A date on a scanned document
When the tenancy started, the tenant's permission to be in the UK was checked and a copy was saved in the tenancy folder. The permission had an end date some way off. That date was never entered anywhere that would prompt anyone. Years later, during a routine audit or a tenant change, someone opens the folder and realises the follow-up check should have happened months ago.
Nobody was careless at the start. The system simply had nowhere to put the date where it would be seen again.
Why follow-up checks slip
Right to rent checks are part of your compliance process, and your compliance lead or adviser sets exactly who must be checked, how, and when follow-ups are due. This article does not interpret those rules. The practical issue is that the initial check is part of the move-in flow, so it happens, while the follow-up sits outside any flow at all.
Tenancies also change. A new occupier moves in, a tenant is replaced, a tenancy is renewed. Each change can mean a new check, and each is easy to miss when the checks are tracked in document folders rather than as dated tasks.
| Situation | Where it slips |
|---|---|
| Time-limited permission | Expiry date not recorded as a task |
| New adult occupier moves in | Nobody told the office |
| Tenant replaced mid-tenancy | Check treated as optional |
| Checks done by a third party | Result not filed against the tenancy |
| Staff changes | Knowledge of due dates leaves with the person |
What a missed follow-up costs
Your adviser can tell you the exposure for a missed check. From an operational point of view, the cost is that the gap is found late, in an audit or a dispute, when it is hardest to put right. Checking every tenancy file by hand to find due dates is slow, so it is done rarely, which is exactly why gaps survive.
Handling this badly also risks treating tenants unfairly, for example by asking some tenants for documents and not others. A consistent, recorded process protects tenants and your agency alike.
The tracking we build
- Check register: every check, initial or follow-up, is recorded against the person and the tenancy with its date, method and, where relevant, the date a follow-up falls due, as your process defines.
- Back-file review: we help you work through existing tenancy files, reading scanned documents to find dates and building the register, with every extracted date confirmed by a person.
- Prompts: ahead of each follow-up date, the property manager is prompted and the tenant receives a polite request in your approved wording, with instructions for whatever method your process uses.
- Change triggers: tenant replacements, new occupiers and renewals recorded in your lettings software create a task to consider a new check.
- Outcome record: the result and date of each follow-up are recorded, with any evidence stored securely under your retention rules.
- Overview: the lettings manager sees upcoming, overdue and completed checks across the portfolio.
If you use an identity service provider or an online checking route, we link the results to the register rather than duplicating the check.
Follow-up dates you can see
Follow-up dates stop hiding in scanned files. Your team is prompted in good time, tenants receive a clear, consistent request, and every check has a dated record. When your compliance lead asks whether all follow-ups are up to date, the answer comes from a screen rather than a week of file reviews.
Are follow-up checks hiding in folders?
- Right to rent documents are stored in tenancy folders with no dated tasks.
- Nobody could quickly list which tenants have a follow-up check due.
- Changes of occupier are not always reported to the office.
- Check results from third parties are not filed consistently.