Signup to the SWLA
The system allowing Adjusted checks (using Zoom calls and copies of documents for example), ends on 30 September 2022.
From 1 October 2022, agents and landlords responsible for tenancy applications and repeat Right to Rent checks will need to revisit their processes in readiness either for a return to manual face-to-face checks (which will still be permitted where someone shows eligible identification as a UK and Irish citizen) or be signed up to one of the proptech service providers certified by the UK Government as a digital identity service provider (IDSP). Checks on overseas nationals will need to be processed using the Home Office’s share code system which can be accessed by agents and landlords, free of charge.
Adjusted checks were introduced as part of COVID-19 measures to reduce face-to-face contact and were extended while the Home Office worked to introduce a robust digital solution for checks on UK and Irish nationals. Once Adjusted Right to Rent checks end, where a landlord wants to offer a digital check to those with UK and Irish ID, the landlord will need to be signed up to an IDSP incurring a chargeable service. Alternatively, landlords will be able to offer manual, face-to-face checks where the applicant offers eligible UK or Irish ID. Where landlords do choose to utilise an IDSP, they must make allowance for British and Irish nationals who choose for their identity to be verified offline and must not discriminate on this basis.
Digital checks on overseas nationals can be conducted simply and without incurring external costs using a digital share code and date of birth provided by the applicant and checked via the real-time Home Office system.
Follow up Right to Rent checks remain as important as ever
If landlords have been unable to obtain the repeat Right to Rent check for an overseas national during a tenancy, the Home Office should be notified in order that the landlord establishes a ‘Statutory Excuse’ which will provide the legal audit trail against any overstayer and/or a civil penalty.
Note – the date on which adjusted Right to Rent checks ends may be pushed back – it has been before! If there are any changes to this date – we will keep members informed.
Article Abridged from Propertmark
For in depth Right to Rent Guides and information, see the gov.uk website;
Landlord’s guide to right to rent checks
Check your tenant’s right to rent
