Right to Rent Civil Penalties: How to Object and Appeal

Last reviewed: 15 October 2026 — England

General information only. This article describes the law in England as at the date shown above. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for advice on your case. A right to rent penalty can sit alongside criminal exposure. If the Home Office or the police suggest you knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, that an occupier had no right to rent, speak to a solicitor before you send anything. For independent advice on housing, contact a Law Centre, Citizens Advice or Shelter England.

How the Scheme Works

The Right to Rent Scheme applies in England only. A landlord must not authorise an adult who is "disqualified as a result of their immigration status" to occupy premises under a residential tenancy agreement (Immigration Act 2014 s.22(1)). A person is disqualified if they are not a "relevant national" and do not have a right to rent (s.21(1)). British and Irish citizens, and people with leave granted under the EU Settlement Scheme, are relevant nationals (s.21(5)).

There are two kinds of breach:

• Pre-grant: a tenancy is entered into that gives a disqualified adult the right to occupy (s.22(4)).
• Post-grant: an occupier with a time-limited right to rent later loses it and stays on (s.22(5)).

The landlord who granted the tenancy is responsible for a pre-grant breach. The current landlord is responsible for a post-grant breach (s.23(3)). Where a letting agent acting in the course of business has agreed in writing to carry out the checks, the agent can be penalised instead (s.25(2)–(3)). A superior landlord who has accepted responsibility in writing takes on the liability (s.23(4)–(5)).

The statutory excuse

You are excused from paying the penalty if you can show that you carried out the "prescribed requirements" before the tenancy began (s.24(2)(a)). For a person with a time-limited right to rent, the check must be done within the 28 days before the tenancy is entered into (s.24(4); 2014 Order art.8). The prescribed checks are set out in article 3 of the 2014 Order:

• A manual document check: seeing original acceptable documents, checking them, and keeping dated copies that cannot later be altered (arts.4–5).
• A Home Office online check using the person's share code on GOV.UK's Check a tenant's right to rent service, confirming the photograph matches and keeping a copy of the result (art.5B).
• A Positive Right to Rent Notice from the Landlord Checking Service, for example where the person has an outstanding Home Office application or appeal (art.4(b)). If the Service does not reply within 48 hours (excluding weekends, Christmas Day, Good Friday and bank holidays), you may proceed as though it had issued a positive notice (art.6).
• A digital identity check through a digital verification service provider. Since 1 October 2026 the provider must be registered under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 for right to rent checks, and it can check British and Irish passports and digital versions of other acceptable documents (SI 2026/700, reg.4).

You must keep the copies for at least one year after the tenancy ends (art.5(1)(i); for an online check, art.5B(1)(d)).

For a post-grant breach, you are excused if the occupier's "eligibility period" has not yet expired, or if you reported the breach to the Home Office as soon as reasonably practicable (s.24(6)). The eligibility period is the longest of one year from your last check, the rest of the person's leave, or the rest of the validity of their immigration document (s.27(4)). This is why follow-up checks matter. A report to the Home Office can keep an excuse alive, but it cannot create one if you never did the initial check (Code of Practice, 1 October 2026, section 5).

The excuse is lost if you knew that letting would breach section 22 (s.24(5)).

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How the Notice Arrives

The usual sequence, as set out in the code of practice, is:

1. Referral notice. Often served after an enforcement visit, telling you the Home Office Civil Penalty Compliance Team is considering your case.
2. Information request. This is your first chance to send evidence of a statutory excuse. Treat it as seriously as the objection.
3. Decision. You receive either a No Action Notice or a Civil Penalty Notice with a Statement of Case setting out the evidence and reasons.

The penalty notice must be in writing. It must say why the Home Office thinks you are liable, state the amount, give a payment date at least 28 days after the date it is given, and explain how to object, appeal and pay (s.28(2)). A separate penalty can be given for each disqualified adult (s.28(3)). Joint landlords are jointly and severally liable (s.28(4)). A notice cannot be given about an adult who left the property 12 months or more earlier (s.28(5)).

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The Penalty Amounts

The code of practice that came into force on 1 October 2026 (brought in by SI 2026/700) sets the amount by reference to the date of the breach. The amounts are the same as under the February 2024 code. A breach counts as a repeat only where you were given an earlier Civil Penalty Notice within three years and had exhausted your objection and appeal rights on it.

The current code does not list mitigating factors that reduce these fixed amounts. "Too high" in practice usually means the Home Office applied the wrong tier: treating a lodger as an occupier, a first breach as a repeat, or refusing the faster payment reduction when you qualified.

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Step One: Object to the Home Office

You can object on three grounds (s.29(1)):

1. You are not liable. For example, you are not the landlord, the arrangement is not a residential tenancy agreement within the Scheme, the person was not disqualified, or the property is outside England.
2. You are excused under s.24 (landlords) or s.26 (agents).
3. The amount is too high.

The objection must be in writing, give reasons, and reach the Home Office within the prescribed period (s.29(3)). It must contain (2014 Order art.10):

• the reference number of the penalty notice;
• your name and contact address, and those of any agent;
• the name and address of the occupier concerned;
• your full grounds of objection; and
• any documents you rely on.

The last point is critical. Send everything with the objection, not later. Use the objection form that comes with the notice.

Timing. Article 11 of the 2014 Order gives 28 days beginning with the date the penalty notice says it was given, and GOV.UK's Penalties for illegal renting page says the same. The October 2026 code and landlord's guide instead say "28 calendar days of the due date specified in the Notice". The Order is the binding rule, so count from the "given" date to be safe.

What the Home Office can do. It can cancel the penalty, reduce it, increase it, or take no action (s.29(5)). It must tell you its decision within 28 days beginning with the date you gave the objection, or a longer period you agree (s.29(6); 2014 Order art.12). If it increases the penalty, it issues a new penalty notice.

Objecting before the payment deadline keeps the faster payment option open. If you still have to pay after the outcome, the code gives 21 days to pay at the reduced rate (if eligible) and 28 days to pay in full, counted from the date on the Objection Outcome Notice.

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Step Two: Appeal to the County Court

You can appeal only if you objected first (s.30(5)). The appeal goes to the county court where the premises are in England and Wales (s.30(10)(a)). It is not an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal or the Upper Tribunal.

Procedure. Part 52 of the Civil Procedure Rules applies to appeals to the County Court, including appeals from an "other person or body" (CPR 52.1(1)(c) and (3)(c)), but it is subject to any enactment making special provision (CPR 52.1(4)). Ordinarily an appeal under CPR 52.21 is limited to a review. Section 30(3)–(4) overrides that here, so you can put in fresh evidence. GOV.UK says to send form N161 (the appellant's notice) to your nearest county court with the correct fee, and a copy to the Government Legal Department, 1 Kemble Street, London WC2B 4TS. Source the official form online from GOV.UK. The fee for filing an appellant's notice in the County Court is set by fee 2.3 of the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008 (£175 outside the small claims track at the date of writing). Confirm the fee with the court before day 28. If you are on a low income, you can ask for help with court fees.

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Payment and Enforcement

A penalty is recoverable as if it were payable under a county court order (s.31(2)). Where it is enforced, it is treated as a county court judgment for the purposes of the register of judgments (s.31(5)(a)). You can ask to pay by instalments, giving full reasons, but instalments rule out the faster payment reduction.

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Criminal Offences: When to Get Advice First

Separate from the civil penalty, a landlord of premises in England commits an offence if an adult disqualified by immigration status occupies the premises and the landlord knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the premises are occupied by such an adult (s.33A(1)–(3)). There is no offence where the occupier has a time-limited right to rent and their eligibility period has not expired, unless the Home Office has given you written notice that they are disqualified (s.33A(4)–(5)). It is also an offence for the responsible landlord to fail to act on a post-grant breach that they know, or have reasonable cause to believe, has happened, where no excuse under s.24(6) applies (s.33A(10)). Agents have parallel offences (s.33B). The maximum sentence on indictment is five years' imprisonment, a fine, or both (s.33C(1)). A company officer can also be liable where the offence was committed with their consent or connivance (s.33C(3)).

It is a defence to prove you took reasonable steps to end the tenancy within a reasonable period of first knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the occupier was disqualified (s.33A(6)).

An objection is a written account of what you knew and when. If there is any suggestion that you knew, take advice from a solicitor experienced in immigration crime before you send it.

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Ending the Tenancy of a Disqualified Occupier

If the Home Office tells you that an occupier is disqualified, you have these routes:

• Section 33D notice. Where the Home Office's written notice or notices identify all the occupiers as disqualified, you may end the tenancy by written notice in the prescribed form, giving at least 28 days. The notice is enforceable as if it were a High Court order (s.33D(2)–(7)). Housing Act 1988 s.5(1)(d) recognises this as a way of ending an assured tenancy.
• Ground 7B. For assured tenancies in England, Ground 7B is a mandatory possession ground where the Home Office has given you written notice that a tenant, or another adult occupier, is disqualified (Housing Act 1988 Sch.2 Pt 1). Since 1 May 2026 the Renters' Rights Act 2025 has reshaped possession for private assured tenancies, and the section 8 notice period for Ground 7B is two weeks (Housing Act 1988 s.8, as amended). You still need a court order.
• Other tenancies. A tenancy in England that is neither an assured tenancy nor a Rent Act protected or statutory tenancy carries an implied term letting the landlord end it in these circumstances (s.33E(1)–(2)).

Do not change the locks or remove anyone's belongings yourself. Take advice on the lawful route first.

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A Note for Tenants

If your landlord says you have failed a check, ask which check was done. If you have an outstanding application, appeal or a digital status error, the landlord can ask the Landlord Checking Service to verify your status. You can also ask the Home Office for permission to rent (s.21(3)). The code says landlords should check every adult occupier, not just people they assume are foreign nationals. A separate statutory code deals with avoiding discrimination. A s.33D notice or a Ground 7B claim affects your home, so get advice from Citizens Advice, Shelter England or a Law Centre straight away.

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Practical Checklist

On receiving the penalty notice:

• Write down the "given" date, the payment date and the faster payment date.
• Diary day 28 for the objection, counting from the "given" date.
• Read the Statement of Case: which occupier, which breach (pre-grant or post-grant), which tier.

Evidence to attach to the objection:

• Copies of the documents you checked, or the online check result, or the Positive Right to Rent Notice, with the date of the check.
• The tenancy agreement and its start date, to show the check came first.
• Follow-up check records, and any Home Office report reference number.
• Any written agreement transferring responsibility to an agent or superior landlord.
• Evidence the person was a lodger, or that this is a first breach, if the tier is wrong.
• A short, dated chronology tying each document to each step.

After the outcome:

• Decide within 21 days whether to pay at the reduced rate.
• If appealing, file at the county court within 28 days and serve the Government Legal Department.

A clear, indexed evidence pack makes both the objection and any appeal easier to follow. BundleCreator can help you put the documents in date order with an index and page numbers, ready to send with the objection or to file with the court.

For landlords: the statutory excuse depends on a check you can prove you made. ComplyWithMe: Landlord keeps your Right to Rent, gas, electrical, EPC and deposit deadlines in one place, for England. ComplyWithMe and BundleCreator.co are both published by Steleo Publishing Ltd. ComplyWithMe is not legal advice.

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Authoritative Sources

• Immigration Act 2014, ss.21–33E: legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/22/part/3/chapter/1
• Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) Order 2014 (SI 2014/2874): legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2874
• Immigration Act 2014 (Residential Accommodation) (Maximum Penalty) Order 2024 (SI 2024/81): legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/81
• SI 2026/700 (new code and digital checks from 1 October 2026): legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/700
• Housing Act 1988, s.5, s.8 and Sch.2 Ground 7B: legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50
• Civil Procedure Rules Part 52: justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part52
• Right to rent codes of practice: gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-rent-landlords-code-of-practice
• Landlord's guide to right to rent checks: gov.uk/government/publications/landlords-guide-to-right-to-rent-checks
• Penalties for illegal renting: gov.uk/penalties-illegal-renting

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BundleCreator's Housing Possession & Tenant Debt subsite at /housing-possession-debt maps the possession journey from notice to enforcement.

Nothing in this article is legal advice or a substitute for it. It describes the law as it stands at the date shown, and the law and procedure may change. For independent advice, contact Citizens Advice, Shelter England or your local Law Centre. If you may face criminal proceedings, speak to a solicitor.