Landlord guide - England - updated 18 August 2026
Everything a private residential landlord in England needs to have in place to let and manage a property lawfully: the safety checks, the certificates, the documents the tenant must receive, deposits, licensing, repairs and the duties that continue once the tenant has moved in.
To let a home in England you normally need a valid EPC of at least band E, an annual gas safety record where there is gas, an electrical installation condition report renewed at least every five years, working smoke alarms on every storey and carbon monoxide alarms where there is a fixed combustion appliance. Before the tenancy starts you must complete Right to Rent checks, give the tenant the government's current prescribed information document, and protect any deposit in an approved scheme with the prescribed information served within 30 days. A licence may also be needed depending on the property, its occupation and the local authority. Once the tenant is in, repairing and fitness duties, certificate renewals and alarm upkeep continue for the life of the tenancy.
Scope. This guide covers private residential landlords letting property in England. Housing law is devolved, so the rules in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ in important ways and are not covered here. It is general information current as at 18 August 2026, not legal advice on a specific property.
Landlord compliance is not one rule. It is several separate categories of obligation, drawn from different pieces of legislation, each with its own timing and its own consequence for getting it wrong:
Most compliance problems are not caused by landlords ignoring the law. They are caused by dates. A check is done, the tenancy settles down, and eleven months later nobody is watching the renewal.
Not every line applies to every property. Gas duties only bite where there is gas, licensing depends on the council and the occupation, and a small number of properties hold registered EPC exemptions. Use this as the map, then check the detail below.
| Requirement | When | Renewal | Who it applies to | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) | Before marketing, and given to the tenant | Valid 10 years | Almost all lettings, limited exemptions | The property must normally be at least EPC band E to be let, unless a valid exemption is registered. Government has confirmed a higher standard, equivalent to band C under a reformed EPC, with a single compliance date of 1 October 2030. |
| Gas safety check and record | Before the tenant moves in, then annually | Every 12 months | Any property with a gas appliance, pipework or flue | Carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Record to the existing tenant within 28 days, or to a new tenant before occupation. |
| Electrical installation condition report (EICR) | Before a new tenancy, then on the renewal cycle | At least every 5 years | All private residential tenancies in England | Report to the tenant within 28 days, to a new tenant before occupation, and to the council within 7 days if requested. |
| Smoke alarms | In place before occupation, tested at the start of the tenancy | Ongoing; repair or replace once told it is faulty | Every storey used as living accommodation | At least one smoke alarm on each such storey. |
| Carbon monoxide alarms | In place before occupation, tested at the start of the tenancy | Ongoing; repair or replace once told it is faulty | Rooms with a fixed combustion appliance (gas cookers excluded) | The 2022 amendment extended this beyond solid fuel to most fixed combustion appliances. |
| Right to Rent check | Before the tenancy is granted | Per adult occupier; follow-up checks for time-limited status | England only | Manual document check, Home Office online check, or a certified identity service provider for British and Irish citizens. |
| Tenant information documents | At the start of the tenancy | Each new tenancy, and when a new version is issued | Private residential tenancies | Since the Renters' Rights Act changes took effect on 1 May 2026, the government's Renters' Rights Act information sheet is the current prescribed tenant information document. |
| Deposit protection and prescribed information | Within 30 days of receiving the deposit | Each tenancy where a deposit is taken | Assured tenancies | Protect in a government-approved scheme and serve the prescribed information on the tenant and anyone who paid on their behalf. |
| Rent in advance limit | At the start of the tenancy | Each tenancy | Tenancies under the post-May-2026 regime | No more than one month's rent may be required in advance. |
| Licensing (HMO, additional or selective) | Before letting, where a scheme applies | Licence term set by the council, commonly up to 5 years | Depends on property, occupation and local authority area | Mandatory HMO licensing applies to houses in multiple occupation with 5 or more occupiers in 2 or more households. Additional and selective licensing are local schemes. |
| Repairs and fitness for human habitation | Throughout the tenancy | Ongoing | All residential tenancies | Structure, exterior and the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating, plus an implied term that the home is fit to live in. |
| Legionella risk assessment | Before letting and reviewed if the system or use changes | Review periodically, no fixed statutory interval | Landlords as the person in control of the premises | A risk assessment, not a certificate. For most simple domestic systems the assessment concludes that routine control measures are enough. |
This matters before anything else, because it changes how tenancies are structured and how rent is increased.
The main tenancy provisions of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026. Assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 no-fault possession have been abolished, existing tenancies have converted to open-ended periodic assured tenancies, rent increases run through the statutory notice process with a right for the tenant to challenge at the First-tier Tribunal, contractual rent review clauses no longer operate for these tenancies, rent in advance is capped at one month, tenants have a right to request a pet that cannot be unreasonably refused, and blanket bans on tenants with children or on benefits are unlawful. Landlords also had to give tenants the government's Renters' Rights Act information sheet.
Several parts of the Act are legislated for but await commencement regulations: the private rented sector database that landlords will have to register with, the mandatory landlord ombudsman and redress scheme, the extension of a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector, and the extension of Awaab's Law hazard timescales beyond social housing. As at 18 August 2026 none of these are operative for private landlords. Treat them as changes to prepare for, not obligations you are currently breaching.
Our Renters' Rights guide for landlords covers the tenancy and possession changes in more depth.
You need a valid EPC, lasting ten years, before the property is marketed, and the tenant should receive a copy. The legal minimum for letting is currently band E: below that, the property cannot normally be let unless a valid exemption is registered on the PRS Exemptions Register.
Government confirmed the framework in its response to the consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes, published in January 2026 alongside the Warm Homes Plan. Privately rented homes within scope will be required to meet a higher standard, equivalent to band C and measured by a reformed dual-metric EPC, by a single compliance date of 1 October 2030 unless a valid exemption applies. The confirmed framework includes a £10,000 per property cost cap over a ten year period, exemptions valid for ten years once the cap has been spent, and transitional treatment so a property already rated EPC C or better on the current methodology before 1 October 2029 counts as compliant until that certificate expires.
Implementation is by regulations amending the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015, using existing powers, and those regulations have not been laid or made as at August 2026. Band E is therefore still the enforceable minimum. The 1 October 2030 date is confirmed government policy rather than a proposal, so plan works around it, while the binding legal obligation takes effect only once the amending regulations are in force.
If the property has any gas appliance, pipework or flue, a Gas Safe registered engineer must check them every twelve months and issue a record. A new tenant must have the record before they occupy the property. Keep records for at least two years. A check carried out up to two months early can keep the original anniversary date, which is the practical way to avoid drift.
Every private residential tenancy in England requires the fixed electrical installation to be inspected and tested at intervals of no more than five years, or sooner where the report says so. Any remedial work classified as required must be carried out within 28 days, or sooner if the report specifies, with written confirmation to the tenant. A new tenant gets the report before occupation.
At least one smoke alarm on every storey used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation containing a fixed combustion appliance, other than a gas cooker. Alarms must be tested on the first day of the tenancy, and repaired or replaced as soon as reasonably practicable once a tenant reports a fault.
There is no national landlord licence in England. What exists is mandatory HMO licensing for houses in multiple occupation with five or more occupiers forming two or more households, plus additional HMO licensing and selective licensing schemes that individual councils designate for particular areas or property types. Two identical flats in different boroughs, or on different sides of a designation boundary, can have completely different licensing positions. The only reliable check is the licensing page of the council for that address.
In England, a landlord or their agent must check that every adult who will occupy the property as their only or main home has the right to rent, before the tenancy is granted. The check can be a manual document check with the person present, a Home Office online check using a share code, or an identity document validation service through a certified provider for British and Irish citizens with a valid passport. Keep a dated copy of the evidence, and diarise a follow-up check where someone's permission to be in the UK is time limited. Civil penalties for renting to someone without the right to rent run to thousands of pounds and rise substantially for repeat breaches.
Landlords have long had to give tenants the government's How to Rent guide at the start of a tenancy. Since the Renters' Rights Act changes took effect on 1 May 2026, the government's Renters' Rights Act information sheet is the current prescribed document, and landlords were required to have provided it to existing tenants by 31 May 2026. Because the transition between the two documents has its own transitional rules, the safe practice is to download the current version from GOV.UK at the point each tenancy starts and keep evidence of when and how it was sent.
The EPC, the gas safety record where there is gas, and the EICR should all be in the tenant's hands before they take occupation, not sent afterwards. Email with a saved sent item is enough evidence in most cases.
Any tenancy deposit must be protected in a government-approved scheme, and the prescribed information served on the tenant and anyone who paid on their behalf, within 30 days of receiving the deposit. These are two separate duties with the same deadline. Failure can lead to a court ordering the landlord to pay the tenant between one and three times the deposit, in addition to returning it. Rent in advance is now capped at one month, so the older practice of taking six months up front no longer works.
Not a statutory requirement, but a dated, photographed inventory and schedule of condition is the single most useful document a landlord can hold if there is ever a deposit dispute or an argument about damage versus fair wear and tear.
Compliance does not end when the keys are handed over. The recurring duties are the ones landlords most often lose track of:
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 puts the repairing obligation for the structure and exterior, and for the installations supplying water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and water heating, on the landlord. It cannot be contracted out of in a standard residential tenancy.
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 adds an implied term that the property is fit to live in at the start of and throughout the tenancy, and lets the tenant take the landlord to court directly rather than waiting for the council to act. Damp and mould, excess cold, poor ventilation and serious disrepair all fall within it.
On timescales: Awaab's Law introduced fixed deadlines for investigating and fixing prescribed hazards, and those deadlines are in force for social housing. The Renters' Rights Act provides for extending equivalent duties to the private rented sector, but as at August 2026 that extension has not been commenced. Private landlords are therefore held to the standard of acting within a reasonable time once they know of a defect, judged against the seriousness of the hazard. Social housing timescales are not currently the private sector test, though they are a sensible benchmark to work to, and the position should be rechecked once commencement regulations appear.
There is no statutory inspection frequency for an ordinary private tenancy. What the law does say is that where a landlord enters to view the state and condition of the property, at least 24 hours' written notice must be given and the visit must be at a reasonable time of day. The tenant is entitled to quiet enjoyment: notice is not the same as a right to insist on entry against refusal.
As management practice rather than a legal requirement, periodic inspections are how landlords find the things tenants do not report: early damp, a slow leak, a failed extractor fan, overloaded sockets, alarms taken down, unauthorised occupants, or a pet or subletting position that has changed. A short written report with photographs each time also builds the evidence trail that helps at the end of the tenancy.
There is no legionella regulation specific to housing and no statutory legionella certificate. The duty comes from general health and safety law: as the person in control of the premises, a landlord must assess the risk from the water system and take sensible, proportionate control measures. The HSE sets out the approach in its approved code of practice L8 and the technical guidance HSG274.
For most simple domestic systems the assessment is short and concludes that ordinary use, correct hot water storage temperatures, no redundant pipework and flushing after a void are enough. It should be recorded, and reviewed when the system changes, the property is empty for a period, or the occupation changes. Anyone selling a landlord a "legionella certificate" is selling a risk assessment under another name.
Where a property is occupied as a house in multiple occupation, the compliance picture expands: licence conditions, room sizes, amenity standards, fire precautions and management regulations apply on top of everything above. Mandatory licensing catches HMOs with five or more occupiers in two or more households. Councils can also designate additional licensing for smaller HMOs and selective licensing for all private rented homes in a defined area.
Letting an unlicensed property that needs a licence is a serious matter: it can attract a substantial civil penalty or prosecution, and it can expose the landlord to a rent repayment order in favour of the tenant.
If you let, or are considering letting, on a room-by-room basis, our HMO management service covers how the licensing and standards side is run in practice.
The practical way to stay compliant is to stop treating these as a list and start treating them as dates. Four buckets cover almost everything.
Assuming a certificate lasts as long as the tenancy
Gas safety records run for twelve months and EICRs for a maximum of five years, regardless of how long the tenant stays. The renewal date belongs to the property, not the tenancy.
Getting the check done but not giving the document to the tenant
The gas safety record and the EICR both have delivery deadlines. A compliant inspection with no evidence of delivery is only half of the obligation.
Protecting the deposit but not serving prescribed information
These are two separate duties with the same 30-day deadline. Missing the prescribed information can expose a landlord to a penalty of one to three times the deposit.
Assuming no local licence is needed
Additional and selective licensing are designated street by street and area by area by individual councils. The only reliable check is the licensing page of the council for that specific address.
Confusing a risk assessment with a certificate
There is no statutory legionella certificate. What is expected is an assessment of the risk from the water system and sensible control measures, recorded and reviewed.
Keeping no records
Where a landlord has to demonstrate compliance, dated records, receipts, delivery evidence and inspection reports are the evidence. Keep gas safety records for at least two years.
Assuming a contractor or agent absorbs the legal duty
Contractors carry out the work and an agent can coordinate it, but most of these duties sit with the landlord as a matter of law. Delegation organises the work; it does not transfer the responsibility.
The consequence depends entirely on which requirement was missed. They are not interchangeable, and most breaches do not carry every possible sanction:
Compliance failures also complicate possession. With section 21 abolished, possession runs through the statutory grounds, and a landlord whose records are incomplete is in a weaker position when those grounds are tested.
Plenty of landlords handle this perfectly well themselves, particularly with one local property and a good diary. It gets harder with several properties, overlapping renewal dates, a job during the working day, or a property you no longer live near.
Under our fully managed service we coordinate the day-to-day management and help landlords keep the required processes and records organised: tracking certificate and renewal dates, arranging gas safety checks, EICRs and EPCs, issuing the documents tenants must receive and keeping evidence of delivery, handling tenancy administration and statutory notices, triaging repairs and instructing contractors, carrying out periodic inspections with written reports, dealing with tenant communication, and managing rent collection and arrears.
To be clear about what that does and does not do: many of these duties sit with the landlord as a matter of law, and using an agent does not transfer that underlying legal responsibility. What it does is put someone on the dates, the paperwork and the evidence.
9%
of monthly rent
Full management
£745
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New Tenancy Fee
The £745 New Tenancy Fee applies each time a new tenancy is arranged and is in addition to the ongoing 9% management fee. East Valley does not currently charge VAT. Bespoke pricing is available for portfolios. Our guide to property management fees explains how percentage fees compare in practice.
In practice, three documents cover most properties: a valid Energy Performance Certificate, an annual gas safety record where there is gas, and an electrical installation condition report renewed at least every five years. Alongside those, a landlord needs evidence of Right to Rent checks, deposit protection and prescribed information, and a licence where the council operates a scheme that applies to the property.
Normally the EPC, the gas safety record where there is gas, the EICR, the deposit prescribed information, and the government's current prescribed tenant information document. Since 1 May 2026 that document is the Renters' Rights Act information sheet published by the government.
Every twelve months. The record must be given to the existing tenant within 28 days of the check, or to a new tenant before they occupy the property. Records should be kept for at least two years.
At intervals of no more than five years, or sooner if the report recommends an earlier re-inspection. A copy goes to the tenant within 28 days, to a new tenant before occupation, and to the local authority within seven days if it asks.
Yes for almost all residential lettings. The current legal minimum is band E, unless a valid exemption is registered on the PRS Exemptions Register. Government has since confirmed that privately rented homes in scope must meet a higher standard, equivalent to band C under a reformed dual-metric EPC, by a single compliance date of 1 October 2030 unless a valid exemption applies. The regulations implementing that standard have not yet been made, so band E is the enforceable minimum today.
No. There is no national landlord licence in England. Mandatory licensing applies to larger HMOs, and individual councils may designate additional HMO licensing or selective licensing covering particular areas. Whether a licence is needed depends on the property, how it is occupied and where it is.
A landlord is expected to assess and manage the risk of legionella in the property's water system under general health and safety law and the HSE's guidance. There is no statutory legionella certificate, and for a typical domestic system the assessment is usually straightforward.
There is no statutory inspection frequency for a standard private tenancy. Many landlords and agents inspect after the first few months and then every six months. Where entry is to inspect the state of the property, at least 24 hours' written notice at a reasonable time is required.
Yes, and most landlords with more than one property do. An agent can arrange the checks, track renewal dates, issue documents to tenants and keep the records. The underlying legal duties generally remain with the landlord, so the value of an agent is organisation and evidence rather than transfer of liability.
The official material behind this guide. We summarise it in our own words rather than reproducing it, and the position stated is as at 18 August 2026.
Annual gas safety checks, records and the duty to give the record to tenants.
How the annual check date works in practice, including checks carried out early.
Five-year EICR cycle, remedial work and the deadlines for issuing reports.
Read with the 2022 amendment regulations extending carbon monoxide alarm duties.
The minimum energy efficiency standard and the exemptions regime.
Confirms band E as the current legal minimum for letting.
What changed for tenancies, rent increases and possession.
The regulations that brought the main tenancy provisions into force on 1 May 2026.
The current prescribed information document for tenants.
Deposit protection, prescribed information and the penalty regime.
Mandatory and additional HMO licensing. Part 3 covers selective licensing.
How checks must be carried out and the current penalty framework.
The repairing obligation and the 24 hours' written notice for inspection.
The implied term that a let home must be fit to live in.
The risk assessment duty, approved code of practice L8 and guidance HSG274.
Where the law is settled we have stated it plainly. Where implementation is still awaited, particularly the private rented sector database, the landlord ombudsman, a Decent Homes Standard for private rentals, the extension of Awaab's Law hazard timescales and the higher EPC minimum standard confirmed for 1 October 2030, we have said so rather than presenting an unimplemented requirement as current law. If you need certainty on a specific property, check the linked official source or take advice.