Right to Rent check API

• Every adult occupier is checked before the tenancy starts, whatever their nationality: British and Irish citizens included (Home Office: Landlord’s guide to right to rent checks, 1 October 2026).
• The civil penalty is up to £10,000 an occupier for a first breach and up to £20,000 for a repeat one (NRLA: fines from 13 February 2024).
• England only. In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland the link checks ID alone, £1.99 a person (the identity verification API).
• British and Irish citizens can’t get a share code, so without seeing their passport in person a certified digital check is the way to check them.

curl -X POST "https://api.stratumapis.com/v1/transactions" \
  -H "X-Stratum-Key: $STRATUM_KEY" -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "type": "letting", "preset": "rtr" }'

curl -X PATCH "https://api.stratumapis.com/v1/transactions/$TXN" \
  -H "X-Stratum-Key: $STRATUM_KEY" -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "property": { "addressLine1": "14 Granby Row", "postcode": "M1 7AR" },
    "parties": [{ "partyId": "tenant-1", "role": "tenant", "kind": "individual", "name": "Jane Doe" }]
  }'

preset: "rtr" opens a letting with the Right to Rent ticked and each tenant set to “ID and Right to Rent together, by link”, with the checks the law requires and recommends for a let (see them, priced, with GET /v1/transactions/{id}/quote before you run anything). The property’s postcode decides the nation: the Right to Rent part needs a property in England. A landlord or guarantor can have an ID check by link too: "idv" in selectedCheckKeys and idMethods { "idv": "link" }.

curl -X POST "https://api.stratumapis.com/v1/transactions/$TXN/digital-id" \
  -H "X-Stratum-Key: $STRATUM_KEY" -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "partyId": "tenant-1", "email": "jane@example.com" }'

The reply’s digitalId.startUrl is the tenant’s link (on stratumapis.com, in your firm’s name). Send it from your own product; we don’t email them. It asks for their passport or share code, then hands over to the identity service.

"outcome": {
  "document": { "type": "passport", "issuingCountry": "GBR" },
  "identityProfile": "M1A",
  "selfie": "pass",
  "rightToRent": { "ok": true, "listType": "A", "basis": "British passport (certified check)" },
  "reasons": []
},
"photoCheckNeeded": true

It arrives as a digital_id.updated webhook, or from GET /v1/transactions/{id}/digital-id. The Home Office asks the landlord or agent to make sure the photo and date of birth in the report are the tenant’s (in person or on a video call). Once they have:

curl -X POST "https://api.stratumapis.com/v1/transactions/$TXN/digital-id/$REQUEST/photo" \
  -H "X-Stratum-Key: $STRATUM_KEY" -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "confirmed": true }'

Only then is the Right to Rent recorded on the letting, with who confirmed it and when; once the letting has a certificate, it is issued again with the record on it. A time-limited right comes back as listType: "B" with leaveExpiry, the date a follow-up check is due by. When the check can’t show a right to rent (a document that doesn’t prove it on its own, a share code that didn’t confirm one), rightToRent.ok is false with the reason in plain words.

curl -X POST "https://api.stratumapis.com/v1/transactions/$TXN/right-to-rent" \
  -H "X-Stratum-Key: $STRATUM_KEY" -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "partyId": "tenant-1", "occupantName": "Jane Doe",
    "method": "share-code", "shareCode": "W4K 7P2 9XQ",
    "listType": "B", "leaveExpiry": "2027-08-31",
    "checkedOn": "2026-10-19", "confirmed": true
  }'

For a share code checked on GOV.UK or original documents seen in person. confirmed: true is the agent saying they did the check themselves; the record gives the follow-up date for a time-limited right and how long to keep it.

With a test key the link is made in the identity service’s sandbox: nothing is charged and nobody is contacted, and the link stays waiting, since a sandbox can’t check a real person.

• The transactions API docs: every route, field and status.
• The checks are run by Vouchsafe, on the GOV.UK register of digital verification services.
• For letting agents rather than code, the same check is on Certaby.