Right to Rent: The Codes of Practice Changed on 1 October 2026

If you let property in England, one of your core duties just had its rulebook refreshed. The Home Office's Right to Rent Codes of Practice — the official guidance that tells landlords how to carry out immigration-status checks, and how to do so without discriminating — were revised with effect from 1 October 2026. The checks themselves aren't new, but the guidance you're expected to follow has been updated, including the part on avoiding unlawful discrimination. It's a quiet change that's easy to miss and worth catching, because the codes are what you're measured against if a check — or a rejection — is ever questioned. Here's what the codes are, what the update means, and the discrimination line to stay on the right side of. This is general guidance, not legal advice — read the current codes and verify the detail on GOV.UK.

A quick recap: what Right to Rent is

Right to Rent requires landlords in England to check that every adult who will occupy a property as their only or main home has the right to rent in the UK, before the tenancy starts. We cover the mechanics — share-code checks, certified digital checks, manual document checks and follow-ups — in our full guide to Right to Rent checks. This post is about the guidance that sits over those mechanics, which is what changed on 1 October.

What the Codes of Practice are — and why they matter

There are, in effect, two official codes, and both matter:

• The code on conducting checks — how to carry out a check correctly so that you establish the "statutory excuse" that protects you from a civil penalty if a tenant later turns out not to have the right to rent.
• The code on avoiding unlawful discrimination — how to carry out those checks without breaching equality law, which is where a lot of well-meaning landlords slip up.

Because these are the official statements of what good practice looks like, they're the yardstick a court, a tribunal or the Home Office will use. Following the current version is how you show you did things properly; working from an out-of-date copy is exactly the sort of gap that undermines a defence. Pull the latest codes from GOV.UK and make sure your process matches them.

The discrimination tightrope

This is the heart of the update, and the part to get right. The duty is to check everyone — but the trap is checking everyone inconsistently. The classic mistakes the discrimination code exists to prevent are:

• Only checking people who "look or sound foreign" — you must apply the same check to every applicant, including British citizens, not just those you assume might be migrants.
• Turning someone away because their documents are unfamiliar — or because they prove their status digitally rather than with a passport you recognise.
• Refusing applicants on protected grounds — nationality, ethnicity and the like — dressed up as a Right to Rent concern.

Refusing a tenant for a discriminatory reason is unlawful, and a landlord who screens selectively can end up facing a discrimination claim and an invalid check at the same time. The safe approach is a single, consistent process applied to every applicant for every tenancy, whatever your impression of them.

What this means for your process

For most landlords already doing checks properly, the update is a prompt to confirm rather than overhaul — but it's a prompt worth acting on:

1. Download the current codes from GOV.UK and skim them, so your process reflects the 1 October version, not an old one.
2. Check every adult occupier the same way, using the correct route (online share-code, certified digital, or manual) for their circumstances.
3. Never single people out by appearance, accent, name or nationality — consistency is both the legal requirement and your best defence.
4. Keep the Right to Rent check separate from, but alongside, your referencing — one is a legal immigration duty, the other a commercial risk check.
5. Date and store every check and follow-up, so you can show a consistent, compliant process if it's ever questioned.

What landlords should do now

1. Read the updated codes on GOV.UK — both the checking code and the discrimination code.
2. Standardise your check process so it's identical for every applicant, and write it down.
3. Train anyone who lets on your behalf — agents or family — so they apply the same consistent process.
4. Keep dated records of each check, the route used, and any follow-up dates.
5. Treat referencing and Right to Rent as separate duties, and keep both on file.

Right to Rent has always been a "do it, and prove you did it properly" duty — and the refreshed codes sharpen the "properly" to include doing it fairly. The landlords who sail through are the ones running one consistent, documented check on every applicant, using the current guidance. Confirm your process against the 1 October codes, keep the records, and a rule change that trips others up is a non-event for you.

General guidance for UK landlords, not legal advice. The Right to Rent scheme applies in England; the Codes of Practice, acceptable documents, checking methods and penalties are set by government and change — the 1 October 2026 update is summarised here in general terms, so always read the current codes and verify the detail at GOV.UK, and take professional advice, including on equality-law obligations, where needed.