From 1 February 2016, private landlords in England will have to carry out right to rent checks on prospective tenants and other authorised occupiers when granting a tenancy.

The Immigration Act 2014 prohibits private landlords of residential property from allowing certain people to occupy those properties. The prohibition is based on the immigration status of the occupiers.

Landlords and agents will have to check the nationalities and immigration status of prospective tenants and other authorised occupiers before granting a tenancy. Landlords must also make sure that someone’s right to occupy the premises does not lapse. Breaching the prohibition could lead to a civil penalty of up to £3,000.

So what do you need to do?

Before the start of a tenancy, you must make checks for tenants aged 18 or over even if they are not named on the tenancy agreement, if there is no tenancy agreement or the tenancy agreement is not in writing. So, if you have a person aged 18 or over living in your property then you will have to carry out the right to rent checks. If your tenant is only allowed to stay in the UK for a limited period of time, you need to make sure that you do the correct checks in the 28 days before the start of the tenancy.

How to make the check:

1. Check which adults will live at your property as their only or main home and ask the person you are entering into the tenancy with to declare who will be living at your property;

2. Request to see the original documents that allow the person to live in the UK;

3. Check that the documents are genuine and belong the person;

4. Make and keep copies of the documents and record the date you made the check.

Remember, you should keep up to date records of your checks. You should make a further check on your tenants to make sure that they can still rent the property in the UK if their permission to stay is time limited. You can still get a ne if you do not make a further check and your tenants permission to stay in the UK runs out.

You should therefore make a further check on all of your tenants before either (whichever is earlier):

1. the expiry date of your tenant’s right to stay in the UK; or

2. 12 months after the previous check.

What happens if your tenant does not pass a further check?

If you carry out a further check and your tenant does not pass those checks and you discover that your tenant can no longer legally rent your property then you must tell the Home Offce. If you do not you could be fined.

You can choose to evict your tenant if you want to but you must follow the correct steps to do this.

If you use agents to market and manage your property then it would be a good idea to ask your agents to carry out the checks for you and to keep the checks up to date.

As a note, if you have a tenant who sub-lets your property without you knowing then they are responsible to carry out the necessary checks on any sub-tenants.

So, think before you let your property and make sure that you have done everything you need to do to ensure that you have carried out all what you are obliged to do. If in doubt, seek advice or ask your letting agent.

(This article should not be treated or relied upon as legal advice and you should seek legal assistance for your own individual circumstances)