Landlord Compliance Checklist England 2026

A landlord may have a gas safety check due next month, an electrical report valid for several more years, a new tenancy deposit to protect, a prospective occupier who needs a Right to Rent check, one property inside a selective-licensing area and another that is an HMO.

The same portfolio may also contain written tenancy information that needs to be provided, smoke and carbon monoxide alarm duties, repairs that require action and possession rules that changed materially in May 2026.

None of these records is especially complicated by itself. The difficulty is keeping the correct obligation attached to the correct property, tenancy, tenant and date.

Compliance is therefore better treated as a managed system of obligations, evidence and future events — not simply a folder of certificates.

The big change: Renters’ Rights Act from 1 May 2026

Major tenancy reforms under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force in England on 1 May 2026. Existing assured shorthold tenancies transitioned to assured periodic tenancies where the new regime applies, and new assured tenancies are periodic rather than fixed-term ASTs.

Section 21 is no longer available for notices served from that date. A landlord seeking possession must use an applicable statutory ground and follow the current process. This does not mean tenancy agreements became invalid or that possession is impossible; it means the legal framework and documents must be current.

The practical consequence is that pre-May templates and assumptions should not be carried forward without review. Official guidance should be checked for the particular tenancy and circumstances.

Written tenancy information

From 1 May 2026, landlords must provide specified written information about key tenancy terms. For a new tenancy created on or after that date, the information generally needs to be given before the tenancy agreement is signed or otherwise agreed. It may be included in the written agreement or provided separately.

The requirement is more than an administrative preference. Failures can lead to enforcement and financial penalties. Landlords should make sure their documentation reflects the post-May-2026 regime and use the official transitional guidance for older or wholly oral arrangements rather than guessing.

Renters’ Rights Information Sheet

Most landlords and agents with relevant existing written tenancies were required to provide the government Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet by 31 May 2026. That date has passed.

The useful compliance question in August 2026 is therefore whether the Information Sheet was provided where applicable and whether evidence of delivery has been retained. The specific sheet is a transitional requirement; it should not be described as something that must automatically be reissued repeatedly to every tenancy.

Rent in advance and rental bidding

For applicable private tenancies under the post-May regime, landlords cannot ask for, encourage or accept rent before the tenancy agreement has been signed. After signing, the amount generally requested in advance is limited to one month’s rent.

Written advertisements and offers must state a specific rent, and landlords must not encourage or accept bids above that advertised amount. Individual cases and exceptions should be checked against the current official guidance rather than inferred from older market practice.

Pet requests

A tenant or prospective tenant can request permission to keep a pet. A landlord must consider the request and should follow the current statutory and guidance requirements if refusing. This is not the same as saying that every request must be accepted.

Tenancy deposits

For applicable assured periodic tenancies, a monetary tenancy deposit must be protected in a government-approved tenancy deposit protection scheme. Current GOV.UK guidance states that protection must take place within 30 days of receiving the deposit, and the required prescribed information must also be provided.

A useful record preserves the amount and date received, the scheme, the protection date, the prescribed information and evidence of tenant delivery or acknowledgement where available.

Right to Rent

Right to Rent is an England-specific scheme. Landlords must check relevant adult tenants or occupiers before the tenancy starts and should check all relevant adults consistently rather than selecting people based on nationality or appearance.

Where immigration status is time-limited, a follow-up check may be required. The Home Office service and current GOV.UK guidance should be used; this article does not provide immigration advice.

Gas safety

Where a landlord provides relevant gas appliances or installations, landlord duties include appropriate maintenance and a gas safety check carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer at least every 12 months.

HSE guidance says existing tenants should receive a copy of the gas safety record within 28 days of the check, while a new tenant should receive the relevant record before occupation. Records must be retained in accordance with the regulations and HSE guidance. Responsibility can depend on the installation and arrangement, so appliance ownership should not be oversimplified.

These are different legal duties. They should not be collapsed into one universal “annual compliance check”.

Electrical safety

Rented residential electrical installations covered by the regulations must be inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years, subject to the report and applicable requirements.

The landlord must obtain the report. Existing tenants generally receive it within 28 days, new tenants receive it before occupation, and prospective tenants can request it. Remedial work or another inspection may be required sooner where the report specifies it, so “an EICR always lasts five years” is not a safe management assumption.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

Relevant landlords in England must ensure at least one smoke alarm is installed on each storey used as living accommodation. A carbon monoxide alarm is required in rooms used as living accommodation that contain a fixed combustion appliance, excluding gas cookers under the current regulations.

Landlords should follow current guidance on testing at the start of a tenancy and must repair or replace a required alarm after being informed of a fault and confirming that fault. Older pre-2022 summaries should not be used as the current standard.

Energy Performance Certificates and MEES

A valid Energy Performance Certificate is generally required where the property falls within the EPC regime. For domestic private rented properties covered by the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in England and Wales, the current standard is generally EPC E or above unless a valid exemption applies.

A landlord should track the rating, issue date, current validity, any registered exemption and future regulatory change. EPC C is not presented here as the statutory minimum in August 2026; future energy-efficiency policy should not be treated as current law before it commences.

Property condition, repairs and fitness

Landlords have obligations relating to safety, repairs, fitness for human habitation and housing hazards. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System are important parts of that context.

Current HHSRS operating guidance published in June 2026 describes 21 potential hazards. Local authorities use the risk-based framework and can take enforcement action, but an individual defect should not be categorised without the relevant professional or local-authority assessment.

The operational record should connect identified defects, actions and evidence to the property. The separate guide to property maintenance management explains that property-level process in more detail.

HMO licensing

A property can be an HMO where at least three people from more than one household share facilities. Certain larger HMOs require mandatory licensing, but a smaller property may also require a licence depending on the area.

Landlords should check with the relevant council. HMO definitions, mandatory licensing and local schemes should not be reduced to a single national yes-or-no rule.

Selective and additional licensing

Compliance is not purely national. Local authorities can operate selective licensing and additional HMO licensing in designated areas. Whether a property requires a licence can depend on its postcode, local authority, type, occupants and household composition.

Licensing is property-specific. A portfolio owner should check every property’s current local-authority requirements rather than assume one licence rule applies across the estate.

Rent increases

The Renters’ Rights Act changed the rent-increase process for assured periodic tenancies. Landlords should use the current statutory process and prescribed form where required, rather than assume an old fixed-term contractual rent-review clause can simply be carried into the new regime.

Possession and eviction compliance

Section 21 is not available for possession notices served from 1 May 2026 under the new regime. A landlord must use an applicable possession ground and comply with the relevant notice, evidence, timing and procedural requirements.

This is not a possession strategy guide. Current official guidance and professional advice should be checked before serving a notice, and old pre-May-2026 forms or templates should not be assumed to remain valid.

Future and phased reforms — not current requirements

The Renters’ Rights Act implementation roadmap separates measures already in force from later phases. That distinction matters because a reform can be enacted without every operational requirement applying immediately to every landlord.

The government roadmap plans the Private Rented Sector Database rollout from late 2026, beginning regionally. The PRS Landlord Ombudsman is also phased. Private-rented-sector Awaab’s Law measures and extension of the Decent Homes Standard are later reforms subject to further implementation steps.

Build a property-by-property compliance register

For each property, a useful register can identify the obligation, whether it applies, status, document or evidence, issue date, expiry or next action, whether information was provided to the tenant, the delivery date, the responsible person and notes.

The register is a management tool, not proof of legal compliance. The underlying action, evidence, timing and delivery still matter. Property documents and compliance records are most useful when they remain connected to the asset and event they evidence.

Portfolio compliance is exception management

A portfolio owner usually does not need to spend every day checking certificates that are current. They need to identify what is overdue, expiring soon, missing, unverifiable, awaiting tenant delivery, dependent on a local licence or affected by a change in law.

This is where property-level records become portfolio-level management. The principle aligns with the wider discipline of managing a property portfolio without losing the detail beneath the consolidated view.

Landlord compliance checklist — England 2026

Before or when creating a tenancy

• Confirm the correct tenancy regime and provide required written information.
• Complete Right to Rent checks where applicable.
• Confirm EPC, gas, electrical and alarm requirements.
• Check property, HMO and local licensing.
• Protect the deposit and provide prescribed information within the required timeframe.
• Follow current rent-in-advance and advertised-rent rules.

During the tenancy

• Maintain required safety records and monitor relevant dates.
• Meet repair, safety and fitness obligations.
• Respond to alarm faults where required.
• Track licensing renewals and conditions.
• Keep evidence and tenant-delivery records.
• Use the current rent-increase process and consider pet requests under the current regime.
• Monitor changes in legislation and phased reforms.

When seeking possession

• Use the post-May-2026 possession framework.
• Confirm the applicable statutory ground and prerequisites.
• Use current forms, notices and official guidance.
• Obtain professional advice where necessary.

At portfolio level

• Maintain a property-by-property compliance register.
• Record expiries, renewals and future actions.
• Track evidence supplied to tenants.
• Review local-authority licensing for each property.
• Monitor phased Renters’ Rights reforms.
• Review compliance information regularly.

The Fructus position

Fructus is being developed around the principle that compliance information should remain connected to the property, tenancy, document and event it relates to rather than existing only as isolated files or reminders.

Fructus is currently in development. Not every compliance capability described here is available today, using software does not guarantee compliance, and no product replaces current official guidance or professional advice.

The same principle applies when comparing property portfolio management software with disconnected tools: the useful question is whether the system preserves context and makes the next action visible.

For owners deciding how much structure they need, the comparison between a property spreadsheet and dedicated software provides a practical framework.

Key takeaway

Compliance is not a single annual task. It is a collection of property, tenancy, tenant, safety, document and local-authority obligations that occur at different times.

The practical objective is to know what applies, what has been completed, what evidence exists, what expires next and what requires action.

Property. Under control.