Before you market the property
Two documents have to exist before a property is advertised, not after someone has offered on it.
- An Energy Performance Certificate. It must be commissioned before marketing and shown in the advert. A property generally cannot be let with a rating below E unless a valid exemption is registered — and government has consulted on raising that minimum, so check where the requirement stands now.
- A licence, if the property needs one. HMO licensing is mandatory for houses occupied by five or more people forming two or more households. Separately, several of the councils we work in — Newham, Barking & Dagenham, Waltham Forest, Enfield among them — have operated selective or additional licensing covering ordinary family lets. Schemes start, expire and get redrawn: confirm with the council for the specific address.
Before the tenant moves in
- Gas safety: an annual check by a Gas Safe registered engineer, with the record given to the tenant before they move in (and to existing tenants within 28 days of the check).
- Electrical safety: an Electrical Installation Condition Report at least every five years, supplied to the tenant before occupation, with any C1, C2 or FI faults remedied.
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms: at least one smoke alarm on every storey, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation containing a fixed combustion appliance. Test them at the start of the tenancy.
- Right to Rent: check every adult occupier's immigration status before the tenancy begins, in the way the Home Office prescribes.
- The How to Rent guide: give the tenant the current version. Serving an outdated one can invalidate a later notice.
- An inventory and schedule of condition, with photographs and meter readings — the single most useful document you will have if the deposit is disputed.
Within 30 days of taking the deposit
Protect the deposit in a government-approved scheme and serve the prescribed information on the tenant. Missing this is one of the most expensive routine mistakes a landlord makes: it can cost up to three times the deposit and can block a section 21 notice.
During the tenancy
- Keep the structure, exterior and the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, heating and hot water in repair — that duty sits with the landlord and cannot be contracted out of.
- Keep the property fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy, including damp and mould. Act on reports promptly and in writing.
- Give at least 24 hours' written notice before visiting, and go at a reasonable time.
- Renew the gas certificate annually and diary the EICR, EPC and any licence expiry.
- Follow the correct statutory process for any rent increase.
What is changing
The Renters' Rights reforms rework assured shorthold tenancies substantially — moving tenancies to a periodic basis, replacing the section 21 "no fault" route with expanded grounds, and introducing a landlord ombudsman and a private rented sector database, alongside a decent homes standard and Awaab's law duties for private lets.
These provisions commence in stages, and the dates have moved before. Do not plan a possession or a rent increase around a date you read online — including this page. Check the current commencement position, or ask us.
This guide is general information, not legal, financial or tax advice, and the law changes. Take advice on your own circumstances before acting — or ring us on 020 8226 4690 and we will tell you what we know.