Right to Rent in the UK

Right to Rent Checks in the UK

By law, under the Immigration Act, all letting agents and landlords in England are required to verify that every adult occupier aged 18 or over has a valid legal status to reside in the UK before a tenancy can begin.

This check applies to every single applicant, regardless of nationality or background, to ensure fairness and prevent discrimination. To make this process as fast as possible during your application stage, please review the requirements below based on your citizenship.

🇬🇧 🇮🇪 British & Irish Citizens

If you are a British or Irish citizen, proving your Right to Rent requires verifying your physical passport. During the initial application stage, you will upload a photograph or scan of your document, but you must also complete a physical verification:

Accepted Documents: A British or Irish Passport, an Irish Passport Card, or a Certificate of Naturalisation accompanied by an official photo ID (documents can be current or expired).
🏢 In-Office Verification: If you hold a physical passport, you will likely be invited to come into our office to present the original physical document to our team before your tenancy can be finalised.
⚠️ Strict Rule on Presentation: You must present your physical document in person. For legal compliance, we cannot accept a passport brought in by a friend, family member, or housemate on your behalf, nor can we accept photos or videos of the physical document on a mobile phone.
💻 Remote/Digital Option: If you absolutely cannot attend our office in person (for example, if you are relocating from another part of the country), please let us know. We can invite you to complete a secure digital ID verification via our approved identity service provider instead.

Physical Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) have been fully phased out by the UK Government in favour of a 100% digital eVisa system.

If you have a time-limited visa, pre-settled status, settled status, or indefinite leave to remain, you must prove your status digitally using the official GOV.UK online checking service.

Head directly to the official government tool: 👉 GOV.UK: Prove your right to rent to a landlord
Log into your UKVI account using your identity document details.
Select the option specifically to prove your Right to Rent (do not select right to work, as the system issues different codes).
The system will generate a 9-character share code that begins with the letter 'R' (e.g., R12-345-678).

What you need to provide to us:

During your application stage, you will simply enter:

Your 9-character 'R' Share Code.
Your Date of Birth.

Because this process is verified directly against the Home Office live database, a physical office visit for passport verification is usually not required for international applicants using a digital share code.

⏱️ Important Code Expiry: Right to Rent share codes are only valid for 90 days from the day they are generated. Please ensure your code is active when you submit your application details.

👥 What if I have an outstanding application with the Home Office?

If your current visa is expiring but you have already submitted an active extension or settlement application to the Home Office, you still have a right to rent under "Section 3C leave."

To verify this, you will be requested to provide your Home Office Application Reference Number. The referencing agency will then submit a direct query to the official Landlord Checking Service (LCS), which will issue a legal verification certificate directly to us.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Does my child need a check?

Checks are only mandatory for occupiers who will be 12 months or older and using the property as their main home. However, any children under 18 do not need to provide passports or share codes; we simply require their names and dates of birth for the household record.

Can my lead tenant bring in all the passports for our flat?

No. As mentioned above, anyone holding a physical passport must physically bring it into our office themselves so we can perform the required face-to-passport matching. If a household member cannot attend the office, we will invite that specific individual to complete their check digitally.

Having trouble generating your code?

If you are experiencing issues logging into your UKVI digital account or getting your code from the GOV.UK portal, please reach out to our team right away so we can guide you through alternative options.

📧 Email: hello@beecityliving.co.uk
📞 Phone: 0161 211 3908