Hi, the law seems to say that checking the IDs of British and Irish citizens using a provider of the IDVT is the only statuary defence against Right to Rent mistakes, see:
As I understand it, there haven’t been any Right to Rent prosecutions yet anyway because it comes up against laws regarding discrimination, so maybe the point is moot…
UK and Irish citizens have to show you a passport for the Right To Rent check. Passport doesn’t even have to be currently in date. Just check the picture is a true likeness and that the passport hasn’t been obviously tampered with. Take a copy of the passport and date it. That it, don’t over complicate it.
As Chris suggests, UK citizens have the right to use a passport to prove R2R so the Govt would have to accept this as a statotory excuse if the landlord checked it properly and retained a copy