If you hold valid indefinite leave to remain, you have an unlimited right to rent, but a landlord still needs to check your evidence for a new tenancy in England. If your status is held as an eVisa, generate a right-to-rent share code and give it to the landlord with your date of birth. If you still rely on an eligible legacy ILR endorsement in a passport, a manual document check may be available instead.
The useful question is which proof route fits your record. A code that no longer works, an expired passport and an incorrect immigration-status display are different problems. ILR Calculator UK provides independent general information, not a decision about your status or legal advice.
Check the property location and your actual permission
The statutory right-to-rent scheme discussed here applies in England. You do not need this immigration check to rent in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The official right-to-rent overview explains that boundary and the available ways to prove your right.
Start with the permission you currently hold. An application for ILR is not an ILR grant. If you are still waiting for a decision, tell the agent that your application is pending and use the evidence route for that situation. Do not describe yourself as settled solely because you expect approval.
For a household, keep each adult's position separate. Your ILR does not prove a partner's or another adult occupier's status. Passing the immigration check also does not guarantee that a landlord will offer you the property; it answers a different question from the rest of the rental application.
Generate the rental code and finish the hand-off
Use the GOV.UK service to get a right-to-rent share code. Have your date of birth and the identity details used for your UKVI account ready. Follow the service's sign-in steps and select the purpose of proving your right to rent in England.
The rental code begins with R. A code beginning with W or S serves another purpose and will not work for this check. A right-to-rent code is valid for 90 days and can be used more than once during that period. If it has expired, create a fresh rental code.
Send the code and your date of birth directly to the landlord or authorised letting agent. Keep your UKVI password and sign-in security codes private: those are not the rental share code.
Before treating the task as finished, record:
- which landlord or agent received the rental code;
- when you supplied it and when they plan to check it;
- whether they confirmed a successful result or reported a specific error.
A short message is usually clearer than a large attachment bundle: “I have generated a right-to-rent share code for the property application. Please confirm once you have completed the check, or send me the exact error if it does not work.” Supply the private code and birth details through the agreed channel, not in a public message.
What should the landlord's check establish?
The landlord must use their side of the Home Office checking service. Looking at your own eVisa screen or a screenshot you sent is not the prescribed online check. They must match the profile photograph to you, which can be done in person or by video call, and retain evidence of the result.
The Home Office landlord's guide explains these steps and the different follow-up rules. A correctly completed check establishing an unlimited right to rent does not require periodic further checks for that tenancy. Expiry of the share code used for the check does not turn that result into a time-limited right.
However, a response from the Landlord Checking Service can carry its own follow-up requirement. A positive notice from that service provides the landlord with a 12-month statutory excuse from the date specified. That is the landlord's protection against a penalty, not a new expiry date for your ILR. Read the actual result rather than assuming every successful check produces identical paperwork.
If an agent asks for another code, ask what they are trying to resolve: a new tenancy, a missing record of the previous check, a time-limited checking-service notice or a result still showing your earlier permission. That question makes it easier to address the request without confusing an administrative follow-up with loss of settlement.
If your ILR is recorded in an old passport
An expired passport containing an eligible ILR endorsement can still be used for a manual right-to-rent check. The Home Office guide to immigration documents expressly recognises this. The landlord needs to inspect the original eligible evidence and follow the document-check procedure; an unexplained photograph of a stamp is not an equivalent process.
If your name has changed, prepare the document that explains the difference, such as a marriage certificate or deed poll. Tell the agent about the mismatch before the appointment so they know why the names differ.
Keep this legacy-document route separate from an eVisa or a biometric residence permit. People with an eVisa must use the Home Office online service. A physical BRP or BRC, whether current or expired, is not accepted as manual right-to-rent evidence. Do not assume that every document with an old expiry date is treated in the same way.
An eligible document should not be rejected merely because the agent prefers a share code. If that happens, ask which document requirement they believe is missing and point them to the official guidance. If the question is whether your ILR itself remains valid, document format alone cannot settle it; get advice about the status before relying on the endorsement.
When the agent cannot complete the check
Ask for the exact problem before generating codes repeatedly. A failed transaction needs a different response from a successful check displaying the wrong status.
| What happened | Useful next step |
|---|---|
| The code starts with W or S | Generate a code specifically for right to rent. |
| The rental code has expired | Create a new R code and agree when the agent will use it. |
| The code and birth details were entered incorrectly | Compare what you supplied with what the agent entered. |
| The result shows an old visa or unexpected limit after ILR | Keep the result and your decision notice, then pursue the status discrepancy. |
| You cannot access or generate usable digital proof | Seek UKVI help and ask the agent whether a Landlord Checking Service request is needed. |
For a displayed status that conflicts with the grant, use our guide to reporting a wrong eVisa status after ILR. It explains how to separate an incorrect immigration record from changed personal details and how to prepare the discrepancy evidence. Updating a passport detail does not by itself resolve the wrong immigration status.
The Landlord Checking Service is for landlords and letting agents. It can be relevant where a digital-status error remains unresolved after you have sought correction, acceptable proof cannot be obtained, or a qualifying pending case cannot be evidenced online. Give the agent the relevant Home Office reference and explain what you have already tried.
Home Office guidance says the service responds within two working days. The landlord should follow the response and its stated conditions, including any future check. Do not assume that the passage of two working days, without a response the landlord can rely on, has resolved your case. The guidance tells landlords to delay entering into a tenancy agreement until they receive the checking-service response.
What if a moving deadline arrives before the records agree?
The next decision depends on which part remains unresolved. If the agent has a valid checking result but wants unrelated rental information, ask them to identify that outstanding requirement. If the Home Office result still conflicts with your grant, keep the digital-error report, decision notice and agent's message together and seek specific help about the discrepancy.
Agree how the agent will tell you when the check is complete, and keep the proposed moving timetable visible in your correspondence. A correction request is not a guarantee that an application for a particular property will remain open. Equally, a letting deadline does not justify asking an agent to ignore a negative or contradictory official result. Where the two processes collide, a clear record of the unresolved issue is more useful than another unexplained screenshot.
Frequently asked questions
Does an ILR holder need a right-to-rent check everywhere in the UK?
The immigration right-to-rent scheme applies in England, so an ILR holder arranging a new tenancy there still needs to provide the appropriate proof. The same scheme does not apply in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Check the property location before obtaining a code for this purpose. Also ask the agent to distinguish an immigration check from other information requested for the rental application.
Does my ILR expire when my share code expires?
No. The code is a temporary way for a landlord to access a checking result; its 90-day validity is not the duration of your immigration permission. If a landlord has not used it before it expires, generate another rental code. If the result itself displays an unexpected restriction after ILR, investigate that discrepancy separately instead of assuming that a new code will correct the underlying record.
Can I use an expired passport or BRP to prove my right to rent?
These documents have different rules. An expired passport containing an eligible ILR endorsement can be accepted through the manual document-check route. A physical BRP or BRC is not accepted as manual right-to-rent proof, and an eVisa holder must use the online service. Show the agent which evidence you actually hold and prepare an explanation for any name difference rather than treating all expired documents as interchangeable.
Can I give my landlord the share code I used for a job?
Use a code generated specifically for renting. A rental code starts with R; a work code starting with W, or a code starting with S for another service, cannot be used for the landlord's check. Return to the official service, choose the rental purpose and send the resulting code with your date of birth. Ask the agent to confirm that they completed their own check successfully.
Should my landlord repeat the check after I have proved ILR?
A prescribed check establishing an unlimited right to rent does not require periodic further checks for that tenancy simply because the original share code expires. However, the evidence route matters: a Landlord Checking Service notice can specify a follow-up requirement. Ask the agent whether the request concerns such a notice, a new tenancy or an unresolved earlier result, and work from the actual checking record.
What can I do if I cannot generate a rental share code?
Identify whether the problem is account access, a technical failure or an incorrect immigration record, and seek help through the appropriate UKVI route. Keep the error and relevant Home Office reference. Your landlord or agent may need to request verification through the Landlord Checking Service where the official conditions apply. The request belongs to them; a tenant's screenshot or grant email does not replace their required checking process.
