Update to the Right to Rent Scheme

As announced on 27 December 2021, the Home Office will enable employers and landlords to use certified Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) to carry out digital eligibility checks on behalf of British and Irish citizens who hold a valid passport (including Irish passport cards). 

The introduction of the use of Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT), from 6 April 2022, will allow for British and Irish citizens who hold a valid passport (including Irish passport cards), to be able to upload images of their personal documents via a certified IDSP to verify their identity remotely and prove their eligibility to work or rent, instead of presenting physical documents or the need for employers and landlords to examine these documents.  

The Home Office and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) are working with the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) as it develops proposals for new legislation to establish a UK Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (UKDIATF).  This framework will set out the rules and standards for organisations to follow in order to carry out secure, trustworthy, and consistent digital identity checks.  

On 17 January 2022, DCMS made an announcement which sets out in detail the next step in the development of the UKDIATF. It also provides information as to the requirements IDSPs will need to meet in order to be certified, and the process that they will need to follow.  

Details of this is also contained within the published guidance on: 

• conducting criminality checks (available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-identity-checking-guidelines)
• right to work checks (available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checks-employers-guide) 
• right to rent checks (available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/landlords-guide-to-right-to-rent-checks) 

Home Office