Lodger Landlords need to be aware that new legal rules came into force in England on 1 February 2016.
You now need to carry out check on all new lodgers since that date – but just in England as these rules do not apply in Wales.
However if you are in England, it is important that you checks are done as if they are not, you risk a penalty charge of £80, rising to £500 for a subsequent offence.
In most cases it should be fairly straightforward. Most lodgers will be British. Provided you keep a copy of the passport with your paperwork and record the date you took the copy, you should be fine.
However if you take in lodgers for overseas, or lodgers who are not British or from the EU or Switzerland, things will be a bit complex.
The Right to Rent Checklist and Record form
In order to help, I have prepared a ‘right to rent checklist’. This has detailed guidance on how to carry out the check and a form for you to keep a record. You can get it for £10 from my Your Law Store website here. Or, if you get our New Lodger Pack, the form has been added to this without any increase in price.
We have also updated our lodger agreement and the Monday to Friday agreement to take account of these new rules.
