UK right to work and rent checks change in Oct 2026

The legal drafting here is dense, but the main point is quite practical. According to the statutory instrument published on legislation.gov.uk, these Home Office changes were made on 24 June 2026, laid before Parliament on 30 June 2026 and will start on 1 October 2026. They update how employers, landlords and agents can check whether someone has the right to work or the right to rent, and they set the conditions for avoiding a civil penalty if those checks are done properly. **What this means:** the rules are not changing who is allowed to work or rent in the UK. They are changing how identity and immigration status can be checked, what records must be kept, and when a business or landlord can say, 'We followed the official steps, so we should not be fined.' The regulations themselves extend across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The biggest technical switch is that the old IDVT system is being stripped out and replaced with digital verification services created under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. In the new wording, employers must use a registered right to work digital verification service provider, shortened in the law to RtW DVSP, and landlords must use a registered right to rent provider, or RtR DVSP. Both have to appear on the government's DVS register, and the result they produce is now called a DVS identity check. This matters because more evidence can now be handled in digital form. The regulations say a digital version of an official government document showing a person's permanent National Insurance number and name can count where the original was the recognised document. They also treat certain British and Irish passports, including ones expired by no more than six months, as relevant DVS documents for these checks. **In plain English:** the state is moving more of this paperwork from physical document inspection to approved digital identity checking.

For employers, the new freedom to use digital checks comes with tighter rules. If an employer wants the legal protection from a civil penalty, it must get confirmation that the provider is on the DVS register and that its right to work service follows the official supplementary code published under the 2025 Act. That supplementary code is the rulebook the provider is meant to follow behind the scenes. The same basic shift also appears in the rules on illegal working compliance orders. Facial recognition is the part many readers will notice first. Where a right to work check uses facial recognition, the employer must use a registered RtW DVSP, obtain a copy of the facial image taken from the person's document and the comparison image in a form that cannot later be altered, get confirmation that the images belong to the rightful holder, and keep those records securely for at least two years after the job ends. The same rule now appears when an employer uses the Home Office online right to work service alongside digital facial recognition.

Landlords and letting agents are being put under very similar rules for right to rent checks. The regulations swap out the old IDVT language and replace it with the new DVS system, meaning digital identity checks must come through a registered RtR DVSP if the landlord or agent wants to rely on them. The definition of a document is also widened so digital versions of listed evidence can be used in this updated system. If facial recognition is used for a tenancy check, the landlord or agent must keep copies of the facial image from the document, the image used to compare identity, and the provider's confirmation that the person is the rightful holder. Those records must be stored securely for at least one year after the tenancy ends. **What to watch:** this may sound quicker and cleaner, but it also means more sensitive personal data is being collected and retained, so storage and access controls matter just as much as the check itself.

Another change sits away from the headline wording, but it is one of the most important. A new article 5B in the 2007 employment order deals with work arranged through contracting chains, online matching services and substitution clauses. In everyday terms, that includes the sort of setup where one business wins the work, another business supplies the worker, a platform matches a client with a service provider, or a worker is allowed to send a substitute. The law now says a business higher up that chain can only protect itself from a civil penalty if it builds the right safeguards into its contracts. Those safeguards include requiring the other party to carry out proper right to work checks, blocking further subcontracting unless there is written consent, allowing audits, including enforcement terms if illegal working is uncovered, cooperating with Home Office investigations, and keeping systems in place so the person doing the work is actually the same person who was checked. If an employee is allowed to send a substitute, that substitute has to be checked too before they start. **Why this matters:** the rules are reaching further into platform work and outsourced labour, not just standard payroll jobs.

The Home Office is also replacing the codes of practice that sit beside these rules. From 1 October 2026, new codes on preventing illegal working and on avoiding unlawful discrimination will apply to employers, while new right to rent and anti-discrimination codes will apply to landlords and their agents. The legislation says the revised codes were issued on 24 June 2026 and laid in draft before Parliament on 30 June 2026. That anti-discrimination point matters. Right to work and right to rent checks are often defended as routine administration, but routine administration can still be unfair if people are singled out because of their race, accent, name or nationality. The Home Office's own structure here recognises that risk: you are being told to check status, but you are also being told not to turn that process into unlawful discrimination.

If you run an organisation, the preparation work starts before October. Employers, landlords, agents and online platforms should review any digital identity provider they use, check whether it is properly registered for the service it claims to offer, update retention policies for facial images, and train staff on when digital checks are valid and when extra steps are required. Old habits from the previous IDVT model will not automatically be good enough after 1 October 2026. If you are a worker or tenant, you may notice these checks feel more app-based and less paper-based. You can reasonably ask who is carrying out the digital verification, whether facial recognition is being used, how long your images will be kept, and who can see them. **What it means for you:** quicker checks do not remove your right to fair treatment or careful handling of your personal data.

Taken together, this is a process change with real everyday effects. The state is widening the use of digital verification for immigration-related checks, setting tighter rules on facial recognition, and extending responsibility into subcontracting and matching arrangements. It is also trying to draw a line between compliance and discrimination, at least on paper. For readers of legislation.gov.uk and the Home Office notes, the useful question is not just 'Can this be done digitally?' but 'Who is accountable if the system gets it wrong?' From 1 October 2026, that question will matter to HR teams, small landlords, gig platforms, agency workers and tenants alike. The rulebook is getting more digital, but it is also getting more demanding.