Changes to Right to Rent checks from 1 July
News at Howard Independent Estate Agents | 01/07/2021
Article by ARLA Propertymark* Amended 2/7/2021
The Home Office has released a revised Right to Rent Code of Practicefor changes to checks in England, from 1 July 2021.
Why the changes?
The UK left the European Union (EU) and the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020 ended free movement law in the UK on 31 December 2020. On 1 January, a grace period began, during which time relevant aspects of freedom of movement law allowed eligible EEA and Swiss (EEA) citizens and their family members resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. This period ends on 30 June 2021.
Code of Practice
A code of practice has been published with updates that reflect the introduction of the new Regulations, making a number of changes that come into force after 1 July 2021.
What does this mean?
In broad terms, from 1 July agents will move from checking nationality to checking the UK immigration status of all adult applicants. From this point, if someone is an EEA, EU, or Swiss national, you will need to see evidence of their UK immigration status rather than their national identification. Annex D, which is on page 52 of the 'Landlord's guide to right to rent checks,' outlines the changes for EA, EU, or Swiss nationals from 1 July 2021.
EU Settlement Scheme
Most EEA citizens resident in the UK will have made an application to the EU Settlement Scheme and will have been provided with digital evidence of their UK immigration status. They will evidence their Right to Rent by sharing their immigration status digitally, using the Home Office online Right to Rent service on GOV.UK.
Share code
Digital checks were introduced in December 2020. The applicant provides a share code and their date of birth, which is inputted to reveal a status of unlimited or time limited status to remain. This is a big step forward for the sector making checks significantly simpler.
Although the majority of EEA citizens will have a digital share code that they can offer to evidence their status, it is not mandatory to use this, and applicants must not be discriminated against if they choose to offer hard copy documents for an in-person check (or video check under COVID-19 adjusted arrangements until 31 August 2021).
There will be EEA citizens who have another form of leave in the UK, which is held in a physical document, for example, an endorsement in a passport, visa, or vignette. Those documents are included in the prescribed document lists, providing landlords with a statutory excuse against liability for a civil penalty. For further information on acceptable documents see Page 22 of the code of practice
Video calls
- Digital status checks can be conducted by video call permanently while hard copy checks will still need to be conducted in person (NB. Covid adjusted checks remain in place until 31 August 2021)
*ARLA PROPERTYMARK - https://www.arla.co.uk/
Propertymark has worked closely with the Home Office Right to Rent team throughout recent months to raise practical issues around the application of the scheme
Other articles:
18/06/2021: Change to start date for 'In Person' Right to Rent checks
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