Right to Rent checks for British tenants - Do I need to re-check after 12 months?

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get a quick sense check on my understanding of the Right to Rent rules.

My tenant is a British citizen, and I successfully carried out their initial Right to Rent check before they moved in over a year ago.

My hypothesis is that because my tenant is a British citizen, they have an “unlimited right to rent,” meaning my initial check established a “continuous statutory excuse” and I do not need to carry out any follow-up checks. My understanding is that the rule about having to re-check a tenant every 12 months only applies if the tenant has a time-limited permission to stay in the UK.

Can anyone confirm if my hypothesis is 100% correct here? I just want to make sure I’m fully compliant and not missing a mandatory renewal check!

Thanks in advance for any advice.

actual right to rent re-check for non-Brits is not actually 12 months. What it actually says is

You must do this check again when their permission to be in the UK expires on [date], or one year after the last check. The deadline is the latest of these dates.

The key word here is “latest.” So a LL with a T whose right to rent expires in, say, August 2029, needs to check in August 2029, not a year after last check.

I agree that it’s not worded well.

What this means for your situation is that yes, if someone is a British citizen when you initially check, your job is done for the duration of the tenancy.

Unless they leave the country to join ISIS.

@Suranjith

They dont have a time limited right to rent

See the guidance which says

"Those with an unlimited right to rent

The following groups of people currently have an unlimited right to rent:

• British citizens
• Irish citizens
• individuals who have the right of abode in the UK
• individuals granted settlement
• individuals granted settled or pre-settled status under the EUSS,
• individuals who have no time limit on their permission to stay in the UK."
.

Totally clear

Best