Published: 14/07/2021
From 1 July 2021, the focus of Right to Rent checks is on the immigration status of an applicant. For EEA and Swiss citizens resident in England before the end of 2020, this status will generally be Settled (where the person has lived in the UK for a continuous 5 year period) or Pre-Settled (where the person has not lived in the UK for 5 years in a row).
Letting agents can either make digital checks or hard copy checks. Most EEA citizens will have a digital share code that they can provide to agents to evidence their status. However it is not compulsory to use this and tenants may choose to offer hard copy documents for an in-person check (or video check under COVID adjusted arrangements which will be valid until 31 August 2021).
There is no requirement to carry out retrospective checks on EEA citizens who entered into a tenancy before 30 June 2021. A new check only needs to take place within 28 days before the start of any new tenancy.