Landlord responsibilities in England (2026): the main legal duties, their dates and the key fines

Your legal duties as a landlord in England

The main duties you have as a landlord in England are here, on one page, with the date or the interval next to each. It's a working list, not a replacement for a solicitor, an accountant or your council's licensing team, but it covers the things landlords most often miss. To print it, the landlord compliance checklist builds the same duties into a PDF for a single let or an HMO and sends it by email.

Why they get missed: the duties run on different clocks (gas every year, the electrics every five years, the EPC every ten), they need evidence (PDFs, emails, dates), and several have a tenant-facing deadline, such as a copy within 28 days. A spreadsheet and a good memory work for one property and fall apart at five.

What changed in 2026: since 1 May 2026 Section 21 has gone for private tenancies and every private tenancy is periodic, so getting a property back now runs through Section 8. Most of these duties don't decide a Section 8 claim (only the deposit rules can block one), but they're still the law, councils can fine you for them, and the tenant's side will look for gaps. Read Section 21 abolished: what happens now alongside this.

Added by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, from 1 May 2026: state the rent in every written advert or offer and never invite or accept an offer above it; don't refuse a tenant just because a child would live there or because they claim benefits; and answer a tenant's request to keep a pet in writing, normally within 28 days. Registration on the Private Rented Sector Database is due to open on 15 December 2026 in the West Midlands and reach the rest of England region by region, and GOV.UK says every landlord who lets will need to be registered by 14 November 2027. The Renters' Rights Act checklist covers each change, and the PRS Database dates give your region's deadline.

The list runs in order: before a tenancy, during it, possession, HMO extras and data protection, then how to automate the reminders.

The “Big Five” certificates (most enforcement risk)

These five drive most of the fines and tenant disputes for landlords in England:

1. 1Gas Safety (CP12): every year, by a Gas Safe engineer. Existing tenants get a copy within 28 days, and new tenants before or at move-in. Deep dive: Gas Safety certificate guide.
2. 2EICR: every five years, covering the fixed installation. Fix any C1, C2 or FI item within 28 days (or sooner if the report says), and give tenants copies as the electrical regulations require. Deep dive: EICR guide for landlords.
3. 3EPC: valid for 10 years. The minimum rating to let is E (the MEES rules), so a property rated F or G cannot be let without a registered exemption. Give a free copy when you market the property. See EPC C / MEES guide.
4. 4Deposit protection and Prescribed Information: protect the deposit with DPS, TDS or mydeposits within 30 days of receipt, and serve the Prescribed Information in the same window. See deposit protection guide.
5. 5Right to Rent: check before the tenancy starts, keep a dated copy of the evidence, and follow up where someone's permission is time-limited. See Right to Rent checks.

Mnemonic: G-E-E-D-R: Gas, Electrics, Energy label, Deposit, Right to rent. If you track only five dates per property, track these.

Those five dates sit inside a let that also has to be advertised, signed and paid for every month. From £7.99 a month, LetCompliance runs that whole let from one login, from the advert and the tenancy agreement to rent by Direct Debit, and keeps the five dates against each property and tenant, with the deposit's 30-day clock started from the tenancy record and a reminder before each certificate falls due. Get started

Before a new tenancy, room-by-room and document-by-document

Marketing & viewing

• [ ] EPC on the advert (rating and valid date); Trading Standards enforce this
• [ ] Written statement of terms provided before the tenancy is entered into (the RRA info duty for a new tenancy; the withdrawn How to Rent guide no longer applies, and the Information Sheet was an existing-tenancy catch-up)
• [ ] Property safely accessible for viewings; hazards documented

Safety hardware (England private rented)

• [ ] Smoke alarm on every storey used as living accommodation, tested at tenancy start; log date
• [ ] CO alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance (gas cookers are the exception under the English rules); see the smoke & CO guide
• [ ] Fire doors / escape routes if HMO or licence conditions require

Gas & electrical

• [ ] Gas Safety Record in date; engineer Gas Safe for each appliance type
• [ ] EICR in date and satisfactory (no outstanding C1/C2/FI)
• [ ] Plan for the portable appliances you supply: a PAT risk assessment or testing as appropriate (PAT guide)

Deposit & money

• [ ] Deposit cap respected (if applicable under Tenant Fees Act rules for your tenancy type)
• [ ] 30-day diary entry the moment the money clears, for protection and the Prescribed Information
• [ ] Scheme choice: custodial or insured (deposit protection guide)

People & immigration

• [ ] Right to Rent on all adults who will live there, using List A/B documents or the online check
• [ ] Guarantor referencing if you use one (it doesn't replace the tenant checks)

Paperwork

• [ ] Tenancy agreement matches reality (rent, deposit, names, address)
• [ ] Inventory & photos signed
• [ ] Privacy notice for tenant personal data (UK GDPR tenant privacy)

During the tenancy, recurring calendar (print this rhythm)

Every 12 months (Gas)

• [ ] Book Gas Safe visit inside the 12-month window using the 2-month early rule if helpful
• [ ] Upload PDF; email tenant within 28 days

Every 5 years (Electrical)

• [ ] Commission EICR before expiry
• [ ] Remediate unsatisfactory outcomes; obtain written confirmation
• [ ] Provide updated report / confirmation to tenants per regulations

Every 10 years (EPC)

• [ ] Re-assess after major insulation / heating upgrades (may improve band)
• [ ] Check the new EPC is on the register (the assessor lodges it) and update your adverts

On every new tenancy (RRA 2025)

• [ ] Provide the written statement of terms before the tenancy is entered into (this replaced the withdrawn How to Rent guide; Housing Act 1988 s.16D(4), penalty up to £7,000)

Whenever tenant reports disrepair

• [ ] Log date; respond within reasonable time; HHSRS hazards escalate priority
• [ ] Keep the correspondence: repair claims and civil penalties turn on evidence

Rent & benefits

• [ ] If the tenant is on Universal Credit, allow for the payment lag against the rent due date: possession for arrears needs exact arithmetic for Ground 8

Month-by-month landlord rhythm (example for a single tenancy)

January: check whether a rent increase is due (by Section 13 notice, once every 52 weeks), and budget for the gas check in Q4 if your due dates cluster in November.

February to March: tax return prep. Collate the interest, repairs and compliance invoices. Compliance costs are not the same as improvements for CGT, so ask your accountant.

April: new tax year. Refresh your Right to Rent guidance if the Home Office updates its lists, and check the EPC (MEES) policy notes if you're marketing new lets.

May 2026 onwards: rebuild your possession plans around Section 8 (see Section 21 abolished).

June to August: book gas and EICR visits for student properties before the September rush.

September: student move-ins: the written statement of terms, the deposit clock, the inventory and alarm test photos.

October to December: winter disrepair risk (heating, damp) and peak booking for gas checks. Don't leave the gas check to a mid-December slot.

Legionella, water, and low-risk record keeping

Most small domestic lets are low risk for Legionella, but HSE expects a simple risk assessment you can show if asked, especially if water systems are complex (large tanks, unused extensions). Keep a one-page note on file; letting agents sometimes provide a template.

Tenant Fees Act quick guardrail

The banned-payments rules apply to every assured tenancy: only the payments the Act permits, and the deposit cap. A mistake here fuels tenant complaints and council interest.

End of tenancy & deposit disputes

At check-out, take meter readings, collect the keys and get a forwarding address. If deposit deductions are disputed, ADR will want dated photos, invoices, and terms that support each claim. Emotional deductions fail.

The deposit protection guide explains how each scheme's dispute service works.

One-page compliance matrix (print and pin)

Tape this next to your monitor. The hard part isn't knowing the table. It's acting on the dates when you have twelve properties and a day job.

Insurance, mortgages, and “compliance packs”

When you remortgage or switch BTL products, some lenders request a compliance pack: gas, EICR, EPC, sometimes electrical installation certificate for recent works. Building the pack in January each year saves August panic when rates move.

Rent guarantee schemes may exclude claims where mandatory certificates were missing, so read the schedule wording literally.

Letting agents: split responsibilities in writing

If an agent markets, collects deposit, or arranges compliance visits, your contract should say who books gas, who uploads EICR, and who emails tenants. When the relationship ends, export the PDFs straight away, because once your portal access goes, so do the files.

Guarantors are not a Right to Rent substitute for tenants; they are financial backup. Keep referencing and ID separate in your mind and folders.

Repairs, damp, and disrepair (the compliance adjacent risk)

Damp and mould cases now attract media and political attention. Respond to reports in days, not weeks; photograph before/after; use competent surveyors where structural. HHSRS Category 1 hazards can trigger council action that dwarfs a missed gas date in headline severity.

Link repair logs to compliance: a leak near the consumer unit is both disrepair and an electrical risk.

Fire safety beyond alarms: doors, escapes, and conversions

If you convert a house to flats or let loft rooms, Building Regulations fire strategy may require FD30 doors, protected escape routes, and linked detection. EICR work sometimes coincides with fire upgrades, so plan them together with your electrician and fire consultant where the council scrutinises licence applications.

Battery-only alarms without interlink may fail HMO conditions even when they meet the national minimum.

Possession since Section 21 ended

Until 1 May 2026, a Form 6A Section 21 notice needed the gas record, the EPC, How to Rent and a protected deposit with the prescribed information in place, and couldn't be served in the first 4 months. One served before then could be used only if the court was asked to issue a claim on it in time, by 31 July 2026 at the latest. The Section 21 guide covers what used to go wrong.

Now every new possession claim on a private tenancy runs through Section 8 grounds: arrears, selling, moving in, nuisance and the rest. Only the deposit rules can stop the court making an order, but the rest of G-E-E-D-R still counts: it's the law, it carries penalties, and it weighs on any discretionary ground.

HMO, selective licensing, and overlays

If the property is a mandatory HMO (5+ tenants, 2+ households) or caught by additional licensing, you need:

• [ ] HMO licence valid; conditions on fire safety, room sizes, amenities
• [ ] Manager duties under Management Regulations
• [ ] Often stricter EICR and alarm expectations: where the licence asks for more than the national rules, the licence wins

See HMO compliance guide. Selective licensing areas need a licence even for single-family homes, so check the council maps.

Fines at a glance (orders of magnitude)

Exact figures change with the regulations, so always check GOV.UK and landlord fines 2026.

Data protection & tenant information

You hold ID scans, bank details and guarantor data, all of it personal data under UK GDPR. Provide a privacy notice at point of collection; store data securely; delete when no longer needed subject to legal retention for tax and disputes.

Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

This checklist covers England. Scotland uses private residential tenancies; Wales has Renting Homes; NI differs. Do not copy England notices cross-border.

Keep these dates inside the let

LetCompliance runs the let and turns this page into dates on each property. When a tenancy starts, it sends the agreement for e-signature and keeps the inventory photos; on paid plans it drafts the Section 13 rent increase and, if the let goes wrong, the Section 8 notice. Throughout, it holds the Gas, EICR, EPC, deposit and Right to Rent dates, reminds you by email (and by SMS on paid plans) 90, 30, 14, 7 and 1 days before each one, and gives every property a 0 to 100 compliance score.

Stop rebuilding the same spreadsheet every January. See all features and pricing: plans from £7.99 a month with a 3-day trial and no card, and one property can stay on the free plan. Get started →

Also read: Renters’ Rights Act checklist · Letting agent compliance checklist UK

Want this as a document rather than a page? The free landlord compliance checklist builds the same duties into a dated PDF you can print, tick and keep on file, split by single let or HMO, with the statute named against every line.