Right to rent checks for room renters
Before you move into a room in England, the landlord has to check you are allowed to rent. Here is what that involves and what to have ready.
Who is checked
Before a new tenancy starts, a landlord must check all tenants aged 18 and over, whether or not they are named on the agreement and whether or not there is a written agreement. The requirement applies in England only, not Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Landlords must not discriminate on the basis of origin, so the same check applies to everyone.
If you are British or Irish
You can show one of these:
- a British passport (current or expired)
- an Irish passport or passport card (current or expired)
- a certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen
If you have none of these, check the current GOV.UK guidance for other eligible evidence or a suitable digital verification route. Do not assume every document can be used through every service.
If you have no passport or citizenship certificate
British and Irish citizens may be able to use two eligible documents together. GOV.UK’s other-document route lists the options, including a current UK driving licence and a full birth or adoption certificate from the specified jurisdictions. Check the exact requirements for each document, including what it must contain and how recent it must be; do not assume one alternative document is enough.
If you are not British or Irish
The route depends on your immigration status and the evidence you hold. The current Home Office code says eVisa holders must use the Home Office online service. Eligible document-based routes also exist; follow the current guidance for your status rather than assuming either option is always available.
For people with limited time in the UK, the check must be done in the 28 days before the tenancy starts.
Share codes and missing immigration documents
A physical biometric residence permit or card is no longer accepted as proof on its own. Use the official right-to-rent share-code guidance to check eligibility and how to obtain a code. Follow the route for your status; an eligible original immigration-document route still exists for some people.
If you are not British or Irish and cannot provide the required evidence, GOV.UK says a landlord can ask the Home Office for a right-to-rent check. The immigration-document guidance explains the routes for missing documents and some pending applications. This is not an automatic permission to rent or a guarantee that an application will succeed.
Lodgers and exempt accommodation
Living with a resident landlord is not itself an exemption: GOV.UK says the check covers tenants and lodgers. Some accommodation and agreements are excluded from the scheme. Check the current official rules for the particular arrangement rather than relying on a general housing label. See also lodger or tenant: which are you?.
General England information; sources checked 15 October 2026. The document overview and landlord check page were read in full; the linked October code was checked for scheme scope and checking routes, not every administrative provision.
For the other checks landlords make, see references for renting a room.
This is general information for England, not legal advice. See also how renting with us works and do I need a guarantor?
Additional document and share-code routes checked 18 October 2026 against the linked GOV.UK pages. The earlier code-review scope above is unchanged.