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Right to Rent checks are an essential legal requirement for letting agents and landlords in England. The identity checks are deigned to make sure that tenants are in the UK legally. The initiative was introduced by the Home Office and at present only applies in England, with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland exempt from Right to Rent checks. If you are thinking of moving into a rented property in England for any reason, you should be prepared to go through a Right to Rent check first. Here’s what to expect.

Process For Right to Rent Checks

Letting agents and landlords must run checks on all prospective tenants aged 18 and over. They may ask to see original forms of ID such as a passport, ask tenants to log into an approved identity service provider (IDSPs), or use the Home Office’s share code system for tenants born outside the UK. If the tenant is on a visa which is time limited, such as a student visa, the landlord or letting agent must repeat the checks to ensure their tenant still remains legally allowed to rent.

Tenants who have either a British or Irish passport can use an online Identity Service Provider or IDSP to confirm their identity. This service involves setting up an account, and then using key biometric details in passports or other key identity documents to verify who someone is. Tenants from countries outside the UK or Ireland can generate a share code from the Home Office and this will give the landlord real-time information about their immigration status.

Right to Rent for Overseas Tenants

It is common for landlords to agree to a tenancy in principle for overseas tenants, subject to an ID check upon arrival in the UK and confirmation of their legal Right to Rent. People who are moving to the UK for work and study should therefore make sure of their legal rights and status before paying out any deposits and other fees to letting agents as they may lose money if they cannot prove their immigration status.

Many tenants in the private rented sector are only allowed to be in the UK for a limited time, perhaps as a student. Landlords must repeat checks to make sure that their tenants remain legally int the UK for the duration of their tenancy. If a tenant loses their right to live in the UK, landlords or letting agents have no option but to end the tenancy and give them a minimum of 28 days to leave.

Advice for Navigating Right to Rent

There is no getting around Right to Rent checks and there is lots of information online about the system and how it works. The best advice for any tenant is to respond to any requests for information as quickly and accurately as possible. Your landlord or letting agent should be able to guide you through the system. Remember also that identity checks are only part of the process, which might also include credit checks and references from previous landlords.

As England progressed through the European football championships, the interest around their success grew. The betting industry has reported a dramatic increase in the number of gambling customers requesting identity verification. Between June 14 and 16, popular online gambling sites experienced a 750% surge in new customers requesting to verify their identity and open a new account. June 14, the opening day of Euro 2024, marked the busiest sign-up day, surpassing verification volumes for new customers during the 2022 World Cup.

Why Do Gambling Companies Verify My Identity?

In the UK, gambling is restricted to adults over the age of 18. This law applies whether you are going into a physical bookmakers’ and filling in a betting slip, or placing your bets online. Asking potential customers to go through an identity verification helps to ensure that underage people are not allowed to gamble. It can also deal with other problems such as people setting up multiple accounts, money laundering, or exploiting the sign-up bonus amounts which websites often promote to new customers only. Industry experts have also warned that the sheer number of people who are trying to set up new accounts during major sporting events such as the Olympics or Euro 2024 can overwhelm the system. This is especially the case on the smaller websites which are not geared up for dealing with hundreds of new sign-ups.

Underage gambling appears to be a growing issue in he UK. A recent report from a credit referencing and identity verification agency revealed that 26% of 11-17 year olds gambled illegally in 2023. The government has imposed strict regulation on the online gambling industry, requiring proper identity verification before anyone can access their account. This even applies to free access games which do not require money to play.

How Identities are Verified for Online Gambling Portals

The legislation states that online gambling companies must verify the identity of customers, but doesn’t say exactly how they should go about doing this. Each website will have its own rules and processes, but some of the most common things you might come across are:

• Online identity verification – this is similar to the process you go through when applying for a passport online, or when verifying your identity for a DBS check or to apply for Benefits. You are directed to a trusted third-party provider to complete the required steps.
• Data Analysis – the website has software and technology to monitor patterns of behaviour and immediately block accounts thought to be suspicious.
• Blockchain – this is similar to the technology used in cryptocurrency. It lets users verify their age without entering other personal details into the site.
• Biometrics – customers have to use their facial features or fingerprints to access the website, making it difficult to share accounts.
• Geolocation – this software makes sure that you are located in a country where gambling is legal.
• Data brokers – some websites work with agencies which can access public records such as electoral rolls or credit records. This provides another layer of authentication for users.

A recent investigation by a property website has revealed that landlords are experiencing a significant surge in fraudulent tenancy applications, raising concerns about the reliability of tenants in terms of rent payment. The investigation showed that fraudulent tenancy applications have increased by 153%, with fraudsters using fake documents and paperwork to get round the standard identity checks which are legally required to rent a property in the UK. This rapid rise in fraud in the sector has implications for both landlords and tenants.

Right to Rent Checks

The increase in tenancy fraud comes at a challenging time for the private rented sector. Demand for rented property has never been higher, and available housing stock is dwindling. Landlords are legally required to make sure that the person they are renting to is in the UK legally, by looking at their passport and any visa restrictions which they have. Tenant referencing is a more detailed level of checking which typically also involves checks into credit history, employment, and references from former landlords. This more detailed vetting is a crucial tool for landlords to assess the suitability of prospective tenants. However, the rise in fraudulent applications has prompted some landlords to start using even more stringent measures, such as requesting additional information like photos, CVs, and character references, to make more informed decisions about the people they are dealing with.

Landlords have to stay within the law with their checks on prospective tenants and are not allowed to discriminate against people on the basis of a protected characteristic such as age, sex or race. Often, it’s advisable to use the services of a letting agent who will keep you on the right side of the law.

Implications for Tenants

This rise in fraudulent tenancy applications not only puts landlords at financial risk but also creates additional challenges anyone who is thinking about renting from a private landlord. As landlords become more cautious in their referencing processes, the competition for rental properties intensifies. Housing charities have raised concerns that these changes will potentially disadvantage tenants who rely on housing benefits.

If you are applying to rent a property, be prepared for a higher level of checking that any which you might have gone through previously. Landlords and agencies representing them need to make sure that the people they are dealing with are genuine tenants and not fraudsters with no intention of ever paying the rent.

Get prepared before visiting the letting agent or phoning the tenant. You will be asked to provide your key identity documents such as passport or driving licence, so make sure you know where to find them. Speak to your current landlord and ask whether they would be happy to give you a reference and get their name and contact details to pass on. Look at your credit report online to make sure there is nothing in there which could raise red flags about your ability to pay your rent each month. Think about asking a trusted friend or family member whether they would be prepared to act as a guarantor to strengthen your application even further.

It’s perhaps not surprising that background vetting and identity checks for positions working in the government are standard practice. Most civil servants and other public workers will have some sort of background checking, with the most senior or sensitive roles having very in-depth vetting which can take several weeks or months to get through.

Government security clearance comes in four levels, each tailored to specific job requirements, especially for roles handling sensitive information on a daily basis. If you are thinking of applying for a role in these fields, then the advert will usually clearly state which level of vetting is required.

Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and Enhanced Baseline Standard (EBS)

Although not legally mandated, BPSS and EBS the basic level of background checking and vetting. These checks don’t just apply for those working in government roles and are often used in the security industry for cash in transit drivers or bouncers. These checks provide an overview of an individual’s suitability for their role and serve as entry-level security measures. Anyone applying for a job in government will have at least this basic level of identity and background checking to confirm basic details about their identity, experience, qualifications, and criminal record.

Counter Terrorist Check (CTC)

Counter terrorist checks are essential for individuals in roles where sensitive information is at risk of compromise. The idea of these checks is to look more deeply at someone’s background, family, and friends, to find anyone who may be vulnerable to pressure from terrorist organisations. Though these checks take approximately six months to complete, they are seen as essential for national security. Valid for three years, CTC clearance may involve an interview and a requirement for the individual to have been a UK resident for a minimum of three years.

Security Clearance (SC)

Applicants for jobs requiring Security Clearance have to be resident in the UK for a minimum of five years. Government contractors must also renew this clearance every five years, while permanent employees with significant access to private or top-secret assets renew every ten years. Security clearance is usually concerned with criminal record checking and looking at potential links through family or friends to people of concern.

Developed Vetting

The most detailed level of checking, this is reserved for roles with substantial unsupervised access to top-secret assets in intelligence or security agencies. These checks involve a thorough investigation into an individual’s past, personal and professional life, as well as their educational and employment history.

Importance of Government Clearance

The level of vetting required will depend on the job. For the most sensitive roles, the detail of checking and questions asked can feel intrusive. Some government vetting involves giving details of friends and family, and detailed questioning about lengthy periods which you have spent overseas. Applicants are usually called for interview with the vetting officers and asked to clarify any points of confusion. The best advice is to be honest, don’t tell lies on your CV and cooperate fully with the screening.

The typical home buyer in the UK spends approximately 4.7 hours, equivalent to 282 minutes of working time, doing all of the paperwork associated with face-to-face verification of their identity and the signing of contracts and other paperwork. A recent study puts the time lost over excessive paperwork at over 360,000 lost hours in a month. Although some level of identity checking is essential in any large financial transaction, there is a growing school of thought that something needs to be done to streamline the process for both buyers and sellers.

Time Commitment for House Buying

Based on responses from 1,000 adults who purchased a home in the UK over the last three years, the study revealed that 64% of buyers had to physically go into the mortgage broker or bank to sign documents. Approximately 57% had face to face appointments with solicitors or visited a conveyancer to prove their identity and allow their documents to be inspected. Nearly half of the respondents also needed to have a witness to physically countersign contracts. The study also noted that about 11% of home buyers lose a day’s worth of working time due all of these visits to various offices to provide paperwork.

Digital Identity Verification

The research highlighted a continuing strong demand for the government to introduce digital IDs that bring driving licence information, passports, tax records, and qualifications into a single digital space, with 61% of people answering the survey saying that they would support the introduction of this sort of digital system.

Although online portals for identity verification have been available for some time, the report suggests that these have not been fully integrated into the conveyancing process. In 2022, HM Land Registry set new standards for digital ID verification, followed by standards for electronic signatures a year ago which should abolish the need for all these visits to offices to sign paperwork. However, the adoption of online tools in home buying has been slower than anticipated.

User-Friendly Identity Verification

The Deputy Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Land Registrar at HM Land Registry stated that there was widespread demand for secure and convenient online identity verification solutions and said that the government had introduced online portals to meet these needs. Some of the larger mortgage providers and financial services companies, such as NatWest, are already allowing people to verify their identity using existing banking logins a system which covers around 46 million UK residents.

If you are thinking about buying a property or taking out a new mortgage on an existing property, then ask your chosen solicitor conveyancer about their chosen methods for verifying your identity. If you don’t want to have to make repeated visits during work time, then don’t be afraid to ask the questions of your mortgage brokers or conveyancers about doing the paperwork online rather than in person. If conveyancers start to perceive that there is increased demand for online services, more will start to provide them, making the process quicker for all buyers and sellers.

It’s no secret that people lie on their CV. Some will just exaggerate their responsibilities a little, others will tell much bigger lies about previous employers or will fake educational qualifications. Employers are frequently shocked by just how many fake university degrees and other qualifications appear on candidates’ applications. Most employers have recognised the benefits of a rigorous pre-employment screening programme, which checks the facts on applications, runs identity checks on applicants and looks at issues such as social media profiles and quality of references to make sure the person hired is genuine and reliable.

Degree Mills

Degree mills are businesses which set themselves up online to falsely claim that they are a proper higher education institution. People who “enrol” with these websites can order academic diplomas and degree certificates, for a fee. These mills often require no actual academic study, attendance at lectures or submission of any coursework. Their websites might look official and professional, as do the degree certificates and academic transcripts which they issue. However, delve a bit deeper and you will see that they are not accredited by any official body.

Spotting a Degree Mill Certificate

It can be difficult to spot false academic qualifications, especially when dealing with overseas students who are claiming to have graduated in their home country. In the UK, it is simple enough to call up a university or college and get confirmation of study dates and class of degree. There are however certain factors which should raise flags about a qualification not being all that it seems. These include:

• Any degree certificate or institution website which emphasises “life experience” or a similar term as the basis for the awarding of a degree.
• Address – any legitimate institution will list its full postal address on their website, along with email and phone numbers for contact. Any address which is just a PO Box number should be treated with suspicion.
• Speed of completion – most university level degree courses take at least three years. If a candidate is claiming that their studies were tailored around their preferences and took less than a year to complete, this should be investigated further.
• No exams – degree mills will generally offer degrees without exams or coursework. Also check whether the website mentions any members of staff whose names can be verified as working there.
• Fees – most universities will charge fees per year, per semester or per class taken. Degree mills will just offer a flat charge for each degree.
• Lack of accreditation from governments, education departments and other official bodies.

Academic Screening

The only way to weed out applicants who may have been tempted to buy their qualifications from a fake online university is to have a strong screening process. Never take anything you are told at face value and always take other steps to verify that the institution is genuine, and that the person you are talking about employing was really a student there. A bit of work before hiring someone will save a lot of time and expense in the long run.

In 2024, almost everyone has a social media presence somewhere on the internet. Social media screening is a quick, easy, and cheap way for employers to gain insights into prospective candidates and gives them a different insight into their personality and interests. Social media background checks are increasingly common, with up to 90% of recruiters or HR teams using them as part of the hiring process in the UK. Social media checks are rarely used as the only criteria for deciding who gets a job or not. More commonly, they are just part of the picture along with Right to Work and identity checks, references, performance at interview and academic qualifications.

Why Do Employers Conduct Social Media Checks?

Social media checks are unlikely to be able to confirm academic qualifications or previous employers, although if you have a LinkedIn or Facebook profile, make sure the details you’ve listed on there are the same as the details on your CV. Social media checks are more about making sure there are no red flags around the suitability of a candidate in terms of their posts, the accounts they follow, or the other social media users who they engage with.

Common Reasons for Failing a Social Media Check

Social media checks are just part of the information used to make a recruitment decision, but there are certain things which employers are looking out for which may call your character into question. These include:

• Discriminatory Remarks: Posting discriminatory or offensive comments online, whether in public forums or on sites such as Twitter/X.
• Provocative Pictures: Inappropriate or NSFW pictures may be seen as evidence of showing poor judgement, or bad decision making.
• Excessive Partying: Extensive evidence of excessive partying and drinking may raise concerns about reliability and punctuality.
• Bad-Mouthing Employers: Negative comments about past or current colleagues, companies or bosses reflect poorly on a candidate’s interpersonal skills and professionalism. Many companies have a policy forbidding workers to comment negatively online.
• Unlawful Activity: Evidence of criminal behaviour posted online can seriously damage your prospects of being successful in your job hunt.
• Violent Remarks or Actions: Posting violent content, even in jest, may be seen as inappropriate and another indication of poor judgement.
• Inconsistent Information: Discrepancies between a candidate’s CV and social media profiles, such as posting about leaving a job in May when your CV says August, is going to raise doubts about honesty.
• Social Media Absence: While not having social media is a personal choice, choosing not to use social media at all is unusual and employers may question why.

Employers who want to look at your social media as part of their background screening programme should be transparent about what they are doing and why. If you know that your Instagram, TikTok or Facebook account is going to be looked at, you have the chance to audit the feed and delete anything which you would prefer your employer not to know about. Remember that you can’t control what other people post, so consider also who you follow online.

Employing a new director for your business without conducting the proper director checks can be a recipe for disaster, causing potential damage to your company’s reputation. Director checks are not as well-known as other types of identity checks and background checks but should be an important part of the recruitment process.

Director checks involve careful checking and verification of information related to individuals holding or applying for directorship positions in companies. These checks look at suitability, integrity, and financial stability of potential directors. They are especially important for directors who are involved in business partnerships, investments, or mergers and acquisitions. Checks help to safeguard both the business and its reputation, by making sure that you do not have someone in your business with a history of fraud, criminality, or financial mismanagement.

Carrying Our Director Checks

The director check looks at all current and past directorships. It will uncover any previous disqualifications as serving as a director, or current restrictions on directorial roles. Background screening companies will typically look at the following sources of information when completing their report:

• Companies House – maintains a public database containing information about registered companies and their directors. Director checks will access this database to verify details like the director’s name, date of appointment, resignation history, and current directorships.
• Director Disqualification – The UK’s Insolvency Service looks after the Disqualified Directors Register. This lists individuals banned from directorship due to misconduct, fraud, or other serious matters. Someone who has been legally banned from acting as a director is not allowed to be employed in a similar role.
• Companies Act 2006 – Director checks may include a review of the Companies Act 2006, by looking at things such as whether annual accounts have been submitted on time, and that there have been no other breaches of the legislation which could call character into question.

What are Employers Looking for?

Employers are looking at a wide range of factors when running a director’s check. Along with the basics of dates of appointment, details of previous companies, and any history of disqualifications, they are also looking at:

• Financial Stability: Director checks may involve a credit check on directors and their associated companies.
• Professional Conduct: Some director checks delve into professional conduct and reputational of directors. This may involve looking at whether there has been any misconduct action against a director, or whether any of their companies have been involved in other legal breaches.

Some details revealed on a director check, such as discovering an individual is banned from taking that role, will immediately rule out a candidate from working as a director. Other information may be less of a deal-breaker and the decision about whether to employ will depend on many other factors including past experience and performance at interview. Director checks can be much more in-depth than other background checking, simply because there is more at stake for a company if they get it wrong and employ someone who either damages the business’s reputation or is tempted to commit fraud.

2023 marked a turning point in the way in which employers run background checks on people applying to work. 2023 saw a surge in online background checking, increased reliance on technology-driven identity checks and adaptations in response to remote working. Increasingly doing identity checks online was partly in response to the shift to home working after the pandemic, and partly in response to new government laws and technologies for checking the immigration status of foreign nationals wishing to work in the UK. However, identity checking agencies are now warning about the rise of fraudulent documents which all employers and applicants going through the process should be aware of.

Most Common Fake Documents

The most common fake document presented in connection with Right to Work and other identity checks is a passport, which made up 45% of cases of fake document detection in 2023. A passport is the key document which anyone needs to prove both identity and nationality. Spotting a fakes British passport when you have many genuine originals for comparison is more straightforward. Trying to spot a forged foreign passport is far trickier and may involve more detailed checking for anyone applying for a job.

Where Do the Fakes Come From?

Although there are still many faked international documents in circulation, 68% of all faked documents detected in 2023 were British or Irish. This fact underlines to employers that they should be conducting just as many checks on familiar documents as they do with unfamiliar passports. Both the British and Irish government have put lots of information online about the common security features to look for.

Imposters

Imposter fraud is slightly different in that the documents presented are genuine – they just don’t belong to the person who is presenting them. A similar issue is found with genuine share codes proving the Right to Work being shared with people they do not refer to, usually for financial gain.

Industry Sectors

The industry most affected by identity fraud and document fraud is hospitality, with restaurant chains accounting for 20% of all detected fraud in 2023. Perhaps more worryingly, a growing industry sector targeted by identity fraud was healthcare, with 9% of all fraudulent activity. The main message is that every industry sector can be affected by document fraud, so it is the duty of every employer to check, and something that every job applicant should be aware of. If you think your employer is running more checks than they ever did previously, that’s probably true. But it’s nothing to take personally.

Bear In Mind

Employers across all industries in the UK, irrespective of size, can safeguard against identity fraud by knowing what the risks are, and taking steps to recognise fraudulent documents when they come across them. Fraudsters are clever and always coming up with something new to stay one step ahead of the detection techniques. What this means for job applicants is more rigorous checking before starting work, and perhaps more in-depth background checking, even for entry-level positions.