New Right to Rent rules for EU nationals

The government has confirmed how landlords and letting agents will check the right to rent status of EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens after 30 June 2021, many of whom will no longer be able to physically document their right to rent in England after this date. Citizens from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland who have successfully applied to the EU Settlement Scheme or for a UK visa will need to use the government’s new “View and Prove” online service to share their right to rent status with landlords and letting agents.

How to check a tenant’s right to rent with the View and Prove service

  1. Ask your tenant to log into the View and Prove service and then click ‘prove your status’.
  2. The tenant will then need to select the reason they want to share their status – to prove their right to rent – and will be shown a preview of the information that will be shared with the landlord or letting agent.
  3. The tenant then clicks ‘create share code’, which will supply a share code which will be valid for 30 days.
  4. The tenant will need to provide this share code, along with their date of birth, to the landlord or letting agent. They can email this to the letting agent directly through the View and Prove service, printing the screen, writing down the code or telling them the code.
  5. The landlord or letting agent can then enter the tenant’s share code and date of birth at the government’s view a tenant’s right to rent portal and confirm the tenant has the right to rent.

There may be some circumstances where a person cannot currently create a UKVI account, including those who were given, or continue to hold, a physical document, for example a biometric residence card (BRC) or biometric residence permit (BRP), however, they can use the online right to rent check service to generate a share code, which can also be used by other international residents in England to prove their right to rent.

The government’s guidance notes that “in the future, everyone will be able to register for a UKVI account which will also allow them to access the View and Prove service”, with details to follow “in due course”.

However, many will still be able to show they do have permanent right to rent:

  • Irish nationals can still establish permanent right to rent by showing the landlord a genuine passport identifying them as an Irish national;
  • Other EU nationals can establish permanent right to rent by showing they have a current residence card. An expired card will no longer be suitable.
  • Where the EU national has settled status, they can provide the landlord with their date of birth and share code, allowing the landlord to access an online portal to verify their permanent right to rent status.
  • Where an application to stay or remain in the UK has been made before 30 June 2021 and the tenant does not have any documentation, the landlord can ask the Government’s Landlord Checking Service to confirm whether it is safe to let to them.

If any of these checks are successful then there is no need for further follow-up checks.

What is the situation for existing tenants?

The new legislation is not backdated so tenancies signed before 30 June 2021 follow the old rules with the old evidence requirements.

Any tenants who establish permanent right to rent through one or two documents from List A and sign the agreement before 30 June, will still have permanent right to rent from 1 July 2021.

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