions at section 24 and section 26 of the Act have effect subject to the modifications set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Schedule to this Order.” Source
• Home Office Code of Practice on right to rent, 13 February 2024 — “If a landlord acquires a property with sitting occupiers, the new landlord should confirm with the transferring landlord that right to rent checks have been undertaken and retain evidence, for example copies of the documents (physical or digital) checked by the previous landlords, to demonstrate this.” Source
• Home Office Code of Practice on right to rent, 13 February 2024 — “If an occupier had a right to rent at the time the residential tenancy agreement was granted, but they have subsequently lost that right to rent and the necessary follow-up checks were not conducted, then the landlord at the time the breach is identified will be responsible.” Source
• Home Office landlords’ guide to right to rent checks — “If the transferring landlord is unable to provide you with evidence that a follow-up check was carried out, it is advisable to conduct a check.” Source
• Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Modification of Act) Order 2014 — “(b)consents to the assignment of a residential tenancy agreement by one or more tenants which results in the grant of the right to occupy the premises to one or more new occupiers (“a tenant assigned tenancy”), or” Source