Compliance guides · 36 guides
Cross-cutting guides that stitch everything together: the complete compliance checklist, the full fines library, the tenancy-documents pack, How to Rent, Prescribed Information and practical tips for landlords running their own portfolio.
Renters’ Rights Act6 October 2026
The First-tier Tribunal decided 429 rent challenges in May to July 2026, against 156 a year earlier. Every published decision since January 2025, counted: what landlords proposed, what the tribunal set, and where.
7 min readRead
Compliance Guide6 October 2026
The Home Office issued £3.42 million of Right to Rent civil penalties in 2024, against £151,480 in 2023, after the fines went up in February 2024. Every quarter since the scheme began in 2016, counted from the Home Office’s own data.
6 min readRead
Compliance Guide6 October 2026
Prosecutions of landlords for Housing Act offences in England fell from 1,067 a year to 166 after councils were given the power to fine instead. Meanwhile the tribunal ordered £1.5 million of rent repaid in 2025. Every rent repayment order decision since January 2025, read.
8 min readRead
Compliance Guide6 September 2026
The word you use does not decide it. Where you live does, and the answer changes your tax relief, your licensing, your deposit duties and whether you need a court order to end the arrangement.
11 min readRead
Lettings6 August 2026
Property Hawk has told users it is shutting down Property Manager at the end of July 2026 and that they should move to another platform. Before you pick a replacement, get your records out: the rent history, the certificate dates and the deposit paperwork are the parts you cannot reconstruct later.
9 min readRead
Compliance Guide6 June 2026
Since 2023 every UK rental advert must disclose “material information”, and portals now reject listings that don’t. The 2026 guide for landlords and agents: exactly what Parts A, B and C require, who enforces it, and how to publish a compliant advert the first time.
11 min readRead
Compliance Guide6 June 2026
The Renters’ Rights Act changed what a tenancy agreement can say. The 2026 guide for landlords and agents: AST vs the new periodic assured tenancy, exactly what a valid written agreement must contain, the documents that must go with it, and the clauses that are now unenforceable.
12 min readRead
Compliance Guide4 June 2026
The wrong tenant means months of arrears and a court eviction. The 2026 referencing system for landlords and agents: affordability, credit, previous-landlord and Right to Rent checks, the fee you cannot charge, and the red flags that predict trouble.
13 min readRead
Tenancy Documents19 April 2026
Since 1 May 2026 break clauses have no effect in assured tenancies: the tenant gives 2 months’ notice and you need a Section 8 ground. Where they still apply, such as company lets: activation date, notice period, the time-of-the-essence trap and valid service of notice.
13 min readRead
Compliance Guide26 February 2026
A complete UK landlord compliance checklist covering Gas Safety, EICR, EPC, deposit protection, Right to Rent, possession under Section 8 and more.
25 min readRead
Compliance Guide27 March 2026
Full 2026 fine schedule for UK landlords: £10k–£20k per occupier for Right to Rent, £40k per property for EICR, up to £40k for serious Renters’ Rights Act breaches, unlimited for unlicensed HMOs and prison for gas safety. Sortable table by breach + maximum penalty.
9 min readRead
Tax6 August 2026
Let a property for the first time in 2025-26? The deadline that catches people is not 31 January. It is 5 October 2026, when you have to tell HMRC you exist. Here is who has to file, every date, and why the first January bill is often larger than the tax you owe.
10 min readRead
Data Protection1 April 2026
Under UK GDPR every landlord is a data controller and must give tenants a privacy notice naming the lawful basis, retention period and data-subject rights. ICO penalties run up to £17.5m or 4% turnover. What to include, how it differs from your tenancy agreement, and the in-app notice tool for paid plans and eligible trials.
9 min readRead
Tenancy Documents2 April 2026
GOV.UK withdrew the How to Rent guide on 1 May 2026. It is no longer served on new tenancies. This explains what replaced it, and why you still keep proof of service for any pre-May-2026 Section 21 claim.
18 min readRead
Compliance Guide17 April 2026
Selective licensing covers hundreds of English council wards. Here’s how to check if your property needs a licence, typical fees, conditions and the unlimited fine for operating unlicensed.
17 min readRead
Compliance Guide17 April 2026
Becoming a landlord for the first time in 2026? This 27-step checklist covers consent-to-let, safety certificates, deposit protection, Renters’ Rights Act setup and tax registration before your first tenant collects keys.
22 min readRead
Compliance Guide17 April 2026
Every England landlord must complete a Right to Rent check on every adult tenant before move-in. Digital and manual checks both still count. Here’s how to stay compliant and avoid a penalty of up to £10,000 per occupier for a first breach.
16 min readRead
Finance6 August 2026
Letting a property on a residential mortgage without telling the lender breaches the terms, and it is the insurer as much as the bank that makes it expensive. What consent to let is, when it is enough, and when you need a buy-to-let mortgage instead.
9 min readRead
Enforcement & Penalties18 April 2026
A Rent Repayment Order can cost you up to two years’ rent. The Renters Rights Act expands grounds. This 2026 guide walks through every ground, every defence and the tribunal procedure.
15 min readRead
Compliance Guide18 April 2026
The Tenant Fees Act bans almost every upfront fee: anything not on the permitted payments list is banned, however it is labelled. Complete 2026 list with legal caps.
11 min readRead
Compliance Guide19 April 2026
Gas Safety, EICR, EPC, Deposit Prescribed Information, and, from 1 May 2026, the written statement of terms, given before the tenancy is agreed. The How to Rent guide was withdrawn that day, and the Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet was only for tenancies already running. Miss the deposit steps and the court cannot make a Section 8 possession order until you fix them; the others (gas, EPC, How to Rent) were Section 21 preconditions, abolished on 1 May 2026. The complete 2026 move-in pack with statute, deadlines and proof-of-service tips.
15 min readRead
Compliance Guide19 April 2026
Section 11(6) Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 gives a landlord the right of entry at “reasonable times of the day” on at least 24 hours’ written notice. But the rules are tighter than many landlords think: a pattern of unannounced visits can amount to harassment, which is a criminal offence. The full 2026 access rulebook.
14 min readRead
Compliance Guide17 July 2026
Most tenant references clear in one to three working days, but the one hard deadline is 15 days: the Tenant Fees Act limit on a holding deposit. Typical timescales per check, what causes the delays, and how to keep the process moving without breaking the rules.
8 min readRead
Compliance Guide17 July 2026
A free landlord reference letter template, plus what you can lawfully say about a tenant, why an honest factual reference protects you, and how to request one from a previous landlord (and spot a fake). Everything a landlord actually needs when a reference is asked for.
9 min readRead
Tenancy Documents17 July 2026
A guarantor agreement only works if it is drafted right, and the Renters’ Rights Act changed the rules. Why it must usually be a deed, the new rule that ends a guarantor’s liability when the tenant dies, the fixed-term trap that voids it post-2026, and a free template.
11 min readRead
Tenancy Documents6 August 2026
A notice from one joint tenant is valid, and it ends the tenancy for everybody, including the ones who wanted to stay. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 confirmed it in statute. Here is what it means and how to handle the sharer who is moving out.
9 min readRead
Tenancy Documents17 July 2026
One tenancy for the whole household, or a separate one per person? Joint and several liability, the trap where one tenant’s notice can end it for everyone, deposits, guarantors and when a sole tenancy or per-room HMO fits better. The 2026 guide for landlords.
9 min readRead
Compliance Guide21 September 2026
Gas runs on 12 months, electrical on up to 5 years, deposits on 30 days, licences on whatever the council decided. There is exactly one provision that lets you move a date to tidy the calendar, and it is narrower than landlords think.
10 min readRead
Compliance Guide21 September 2026
There is no national landlord licence. The same mandatory HMO licence costs £488 in one council and £1,865.34 in another, and the discounts that look like portfolio discounts mostly apply only within one building. What actually differs, from 26 councils' own published schedules.
9 min readRead
Compliance Guide18 July 2026
The Housing Act 1988 is still the foundation of every possession claim in England. It created the AST, Section 8 and Section 21, and after the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 it’s the framework that hosts the new Assured Periodic Tenancy. The 2026 overview every landlord should read once.
11 min readRead
Compliance Guide18 July 2026
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 is the repair duty you can’t contract out of: structure, exterior, heating, hot water and sanitary appliances. In 2026 it sits alongside the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 and, for social landlords, Awaab’s Law. What still applies and how the three interlock.
10 min readRead
Tenancy Documents18 July 2026
A tenant credit check tells you whether the person applying for your property has a pattern of paying bills. The 2026 landlord’s guide: what a credit check actually contains, what a soft search costs, how UK GDPR applies, and what the affordability calculation should look like.
10 min readRead
Compliance Guide18 July 2026
Landlords handle a lot of tenant personal data (referencing, ID, bank details, Right to Rent copies), so UK GDPR applies to you. ICO registration and the data protection fee, choosing the right lawful basis, the privacy notice, how long to keep data, subject access requests, CCTV and breach reporting.
11 min readRead
Compliance Guide18 July 2026
You can screen tenants, but how you screen is limited by the Equality Act 2010 and the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Why "No DSS" and "No children" are unlawful, the nine protected characteristics, Right to Rent without race discrimination, and how to screen lawfully on affordability.
10 min readRead
Tenancy Documents6 August 2026
Swapping one sharer for another is not an edit to the agreement. It is either an assignment, which needs your consent, or a new tenancy, which resets everything. Section 15 of the Housing Act 1988 and what each route actually costs you.
9 min readRead
Compliance Guide18 July 2026
Guaranteed rent sounds easy until the licensing, mortgage and insurance liability lands on you. And from 1 May 2026 the Renters' Rights Act extends Rent Repayment Orders to superior landlords, so the owner can now be pursued too. How R2R works, what changed, and how to vet a deal.
10 min readRead
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