What compliance certificates do UK landlords need?

If the property has any gas appliance, flue or pipework, a Gas Safe registered engineer must inspect it annually and issue the Landlord Gas Safety Record, still widely known as the CP12. Only Gas Safe engineers can do this: a general plumber's invoice doesn't count. Keep each year's record; the Health and Safety Executive expects you to be able to produce it.

The tenant must receive a copy within 28 days of the check, and a new tenant must have it before they move in. A property with no gas supply at all doesn't need one, but say so in writing rather than leaving a gap in the file.

The EICR covers the fixed electrical installation (wiring, sockets, consumer unit), not the kettle. A qualified and competent electrician inspects it and the report either passes the installation or lists remedial work by code.

If the report requires remedial or further investigative work, it must be completed within 28 days (or sooner if the report says so), with written confirmation supplied afterwards. Give the tenant a copy of the report, and provide it to the local authority if they ask.

The EPC must exist before you market the property and be shown to prospective tenants. Under the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), letting a property rated F or G is unlawful unless you have registered a valid exemption.

The government has proposals to raise the minimum standard for rented homes, and those proposals are progressing. If your property sits at D or E, it's worth planning improvement works early rather than waiting for a deadline. Check the EPC register to see your current rating and expiry date.

The check applies to every adult who will live in the property, whether or not they're named on the tenancy. British and Irish citizens are checked against original documents such as a passport; most other tenants prove their status with a free Home Office online share code, which you verify on GOV.UK. Record what you checked and when: the evidence is your defence if the Home Office ever asks. Our resource hub links to the official checker and the list of acceptable documents.

There's no certificate for alarms: the obligation is that they exist and work. A smoke alarm on every storey with living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in every room containing a fixed combustion appliance such as a gas boiler or wood burner (gas cookers are the usual exception). Test them on day one of the tenancy, record that you did, and repair or replace a reported faulty alarm promptly.

Any deposit you take must go into one of the three approved schemes for England, the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) or mydeposits, within 30 days. Protecting the money is only half the job: you must also serve the prescribed information (the scheme's details and terms) on the tenant within the same window. Late protection can't be quietly fixed later: the penalties are real, as the last section explains.

GOV.UK now keeps How to Rent only for tenancies where a section 21 notice was served before 1 May 2026. For a tenancy created on or after that date, the written information about its key terms can be part of the tenancy agreement or given separately, and GOV.UK says landlords who do not provide it can be fined up to £7,000.

Tenancies that began before 1 May 2026 with a written agreement needed the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 by 31 May 2026. If you are not sure yours was given, send it now and keep a record of the date. Our Renters' Rights Act guide covers the rest of what changed.

A deposit protected late (or prescribed information never served) exposes you to a court-ordered penalty of 1–3× the deposit, and the tenant can claim it even after the tenancy ends. Gas, EICR and alarm failures can bring local authority enforcement and fines, and letting an F or G-rated property without an exemption is itself a breach.

Possession is where compliance really bites. Section 21 can no longer be used in England since 1 May 2026, so possession runs through section 8 grounds, and GOV.UK is clear that the deposit must have been protected correctly before a court will make a possession order. A landlord with a complete, dated compliance file keeps every route open, and a landlord without one doesn't. Our landlord guide has the fuller picture of the reforms, and if you're managing this from outside the UK, the overseas landlord guide covers how to keep on top of it from abroad.