Digital Right to Rent checks: what the new supplementary code (1.0) means for landlords

The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes has published a supplementary code setting rules for the digital verification services that carry out Right to Rent checks. It places no new duties on landlords, but it does change what a certified provider must give you.

The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), publishes the supplementary code for digital right to rent checks (1.0). The publication page records it as published on 3 March 2026 and last updated on 9 June 2026.

It sets rules for the digital verification services (DVS) that carry out these checks. It does not set rules for landlords.

What the code says about landlords

The code states:

The RtR supplementary code does not set any new requirements on, or recommendations for, landlords for conducting compliant right to rent checks. These are set by the Home Office, not OfDIA or DSIT. The RtR supplementary code helps DVS show they can be used by landlords to fulfil their obligations.

It also states that landlords "will also need to comply with requirements for digital right to rent checks, set out in Home Office regulations and guidance to obtain and retain certain data from the DVS and to check that the individual whose identity was verified is the same person who presents themself to rent."

When it comes into force

The 1.0 publication comes into force under section 29 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 on the date the first conformity assessment body (CAB) is accredited to certify against it, which the code says "will be no earlier than 1 September 2026".

The earlier gamma (0.4) versions

The code sets out transitional arrangements for the non-statutory gamma (0.4) version published on 26 June 2025 and the statutory gamma (0.4) version published on 1 December 2025. Certificates issued against those versions remain valid for a limited period. The code says they will no longer apply for certification purposes, and certificates issued against them expire, if any of the following apply:

• 27 months have elapsed since the day the 1.0 code comes into force (including that day)
• the service uplifts to the 1.0 publication and has a certificate issued to confirm that
• the service's gamma (0.4) certification against the RtR supplementary code expires
• the service's gamma (0.4) certification against the UK digital verification services trust framework expires

Which documents a digital check covers

The code applies to checks "on holders of British and Irish passports or passport cards". Under rule 3.1, the identity must be created using one of:

• a British passport, or
• an Irish passport, or
• an Irish passport card

The passport or passport card "must be valid according to GPG 45 and not be expired or visibly clipped".

The standard of the check

The identity check "must meet a medium level of confidence or above according to GPG 45".

Rule 5.a of the code says that, because "passports and passport cards can be withdrawn or cancelled, and right to rent checks are not transferrable from one landlord to another", the provider "must be able to assure the landlord that the user holds a British passport, Irish passport or Irish passport card at the time the check is conducted, and that the passport or passport card is not expired or visibly clipped by conducting a GPG 45 validity check on it".

What a certified service must give you

If the check is successful, the service must provide the following "in a clear, legible format which cannot be altered":

• given name(s)
• family name(s)
• date of birth
• an image of the full biometric page of the passport, or the full front of an Irish passport card, with name, date of birth, nationality, photo and expiry date clearly visible
• a photograph of the user, which the service must verify matches the document image
• the date of the identity check
• who the evidence was checked by — the name of the service as it appears on its certificate
• the GPG 45 profile met by the check
• GPG 44 authenticator quality, only where a holder service conducted the check
• whether the identity was verified — "Y" or "N"

The service must also provide a record of the versions of the trust framework and the RtR supplementary code it was certified against at the time of the check, "so they can retain that record for compliance purposes".

Who retains the data

The code is explicit:

Retention of information listed in 4.a. is the landlord's responsibility, as set out set out in Home Office regulations and guidance. Your service does not need to retain this information.

The code also records that "right to rent checks are not transferrable from one landlord to another".

Certification against the trust framework

A service cannot be certified against this code on its own. The code requires certification against a current publication of the UK digital verification services trust framework, formerly the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework.

Official sources

• Supplementary code for digital right to rent checks (1.0) — publication page
• Full text of the supplementary code (1.0)
• Landlord's guide to right to rent checks (Home Office)
• The Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) (Amendment) Order 2022, Part 5
• GPG 45: identity proofing and verification of an individual
• GPG 44: authentication credentials for online government services
• UK digital verification services trust framework

Sources: - GOV.UK - Supplementary code for digital right to rent checks (1.0) (accessed 2026-08-09): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplementary-code-for-digital-right-to-rent-checks-1-0 - GOV.UK - Supplementary code for digital right to rent checks (1.0): full text (accessed 2026-08-09): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplementary-code-for-digital-right-to-rent-checks-1-0/supplementary-code-for-digital-right-to-rent-checks-1-0-pre-release - GOV.UK - Landlord's guide to right to rent checks (accessed 2026-08-09): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/landlords-guide-to-right-to-rent-checks - The Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) (Amendment) Order 2022, Part 5 (accessed 2026-08-09): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/242/part/5/made - GOV.UK - GPG 45: identity proofing and verification of an individual (accessed 2026-08-09): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/identity-proofing-and-verification-of-an-individual - GOV.UK - GPG 44: authentication credentials for online government services (accessed 2026-08-09): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/authentication-credentials-for-online-government-services - GOV.UK - UK digital verification services trust framework (accessed 2026-08-09): https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-digital-identity-and-attributes-trust-framework

Published: 2026-08-11.

Last reviewed: 2026-08-30.

General summary; not legal advice.