The Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) Order 2014

This Order may be cited as the Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) Order 2014 and comes into force on 1st December 2014.

In this Order—

• “the Act” means the Immigration Act 2014;

• “asylum-seeker” has the meaning given in section 94(1) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999^f1;

• “biometric immigration document” has the meaning given in section 5 of the UK Borders Act 2007^f2;

• F1“charity” means a charity within the meaning of section 1 of the Charities Act 2011, or section 1 of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 or a body entered in the Scottish Charity Register;

• “claim for asylum” has the meaning given in section 94(1) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999;

• “derivative residence card” means a card issued in accordance with F2regulation 20 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 to a person who is not an EEA or Swiss national;

• “document” means an original document;

• F3“document certifying permanent residence” means a document issued under regulation 19(1) of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016;

• “further education institution” means an institution which is within the further education sector;

• “higher education institution” means—

  1. (a)

     an institution that has been granted degree-awarding powers by either a Royal Charter, an Act of Parliament or the Privy Council; or

  2. (b)

     an institution not falling within paragraph (a) but which provides full courses that lead to the award of a degree by an institution falling within that paragraph;

• “Home Office online right to rent checking service” means the electronic system operated by the Home Office allowing landlords or agents to check whether a person has a right to rent in the United Kingdom and, if so, the nature of any restrictions on that person’s right to do so;

• F4“identity document validation technology” means technology operated by a person for the purpose of verifying the identity of another person (“the subject”), whereby a digital copy of a physical document relating to the subject is produced by or in relation to the subject for verification of—

  1. (a)

     the document’s validity, and

  2. (b)

     whether the subject is the rightful holder of the document;

• “IDVT identity check” means the response generated by an IDVT identity service provider, using identity document validation technology, when undertaking identity verification with respect to a person;

• “IDVT identity service provider” means a person that provides identity verification services using identity document validation technology;

• “Landlord Checking Service” means the enquiry and advice service for landlords and agents operated by the Home Office;

• “occupier” means any adult who is authorised to occupy premises under a residential tenancy agreement;

• “online right to rent check” means the response generated by the Home Office online right to rent checking service in relation to a person;

• “permanent residence card” means a permanent residence card issued under regulation 19(2) of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, and includes an “accession residence card” within the meaning of the Accession of Croatia (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2013 issued to a person who is not an EEA or Swiss national;

• “Positive Right to Rent Notice” means a document issued by the Landlord Checking Service which indicates that the person named in it is not disqualified from occupying premises under a residential tenancy agreement;

• “prospective occupier” means an adult who, under a residential tenancy agreement, will be authorised to occupy premises;

• “public authority” has the meaning given by section 6(3) of the Human Rights Act 1998;

• “registration certificate” means a certificate issued under regulation 17 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016;

• “relevant IDVT document” means a document falling within the description in paragraph 1 or 1A of List A(1) of the Schedule and which has not expired;

• F5“residence card” means a residence card issued in accordance with regulation 18 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, and includes an “accession residence card” within the meaning of the Accession of Croatia (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2013 issued to a person who is not an EEA or Swiss national;

• “voluntary organisation” means a body (other than a public authority) whose activities are not carried on for profit.

For the purposes of sections 24(2) and (7)(a) and 26(2) and (7)(a) of the Act, a landlord or agent complies with the prescribed requirements if—

The landlord or agent must—

Where the landlord or agent obtains any document from an occupier or prospective occupier or the Landlord Checking Service pursuant to article 4, the landlord or agent must—

This article applies if a landlord or agent—

If the Landlord Checking Service fails to respond to a request made by a landlord or agent under article 4(b) F1or article 5A(1)(b) for confirmation of an occupier or prospective occupier’s eligibility to occupy private residential accommodation within a period of 48 hours, not including Saturdays or Sundays, Christmas Day or Good Friday, or any day which is a bank holiday in England and Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971^f1, then the landlord or agent may proceed as though the Landlord Checking Service had issued a Positive Right to Rent Notice.

Nothing in this Order permits landlords or agents to retain documents produced by an occupier or prospective occupier for the purpose of—

The prescribed period within which the prescribed requirements must be complied with for the purposes of sections 24(4) and 26(4) of the Act is 28 days ending on the day before the day on which the residential tenancy agreement which authorises occupation is entered into.

The prescribed form and manner of notification for the purposes of sections 24(8) and 26(8) of the Act is that it must be F1made via the GOV.UK website or by telephone and must—

A notice of objection must contain—

The prescribed period within which a notice of objection must be given for the purposes of section 29(3)(d) of the Act is 28 days, beginning with the date specified in the penalty notice as the date upon which it is given.

The prescribed period for the purposes of section 29(6) of the Act within which the Secretary of State must inform the objector of the Secretary of State’s decision is 28 days, beginning with the date on which the notice of objection was given to the Secretary of State.

The revised code of practice entitled “Code of practice on right to rent: Right to Rent Scheme for landlords and their agents”, issued by the Secretary of State on 23rd January 2024 under section 32(1) and (5) of the Act and laid in draft before Parliament on 15th November 2023, comes into force on 13th February 2024.

The revised code of practice entitled “Code of practice for landlords: Avoiding unlawful discrimination when conducting ‘right to rent’ checks in the private rented residential sector”, issued by the Secretary of State under section 33(2) of the Act and laid in draft before Parliament on 2nd March 2022, comes into force on 6th April 2022.

A passport (current or expired) showing that the holder is a British citizen or a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies having the right of abode in the United Kingdom.

F3A passport or passport card (in either case, whether current or expired) showing that the holder is an Irish citizen.

A document issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the Isle of Man, which has been verified as valid by the Landlord Checking Service, showing that the holder has been granted unlimited leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU(J) to the Jersey Immigration Rules, Appendix EU to the Immigration (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Rules 2008 or Appendix EU to the Isle of Man Immigration Rules (as the case may be).

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A passport or other travel document (current or expired) endorsed to show that the holder is exempt from immigration control, is allowed to stay indefinitely in the United Kingdom, has the right of abode in the United Kingdom, or has no time limit on their stay in the United Kingdom.

An immigration status document (current or expired) containing a photograph issued by the Home Office to the holder with an endorsement indicating that the person named in it is allowed to stay in the United Kingdom indefinitely or has no time limit on their stay in the United Kingdom.

A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen.

A letter issued no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented by an officer of the National Offender Management Service in England and Wales, an officer of a local authority in Scotland who is a responsible officer for the purposes of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995^f1 or an officer of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland confirming the holder’s name and date of birth and confirming that the holder is the subject of an order requiring supervision by that officer.

A current licence to drive a motor vehicle granted under Part 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988^f1 (to include the photocard licence in respect of licences issued on or after 1st July 1998) or Part 2 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981^f2 (to include the photocard licence).

A certificate issued no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented, by the Disclosure and Barring Service under Part V of the Police Act 1997^f1, the Scottish Ministers under Part V of the Police Act 1997 or the Secretary of State under Part V of the Police Act 1997, in relation to the holder.

A document, or a screen shot of an electronic document, issued no longer than three months before the date on which it is presented, by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Northern Ireland Department for Social Development or a local authority confirming that the holder is in receipt of a benefit listed in section 115(1) or (2) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999^f1.

A letter which—

A letter which—

A document issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the Isle of Man, which has been verified as valid by the Landlord Checking Service, showing that the holder has been granted limited leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU(J) to the Jersey Immigration Rules, Appendix EU to the Immigration (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Rules 2008 or Appendix EU to the Isle of Man Immigration Rules (as the case may be).

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(This note is not part of the Order)