Tenancy & deposits
What is a right to rent civil penalty?
A right to rent civil penalty is the charge a landlord or agent can face for letting to someone without the right to rent, where the prescribed check was not carried out correctly.
The check is what creates the defence. Carried out correctly and in time it establishes a statutory excuse; carried out late or by the wrong route it does not, even where the occupier had every right to be there.
Penalties are higher for repeat breaches and higher for a lodger arrangement than a single occupancy, and in serious cases the exposure is criminal rather than civil.
Where an agent has accepted responsibility for the checks in writing, liability can move to them, which makes that written allocation worth having rather than assuming.
What goes wrong in practice
- Checks done after occupation began.
- Responsibility between landlord and agent never allocated in writing.
- Follow-up checks on time-limited permissions missed.