Right to Rent Follow-Up Checks: When and How to Re-Verify Time-Limited Tenants

You verified your tenant's Right to Rent twelve months ago using a share code that showed a student visa. The visa expires next month. Do you need to check again? When exactly? And what do you do if the tenant says they've applied to extend but haven't heard back?

Follow-up checks are where most landlords' compliance breaks down. The initial check gets done because it's obvious — no check, no tenancy. But the follow-up is a calendar event that arrives quietly, and missing it silently strips away your statutory excuse.

When Follow-Up Checks Are Required

Follow-up checks apply only to tenants whose initial verification established a time-limited right to rent. This includes:

• Tenants verified via List B documents (time-limited visa endorsements)
• Tenants verified via a time-limited share code (pre-settled status, student visa, work visa)
• Tenants who received a Positive Right to Rent Notice from the Landlord Checking Service (12-month excuse window)

If you verified a tenant through List A documents (British passport, Irish passport, indefinite leave to remain) or they have continuous digital status (settled status, right of abode), no follow-up check is ever needed for the duration of the tenancy.

The Three-Date Rule

For a time-limited right evidenced by List B documents or an online status check, the follow-up deadline is the latest of these dates:

1. The date the tenant's immigration permission expires
2. Exactly 12 calendar months from the date of the previous check
3. The expiry date of the document evidencing the tenant's right to rent, if it expires later

The latest date is your deadline. You must complete the follow-up check before the time-limited excuse expires.

A Positive Right to Rent Notice (PRRN) gives a 12-month excuse from the date specified on the notice. Carry out another check before that date.

Example A: You check a tenant on 1 November 2025. Their visa expires 15 December 2026. The 12-month mark is 1 November 2026, but the visa runs to 15 December 2026. Assuming the document evidencing their right to rent does not expire later, your deadline is 15 December 2026 — the later date.

Example B: You check a tenant on 1 November 2025. Their visa expires 15 April 2026. The 12-month mark is 1 November 2026. The visa expired back in April, but the statutory excuse runs to the 12-month mark. Assuming the document evidencing their right to rent does not expire later, your deadline is 1 November 2026 — the latest date.

This rule prevents absurd outcomes where a landlord would need to re-check a tenant whose visa is valid for another two years just because 12 months have passed since the initial check.

Running the Follow-Up Check

The follow-up check uses the same routes as the initial check — share code, manual document check, or Landlord Checking Service — depending on the tenant's current circumstances.

If the tenant has received a new visa or extended their leave, they'll likely be able to generate a fresh share code. Run the GOV.UK online check as normal, save the profile showing the check date, and calculate a new follow-up deadline based on the updated status.

If the tenant's status is again time-limited, you're back on the follow-up clock — set another pair of calendar reminders and repeat the cycle.

If the tenant has been granted indefinite leave to remain or another unlimited status, their check converts to a continuous statutory excuse and no further follow-ups are needed.

The Section 3C Complication

The most common follow-up headache: the tenant's visa is about to expire, but they've submitted an in-time application to the Home Office for an extension. Under Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971, their existing leave is automatically extended while the application is being decided.

An in-time application can leave the Home Office online service unable to confirm the tenant's right to rent. If the tenant cannot provide a share code, or the online result cannot confirm their status, the standard route cannot establish the right to rent.

The solution: submit a Landlord Checking Service request where the tenant meets the LCS criteria. A Positive Right to Rent Notice gives you a fresh 12-month statutory excuse. If the LCS has not considered the request within 2 working days, its automatic response confirms that you can let the property and gives a 12-month excuse.

This is a genuinely time-sensitive situation. You need to get the LCS request submitted before your current statutory excuse expires. The LCS responds within 2 working days; if it has not considered the request by then, it sends an automatic response confirming that you can let the property and establishing a 12-month excuse.

When the Follow-Up Reveals a Problem

If the follow-up check shows the tenant no longer has a right to rent — their visa expired and they didn't extend, or the LCS returns a Negative Right to Rent Notice — you must report the situation to the Home Office using the online reporting service.

Reporting maintains your statutory excuse against civil penalties going forward. It doesn't require you to evict the tenant immediately — that's a separate legal process under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 (Ground 7B, with a two-week notice period under the Renters' Rights Act 2025). But failing to report removes your protection.

Calendar Systems That Actually Work

The difference between a compliant landlord and a penalised one is usually a calendar reminder. Set reminders relative to the latest of the three legal dates:

• An early warning before the follow-up deadline. If the 12-month date is latest, the 10-month mark is a useful prompt; if the permission or document expiry is later, set the reminder ahead of that date. For a PRRN, set reminders before the 12-month date specified in the notice.
• A second reminder closer to the follow-up deadline. If the 12-month date is latest, the 11-month mark is a useful prompt; if the permission or document expiry is later, set the reminder shortly before that date. For a PRRN, set it shortly before the 12-month date specified in the notice.

For the Right to Rent Checks guide, the follow-up tracking calendar and decision maps are designed around this exact cycle — so you never discover a lapsed excuse after the fact.

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