Right to rent check: why landlords must check if their foreign tenants are entitled to reside in the UK – or risk a hefty fine

Victoria Whitlock asks her foreign tenant to prove his status – but is his "residence card" enough to avoid a £1,000 fine? 
Alamy Stock Photo
Victoria Whitlock5 February 2019

Standing in front of my tenant, I feel a little embarrassed. I have just told him that he must show me proof of his ongoing right to rent in the UK, otherwise I will have no choice but to boot him and his family out of my flat.

He looks astonished and tells me that I don’t need to worry, he has the right to live here. He is from Asia, but his wife is an EU citizen so it’s fine for them to stay, he says.

Sure, I tell him, but I must see the proof from the Home Office. He moved into my flat with his wife and two little kiddies almost a year ago and the time-limited visa he showed me in February last year has long since expired.

He and his wife want to renew their tenancy agreement for a further 12 months, but I can’t issue them with a new contract until I know that he is legally entitled to remain here.

I have texted him a couple of times to ask to see proof and he hasn’t responded, so I have decided to come and ask him in person.

In truth, I don’t know what evidence I am expecting to see. I am not a border guard. I am not trained by the Home Office, I haven’t a clue what documents someone from Asia married to someone from the EU needs in order to be legally entitled to rent a flat in London. Nevertheless, I must see something, otherwise I risk a £1,000 fine.

In the end he brings me a “residence card”, which looks similar to a driving licence. It says it’s a “family member” permit and it is valid for five years.

However, I still don’t know if this is the proof I need to be able to grant him a new tenancy agreement. Also, how do I know that it’s even legitimate?

I’m not suggesting for one second that I don’t trust my tenant, but my teenage children have … ahem … friends who have managed to get fake drivers licences so they can buy booze and you’d never know they weren’t real.

I take a photograph of the card and go home to call the Home Office to check that it’s valid. Rather unhelpfully, the Landlord’s “Helpline” has a recorded message that informs me that the Home Office cannot verify a tenant’s ID over the phone. Instead, it refers me to the gov.uk website.

After a few minutes rummaging around on the site, I find a Right to Rent checklist that shows that a residence card is a valid form of identification.

However, I want to be 100 per cent sure that it’s not a forgery, so I request a Home Office Right to Rent Check online. After all, these guys are the experts, not me.

This means I have to submit the tenant’s details to the Home Office, but first I must get his permission. I feel squeamish about asking him, it’s like saying that I don’t trust him, but he says it is fine, he has nothing to hide.

However, after I have submitted the information online I get an email straight back from the Home Office saying that it’s my responsibility to check the documents, not theirs. Marvellous.

Unfortunately, we landlords are going to have to get used to being untrained border guards because after Britain leaves the EU on March 29 it seems likely that as well as checking the visas of citizens from outside Europe, we will have to check the status of EU citizens as well.

Victoria Whitlock lets four properties in south London. To contact Victoria with your ideas or views, tweet @vicwhitlock.

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