Landlord Compliance Checklist UK: Duties and 12-Month Calendar

Landlord compliance in England means more than certificates. Before each tenancy you check Right to Rent, give written terms and protect the deposit within 30 days. During it you renew gas checks yearly, handle rent rises and pet requests on set timescales and fix serious hazards. Each year adds fixed tax and, from December 2026, database registration dates.

Sound familiar? Your certificates are on a spreadsheet, but the deposit paperwork, the Right to Rent follow-up and the rent review live in your head. This checklist puts every recurring legal duty in one place and lays it out as a calendar you can run month by month.

Key takeaways

• Most duties run on your tenancy's own clock, not the calendar: deposit within 30 days, written terms before the tenancy, rent rises once a year with 2 months' notice.
• Fixed dates come from tax and registration: 31 January and 31 July for Self Assessment, 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May for Making Tax Digital quarterly updates.
• PRS Database deadlines run region by region from 14 March 2027 (West Midlands) to 14 November 2027 (South West).
• Certificates have their own cycles: gas every 12 months, EICR at least every 5 years, EPC every 10. We cover those in our landlord certificates table, not here.
• Fines are per breach: up to £7,000 for many Renters' Rights Act breaches, and up to 3 times the deposit if it is not protected.
• Using an agent does not hand over the duty. The landlord stays responsible for gas safety and database registration, and agents can be liable too.

Landlord compliance runs on two clocks: each tenancy's own dates, and fixed dates in the calendar.

What does landlord compliance cover in England?

Landlord compliance covers four groups of legal duties: safety (certificates, alarms, hazards), the tenancy itself (Right to Rent, deposits, written terms, rent rises), registration and licensing, and tax. Certificates get the most attention, but deposit, Right to Rent and Renters' Rights Act breaches are just as easy to miss because no contractor reminds you.

For how often each certificate is due and what a lapse costs, use our sourced table of landlord certificates for letting agents and landlords. This page covers everything around it.

Landlord compliance checklist: before a tenancy starts

Every new tenancy triggers a fixed set of duties, most before the tenant moves in. Work through them in this order.

Which landlord duties repeat during a tenancy?

During a tenancy, five kinds of duty repeat: safety checks, rent reviews, tenant requests, follow-up checks and registration updates. Here are the ones beyond certificates, with the clock each one runs on.

• Rent increases: at most once a year, using Form 4A with at least 2 months' notice (section 13).
• Pet requests: answer in writing within 28 days of the request. You can ask for more information within that time.
• Right to Rent follow-up: if a tenant has time-limited permission, repeat the check before your statutory excuse runs out. After a Home Office "yes" response, that is 12 months.
• Serious hazards: since 22 June 2026 councils can fine up to £7,000 for a category 1 hazard that you could reasonably have removed.
• Database updates: once registered, update your entry within 28 days whenever information changes, such as a new gas record, and renew it every 12 months.
• Licences: HMO, additional and selective licences last up to 5 years. Apply to renew before expiry and keep to the licence conditions. See our HMO licence guide.
• Copies to tenants: a new gas safety record within 28 days of the check, and a new EICR within 28 days of the inspection.

At the end of a tenancy

• Deposit: return it within 10 days of you and the tenant agreeing how much they get back.
• Possession: use a section 8 notice with a valid ground. You cannot use the selling or moving-in grounds in the first 12 months, and if you took a deposit, a court will only grant possession if it was protected correctly or has been returned.
• Reletting: after using the selling or moving-in grounds, you cannot relet or remarket for 12 months, except in specified cases. The fine is up to £40,000.

Landlord compliance calendar: November 2026 to October 2027

Fixed dates come from tax and the PRS Database roll-out. Everything else runs on each property's own anniversaries, so the right-hand column is a monthly routine. Dates are for England. Database dates are in draft regulations and could still move.

The South West deadline is 14 November 2027, just after this window. Every month, also look 90 days ahead for gas, EICR, EPC, licence and insurance dates, and log any new tenancy. Want the dates as calendar alerts? Our landlord compliance calendar exports each 2027 date to Google, Apple or Outlook.

The fixed landlord compliance dates for the next 12 months. Everything else runs on each tenancy's anniversaries.

Do this now: a 60-minute landlord compliance audit

You need no software for this. Use the times as a guide; they are our estimates for a landlord with up to about 10 properties.

1. List properties and tenancies (10 minutes). One row per tenancy: address, region, start date, every adult occupier.
2. Check deposits (10 minutes). For each one, find the scheme certificate and the date you gave the prescribed information. Both should be within 30 days of receipt.
3. Check Right to Rent (10 minutes). Find the record of each check and any follow-up date for time-limited permission.
4. Check tenancy paperwork (10 minutes). Information Sheet or written terms given, with date and method recorded.
5. Add certificate dates (10 minutes). Copy them in from your certificate tracker.
6. Set the next dates (10 minutes). Rent review, licence renewal, database deadline, tax dates. Then sort by date.

Copy-paste duty tracker

One row per duty per property works for both recurring and one-off duties. Put the interval in months in column D (12 for gas, 60 for an EICR) or leave it blank for one-off duties.

The 90-day flag is our advice: it leaves time to book contractors and arrange access. For a deposit, treat the 30 days as an outer limit and protect it the same week. Our free landlord compliance tracker template has certificate sheets already built.

How can you make landlord compliance easier each year?

• Line up anniversaries. Gas checks can be done up to 2 months early without losing time, so properties can share one engineer visit. See the gas safety 2-month rule.
• Register all properties in one sitting. Under the draft database rules, later entries share your first renewal date, so you renew once a year.
• Make one new-tenancy pack. Written terms, deposit details and certificate copies, sent together and logged.
• Keep proof, not just dates. For each duty, file the document and how it was given. Councils and tribunals ask for evidence.

Who is responsible: the landlord or the letting agent?

The landlord stays legally responsible, even with a fully managed agent. HSE says the landlord keeps overall responsibility for gas safety and that the contract should say who arranges checks. Renters' Rights Act guidance says landlords can use agents to meet duties, but agents can also be liable. For the database, the landlord starts registration and remains responsible.

Write down in the management agreement who books each check, who sends each document and who keeps the records. Then check it once a quarter.

What happens if you miss a landlord compliance duty?

What is different in Wales and Scotland?

Gas safety rules apply across Great Britain, and both Wales and Scotland also require an electrical check at least every 5 years. Beyond that, the systems differ, and the Renters' Rights Act database and ombudsman are for England.

Spreadsheet or software for landlord compliance?

A spreadsheet is enough if you have a few properties, one person runs it, and that person opens it weekly. Most landlords with under about 10 lets manage this way.

Software earns its place when duties belong to different people, such as an agent booking contractors and a landlord handling tax. It also helps when one renewal triggers another, like a new gas record needing a database update within 28 days, or when you must show a council what was done and when. ExpiryEdge keeps each duty as a record with an owner and a backup, sends reminders at 90, 60, 30 and 7 days by email, SMS, Slack or Teams, and logs every action.

Next: what changed on 1 May 2026 in our Renters' Rights Act landlord checklist, and the quarterly dates in Making Tax Digital for landlords.

Frequently asked questions

What are a landlord's legal responsibilities in England?

Keep the home safe (gas, electrics, alarms, hazards), give tenants the required documents, protect the deposit within 30 days, check Right to Rent, follow the Renters' Rights Act rules on tenancies and rent rises, hold any licence your property needs, and declare rental income to HMRC. From December 2026 you must also register on the PRS Database by your region's deadline.

What documents must a landlord give a new tenant?

The written information about the tenancy terms, a copy of the current gas safety record and EICR, the EPC, and the deposit's prescribed information within 30 days. Keep a record of how and when you gave each one.

How often does a landlord need to do compliance checks?

Gas safety every 12 months, the EICR at least every 5 years and the EPC every 10 years, plus alarms on the first day of each tenancy. Other duties run on each tenancy's dates, so a monthly look 90 days ahead catches most of them.

Is the landlord or the letting agent responsible for compliance?

The landlord keeps legal responsibility, even with a managing agent. HSE says the contract should be clear about who arranges checks and keeps records, and agents can also be liable for Renters' Rights Act breaches.

What is the fine for not protecting a tenancy deposit?

A court can order you to repay the tenant up to 3 times the deposit. An unprotected deposit can also stop a court granting possession until the deposit is returned or the claim is settled.

Do the same landlord rules apply in Wales and Scotland?

Some do, such as annual gas safety checks and 5-yearly electrical checks. Registration differs: Rent Smart Wales registration lasts 5 years, Scottish landlord registration 3 years, and the Renters' Rights Act database and ombudsman are for England.

Sources

• Home Office, Right to Rent code of practice (1 October 2026)
• GOV.UK, Deposit protection schemes and landlords
• Tenant Fees Act 2019, Schedule 1 paragraph 2
• GOV.UK, Renters' Rights Act: an overview for landlords
• GOV.UK, Renters' Rights Act overview for tenants
• GOV.UK, Tenancy agreements: written information for your tenant
• GOV.UK, Enforcement measures for landlords: Renters' Rights Act 2025
• Renters' Rights Act 2025, section 11 (pets) and sections 82 and 91 (database)
• The Renters' Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/638
• Draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026
• MHCLG Housing Hub, Get ready: Register your rental property
• GOV.UK, Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms: explanatory booklet for landlords
• Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36
• Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, regulation 3
• HSE, Landlords: a guide to landlords' duties (INDG285)
• GOV.UK, House in multiple occupation licence
• GOV.UK, Understand your Self Assessment tax bill
• GOV.UK, Register for Self Assessment
• HMRC, Send quarterly updates (Making Tax Digital for Income Tax)
• HMRC, Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• Rent Smart Wales, FAQs
• Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, section 84

Last reviewed: 12 October 2026