Amendment to Right to Rent Checks – Covid-19

by Patrick Garratt - 31st March 2020

The Home Office has announced that Right to Rent checks can be completed without meeting tenants during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As of the 30th March 2020:

• checks can now be carried out over video calls

• tenants can send scanned documents or a photo of documents for checks using email or a mobile app, rather than sending originals

• landlords should use the Landlord’s Checking Service if a prospective or existing tenant cannot provide any of the existing documents

Instructions for completing right to rent checks provided by the Home Office are as follows:

• Ask the tenant to submit a scanned copy or a photo of their original documents via email or using a mobile app.

• Arrange a video call with the tenant – ask them to hold up the original documents to the camera and check them against the digital copy of the documents.

• Record the date you made the check and mark it as “an adjusted check has been undertaken on [insert date] due to COVID-19”.

For the full details of the announcement click here.