Retaining evidence of a right to rent check

Please note: The following information is provided by the government in relation to guidance on Right to Rent checks. You can also find the most recent guidance here.

You must keep a record of every document you have checked.

This can be a hard copy or a scanned copy in a format that cannot be manually altered, such as a jpeg or pdf document.

You should keep the copies securely for at least one year after the tenancy agreement comes to an end.

You should also be able to produce these document copies quickly in the event that you are requested to show them to demonstrate that you have performed a right to rent check and retain a statutory excuse.

You must also make a note of the date on which you conducted the check. This can be by either making a dated declaration on the copy or by holding a separate record, securely, which can be shown to us upon request.
This date may be written on the document copy as follows: ‘the date on which this right to rent check was made: [insert date]’ or a manual or digital record may be made at the time you conduct and copy the documents which include this information.

You must be able to show this evidence if requested to do so in order to demonstrate that you have established a statutory excuse. You must repeat this process in respect of any follow-up check.

You may face a civil penalty if you do not record the date on which the check was performed.

Simply writing a date on the copy document does not, in itself, confirm that this is the actual date when the check was undertaken. If you write a date on the copy document, you must also record that this is the date on which you conducted the check