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PARTLY

As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly check whether a landlord is legitimate.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

15 minutesto a draft.

1 hourto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill neededchat-fluent

Who has to check ityou

What the alternative costsNo priced human alternative is provided in the available tool data.

If this goes wrong, you can transfer money to a fraudster or sign a tenancy with someone who has no right to let the property.

What to actually do

  1. Hand it to a person

    The route this page recommends

    A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

  2. Use a tool built for this

    Second choice

  3. Do it yourself

    The distant third

    A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 1 hour until you can act on the result.

    How to actually do it

    1. Save the property listing, the landlord's or agent's messages, the proposed rent and deposit terms, and the name and contact details used in the advert.
    2. Redact passports, signatures, bank account numbers, National Insurance numbers and other unnecessary private information before pasting the material into a chatbot with the prompt.
    3. Ask the chatbot to list every claim that needs checking, including who owns or manages the property, who is entitled to let it, where payments would go, and what tenancy documents are being offered.
    4. Open the relevant GOV.UK services and Companies House where a company is named, then compare the official results with the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses in the advert.
    5. Arrange a viewing at the property and check that the person you meet, the address and the proposed agreement are consistent; do not treat photographs or a video call as proof of ownership.
    6. Ask the chatbot to compare the official results and viewing evidence with its earlier checklist, then stop and seek a solicitor or Citizens Advice if identity, ownership, payment destination or tenancy rights remain unclear.
    7. Do not send money or sign the agreement until you have independently confirmed who is entitled to let the property and kept copies of the evidence you checked.

    Prompt

    Help me assess whether a UK landlord or letting agent appears legitimate before I pay money or sign anything. Use only the information I provide and clearly separate facts, missing evidence, warning signs and sensible next checks. Do not claim that you searched a website, checked a document, verified ownership or confirmed an identity unless I provide the result or a link and you can actually inspect it. Do not make a legal conclusion or tell me that it is safe to proceed. Do not ask me to paste passports, full bank details, signatures, National Insurance numbers or other unnecessary private data. Consider these checks where relevant: whether the advertiser's name and contact details are consistent, whether the property address and photographs raise concerns, whether the person appears entitled to let the property, whether payment is requested before a viewing or written agreement, whether the proposed tenancy and deposit arrangements are plausible, and whether official UK sources should be checked. Give me a table with: evidence supplied, what it shows, what it does not prove, risk level, and the next action. End with a short stop-and-seek-help list. My information is: [paste the listing, messages, proposed agreement details and non-sensitive company or contact information here].

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

What it gets wrong

  • AI cannot prove that the person messaging you owns the property or has authority to let it.
  • AI cannot reliably detect a forged identity document, tenancy agreement or ownership record from an image.
  • AI cannot replace an in-person viewing or confirm that the payment account belongs to the landlord or agent.
  • AI cannot take responsibility if you pay a deposit to a fraudster or sign an invalid agreement.
  • It may repeat a plausible explanation for missing evidence instead of treating the gap as a reason to stop.

What caps this at PARTLY: private data access, verification cost and stakes of error.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output2
Inputs1
Verification1
Liability1
Effort delta1
Total6 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can ChatGPT tell if a landlord is genuine?
It can organise the evidence and identify warning signs, but it cannot prove that a landlord owns the property or is entitled to let it. Check official records, view the property and verify the payment destination independently.
How can I check if a landlord is legitimate in the UK?
Compare the advert and messages with official UK records, check any named company through Companies House, and confirm who has authority to let the property. View the property in person and do not pay until the identity, ownership and written tenancy arrangements make sense.
Can AI check a landlord's identity or documents?
AI can point out inconsistencies in information you provide, but it cannot authenticate an identity document or guarantee that a document is genuine. Do not upload unnecessary sensitive documents, and use the relevant official service or a professional for a serious concern.
Should I pay a deposit if an AI says the landlord looks legitimate?
No. An AI assessment is not proof of legitimacy and does not transfer the risk to the tool. This is not professional advice; a serious suspected fraud or tenancy dispute needs a solicitor, and you should not pay while key checks remain unresolved.

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Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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