Propertymark Urges Home Office to Overhaul Right to Rent Guidance
The professional body for property agents, Propertymark, has formally called on the Home Office to significantly simplify its draft Right to Rent guidance, warning that the existing framework is too complex and operationally burdensome for letting agents to implement effectively. In its response to a government consultation, Propertymark argued that current regulations fail to reflect the day-to-day realities faced by letting agents who carry out Right to Rent checks on behalf of landlords across England.
This latest intervention highlights a long-running tension between regulatory requirements designed to enforce immigration compliance and the practical demands placed on the private rental sector. As the government continues to refine its approach, the property industry is making clear that clarity and simplicity are not optional extras — they are essential to ensuring the scheme actually works on the ground.
What Is the Right to Rent Scheme?
The Right to Rent scheme was introduced under the Immigration Act 2014 and came into force across England in February 2016. It requires landlords — and letting agents acting on their behalf — to check that all adult occupiers of a residential property have the legal right to reside in the United Kingdom before a tenancy begins. Landlords who fail to conduct adequate checks or who rent to individuals without the right to be in the UK can face civil penalties or, in serious cases, criminal prosecution.
The checks involve verifying identity documents such as passports, visas, and biometric residence permits. In recent years, the government also introduced a digital verification route through the Home Office's online checking service, which was partly a response to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which in-person document checks were temporarily suspended.
While the policy objective — to prevent illegal renting and reduce irregular migration — is broadly understood, the mechanics of compliance have consistently attracted criticism from industry bodies, landlords, and civil liberties organisations alike.
Why Propertymark Says the Current Guidance Falls Short
Propertymark's consultation response centres on a fundamental concern: the existing guidance does not adequately account for how letting agents actually operate. In many cases, it is not the landlord who conducts Right to Rent checks directly, but rather a letting agent instructed to manage the process on the landlord's behalf. The current framework, Propertymark argues, blurs lines of responsibility and creates confusion about liability when things go wrong.
Key concerns raised by Propertymark include the following:
- The guidance is written in a way that primarily addresses landlords, leaving letting agents without sufficient clarity on their own obligations and protections when conducting checks on behalf of a third party.
- The sheer volume and complexity of acceptable documents, combined with frequent updates to the rules, makes it difficult for frontline staff at letting agencies to stay fully compliant without significant ongoing training investment.
- There is insufficient practical guidance on how to handle edge cases, such as prospective tenants with complex immigration statuses, time-limited leave to remain, or documents issued by overseas authorities that are difficult to verify.
- The interplay between Right to Rent obligations and the Equality Act 2010 remains a persistent source of anxiety for agents who fear that rigorous document checks could expose them to accusations of discriminatory behaviour if not handled with great care.
Propertymark is calling for the Home Office to rewrite the draft guidance with letting agents explicitly in mind, providing clear, step-by-step processes that reflect how the rental market actually functions rather than assuming a direct landlord-to-tenant relationship in every case.
The Broader Impact on the Private Rental Sector
The call for reform comes at a time of considerable pressure on the private rental sector more broadly. Landlords and letting agents are navigating a raft of legislative changes, including the ongoing rollout of the Renters' Rights Bill, updated energy efficiency requirements, and evolving deposit protection rules. Against this backdrop, any additional layer of compliance complexity risks pushing smaller landlords and independent letting agencies to the margins.
Industry research has consistently shown that confusion around Right to Rent checks is widespread. A significant proportion of letting agents report uncertainty about exactly what documents they need to see, how to use the Home Office's online portal, and what records they are required to retain and for how long. When guidance is unclear, the natural response is over-caution — which in practice can mean prospective tenants with entirely legitimate status facing unnecessary delays or even being wrongly turned away.
This has real human consequences. Individuals with the right to rent who cannot quickly produce a passport or who have complex documentation scenarios may find themselves disadvantaged in a competitive rental market, simply because agents lack the confidence to process their applications correctly.
What Simpler Guidance Would Look Like
Propertymark's vision for improved guidance is not about weakening the scheme but about making compliance genuinely achievable. The body is asking for clear, plain-English documentation that distinguishes between the responsibilities of landlords and letting agents, supported by worked examples and decision-making flowcharts that agents can use in real time.
There is also a call for better integration between the Home Office's online checking service and the workflows that modern letting agencies already use, reducing the risk of administrative error and making it easier to maintain audit trails that would protect agents in the event of an enforcement investigation.
Looking Ahead
The government's consultation on the draft Right to Rent guidance represents an important opportunity to get the framework right. Propertymark's response is a timely reminder that well-intentioned policy only delivers its intended outcomes when those on the front line can understand and follow it with confidence. Simplifying the guidance is not a concession to industry convenience — it is a prerequisite for the scheme to function as intended and to protect both agents and tenants from the consequences of avoidable confusion.
As the Home Office reviews consultation responses, the property sector will be watching closely to see whether the final guidance reflects the operational realities that letting agents face every day.