For renters
What do I need to rent a home in England if I am moving from abroad?
Renting in England when you are moving from another country does not require British citizenship, and there is no legal requirement to have a UK credit history. In most cases what you need is the right to rent in England, identification, something that shows how the rent will be paid, and the money for a deposit and the first month's rent. Landlords and agents also set their own conditions on top of the law, within the limits of the Tenant Fees Act 2019 and the Equality Act 2010, so they may ask for other reasonable documents. This guide covers both.
It applies to England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland work differently. It is general information about renting, not immigration advice.
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Can a non-British citizen rent a home in England?
Yes. There is no nationality requirement, and no rule that says a tenant must be British. The legal condition is the right to rent: before a tenancy begins, the landlord or letting agent has to check that every adult who will live in the home has the right to rent in England, following Home Office rules. That duty sits with them, and it applies to every adult tenant, British citizens included, so being asked for it is a formality rather than something aimed at you. Whether you have the right to rent depends on your immigration status, which is a question for GOV.UK, and for a qualified immigration adviser if your situation is not straightforward.
How do I prove my right to rent if my status is digital?
Where a person's status is held digitally, such as an eVisa or settled or pre-settled status, the Home Office process described on GOV.UK works through a share code, generated on the free GOV.UK service Prove your right to rent in England. According to GOV.UK, the usual pattern is that the code and the person's date of birth go to the landlord or agent, who looks them up on the GOV.UK checking service and keeps a record of the result. A code lasts 90 days and costs nothing, however many times you create one.
That is a summary of the GOV.UK process rather than guidance about your own status. The GOV.UK service sets out which route applies to which status, and its current instructions are what to follow for your own case. Two of our guides cover the practical side: what a Right to Rent share code is and how to get one, and how Right to Rent works for tenants in England. The check itself always happens on GOV.UK, carried out by the landlord or agent. No lettings platform, ours included, performs it or replaces it.
What documents should I have ready before I arrive?
- Your passport or national identity document, and your share code or immigration documents if you need them for the right to rent check.
- Something that shows how the rent will be paid. A job offer or employment contract, recent payslips, or statements covering savings or income from abroad.
- Your address history for the past three years, including addresses outside the UK.
- Contact details for a previous landlord, if you have rented before, wherever that was.
- A UK bank account where you can open one. It is not a legal requirement, but paying rent by standing order is simpler with one, and opening an account takes time.
- Your National Insurance number, if you already have one.
Landlords and agents commonly arrange referencing as well, which is their process and their cost, not yours. Our guide to how long tenant referencing takes in England explains the usual timings, and the renter document checklist covers the same ground for renters already in the UK.
Can a landlord ask me for six months' rent in advance because I am new to the UK?
No. Since the main Renters' Rights Act 2025 provisions took effect in England on 1 May 2026, a landlord cannot require more than one month's rent in advance, and cannot require any rent to be paid before the tenancy agreement is signed. Large advance payments were once common for people arriving without UK income history, and that is no longer permitted. Both of those rules are already in force. It is other parts of the Act, such as the Private Rented Sector Database and the landlord Ombudsman, that are still to be commenced.
You also cannot be charged for referencing or a credit check. Those are prohibited payments under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, as we set out in can a landlord charge me for referencing. A holding deposit to reserve a home is lawful and capped at one week's rent.
Do I need a UK credit history or a guarantor?
Neither is a legal requirement. In practice, landlords and agents set their own conditions, and some ask for a UK-based guarantor where there is little UK income history to look at. If you cannot provide one, it is worth asking early what else is considered, such as an employment contract or savings. Under the Equality Act 2010, race and nationality are protected characteristics, and published guidance generally expects conditions to be applied consistently rather than to some people and not others. That is legislative background rather than a view on any particular landlord: whether a specific condition crosses a legal line is for a court, tribunal or regulator to decide. Shelter and Citizens Advice give free guidance if something does not look right, and our guide to what landlords can and cannot ask for covers the wider picture.
What happens to my deposit?
A tenancy deposit in England is capped at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, and six weeks' rent at or above that. It must be protected in one of the three government-approved schemes within 30 days, and you must be given the prescribed information in writing. That protection applies whoever you are and wherever you moved from. The detail is in how deposit protection works in England and on the GOV.UK deposit protection pages. If you are adding up what you will need on day one, the common questions below put the deposit, the holding deposit and the first month's rent in one place.
Can I arrange a rental from abroad before I arrive?
Yes, and many people do. The care needed is mostly about who you are dealing with, because sending money for a home you have never stood in is where people get caught out. Ask for a live video walkthrough rather than a recording. No rent may be required before the tenancy agreement is signed, so a request to pay rent up front does not fit the rules in England. A holding deposit of up to one week's rent is lawful, but be sure who you are paying it to, and ask for the terms in writing before you send anything.
One of the things you can do on VEYLO X is see the check on the record. A property ownership check has to be completed before a landlord can take a holding deposit, and the result is kept on the record where you can read it first. Beyond that, VEYLO X does not check, approve or confirm that any of it is accurate, does not assess the landlord or the property, and does not confirm that a landlord is genuine or that a home is safe. It keeps the records and leaves the reading of them to you.
How do I get my details together before I land?
The practical difficulty of moving country is repetition: the same documents and the same explanation of your circumstances, sent to one landlord after another from a different time zone. Gathering it all in one place before you arrive, and choosing which parts to share with each landlord, is the other half of what VEYLO X is for, and the renter profile is free for renters. VEYLO X is neutral: it does not carry out the Right to Rent check, does not assess anyone, does not decide any outcome, and takes no part in whether a tenancy goes ahead. The check stays on GOV.UK with the landlord or agent, where the law puts it.
Common questions
The short answers, in one place.
Can someone who is not a British citizen rent a home in England?
Yes. There is no nationality requirement to rent a home in England and no rule that you must be a British citizen. The legal condition is the right to rent: before a tenancy begins, the landlord or letting agent must check that every adult who will live in the home has the right to rent in England, under Home Office rules. That check applies to everyone, British citizens included. Whether you have the right to rent depends on your immigration status, which is a matter for GOV.UK and, in complicated situations, a qualified immigration adviser. This is general information about renting, not immigration advice, and it covers England only.
How much do I need to pay up front to rent a home in England?
In most cases the up-front money is a tenancy deposit plus the first month's rent. The tenancy deposit is capped at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, and six weeks' rent at or above that. A holding deposit to reserve a home is capped at one week's rent and is normally put towards your rent or deposit. Since 1 May 2026 no more than one month's rent may be required in advance, and no rent may be required before the tenancy agreement is signed. Referencing and credit-check fees cannot be charged to you at all. Other costs, such as removals or setting up utilities, sit outside these rules, so budget for them separately. Rules can change, so if you are asked for more than this, check the current GOV.UK guidance.
How do I prove my right to rent in England if I am not British?
If your immigration status is held digitally, such as an eVisa or settled or pre-settled status, the free GOV.UK service called Prove your right to rent in England is used to generate a share code. The code and the person's date of birth go to the landlord or agent, who looks them up on the GOV.UK checking service and keeps a record. A share code lasts 90 days and is free to create as many times as you need. Some people show physical documents instead. The GOV.UK guidance sets out which route applies to which status.
Can a landlord ask an overseas tenant for six months' rent in advance?
No. Since the main Renters' Rights Act 2025 provisions took effect in England on 1 May 2026, a landlord cannot require more than one month's rent in advance, and cannot require any rent to be paid before the tenancy agreement is signed. Both of those rules are already in force; it is other measures in the Act, such as the Private Rented Sector Database and the landlord Ombudsman, that are still to be commenced. Large advance payments used to be common for people with no UK income history, and that is no longer permitted. You also cannot be charged for referencing or a credit check, which are prohibited payments under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. Rules can change, so check the current GOV.UK guidance for the position on the day you are asked to pay.
Do I need a UK credit history or a guarantor to rent in England?
Neither is a legal requirement. In practice, landlords and agents set their own conditions, and some ask for a UK-based guarantor where there is little UK income history to look at. If you cannot provide one, it is worth asking early what else is considered, such as an employment contract, savings or income from abroad. Under the Equality Act 2010, race and nationality are protected characteristics, and published guidance generally expects conditions to be applied consistently rather than to some people and not others. Whether a particular condition crosses a legal line in an individual case is for a court, tribunal or regulator to decide, not for a platform. Shelter and Citizens Advice both offer free guidance if something does not look right.
Sources
The primary sources behind this guide. Where the law and a summary disagree, the law is what counts. How we write these guides.