Landlord guides
Licensing, tenancies, safety and money — written from the legislation and from our own record of all 317 councils in England and Wales. Every factual claim is traceable: each guide lists its sources, and any figure about our data is computed when the page is built rather than typed in and left to rot.
- The state of property licensing in England and Wales — the census, with methodology
- Licensing changes — commencing, expiring and awaiting decision
Scotland
Short assured tenancies: the ones still running
No new short assured tenancy since December 2017, but the old ones survive. The AT5, the six-month term, and why section 33 is no longer automatic.
Wrongful termination orders in Scotland
If a tenant leaves because you misled them, the Tribunal can order a payment. Sections 57 to 59, and the far larger ceiling arriving 6 October 2026.
Rent arrears and eviction in Scotland
Three consecutive months is the ground, not the outcome. The pre-action protocol the Tribunal weighs, and why a benefit delay can defeat an application.
Letting agent registration and the code of practice
Scotland registers letting agents nationally. The £50,000 offence, the Letting Agent Code of Practice, and the enforcement order the Tribunal can make.
HMO licence conditions and overprovision
Why a compliant Scottish HMO application can still be refused, what the council may attach to a licence, and the £10,000 offence for breaching a condition.
Student lets in Scotland: no fixed term
The student exclusion needs an institution or 30 bedrooms. Everyone else has an open-ended tenancy a student can end on 28 days’ notice, mid-year.
Council tax on empty and second homes in Scotland
Councils may double council tax on second homes and long-term empty homes. What counts as which, the six-month purchase grace, and why a void is the risk.
Buying a tenanted property in Scotland
The tenancy transfers with the title. Your registration, the deposit and the HMO licence do not. What to establish before settlement, and what to do after.
Scottish buy-to-let: mortgages and insurance
A standard security is not an English mortgage. Missives, the Home Report, and the court test a lender must pass before repossessing a Scottish property.
EPCs in Scotland: no minimum band, yet
Scotland sets no minimum EPC band for letting — every band is lawful today. What is proposed for 2028 and 2033, and why the metric itself is changing.
Short-term lets outside a control area
A control area changes the planning question, not the licence. What a designation does, why a licence is never permission, and how to check your address.
Scotland vs Wales: two devolved regimes
For landlords holding property in both. Registration, tenancy type, notice, deposits and licensing, each side cited to its own Act rather than to England.
Housing (Scotland) Act 2025: what is in force
The Act commences in four tranches to April 2027. What binds today, what lands in October, and the two changes that reprice getting it wrong.
Landlord registration renewal: the three-year cycle
Scottish registration expires by operation of statute after three years. Nothing announces it, and the day it lapses you commit an offence by letting.
Joint landlords in Scotland: who registers, who pays
Co-owning a Scottish rental. Why each owner registers separately, how joint and several liability works, and the exposure that arrives in October 2026.
Scottish landlord registration: who must register
Every private landlord in Scotland must register with the council. The fit and proper test, the three-year cycle, the £50,000 fine and rent suspension.
HMO licensing in Scotland: the three-person rule
Scotland licenses an HMO at three unrelated occupants, not five. The section 125 test, the three-year licence, and the offence of operating without one.
Short-term let licensing in Scotland: who is caught
Scotland licenses short-term lets under the 2022 Order. The four licence types, what counts as a short-term let, and why planning is a separate consent.
The Private Residential Tenancy explained
Scotland’s only private tenancy since December 2017. Open-ended by law, no fixed term, no no-fault ground, and the statutory terms you cannot contract out of.
The 18 eviction grounds under the PRT
Schedule 3 to the 2016 Act, ground by ground. All eighteen are now discretionary, so the Tribunal decides reasonableness in every case, not just some.
Notice to Leave: 28 or 84 days, and what voids one
The Scottish Notice to Leave under section 62: which period applies, what the notice must contain, and the defects that make an eviction application fail.
The Housing and Property Chamber: how eviction works
Scottish possession is decided by tribunal, not court. Jurisdiction, what an application needs, how reasonableness is tested, and how an order is enforced.
Rent increases in Scotland: notice and adjudication
Once in twelve months, by prescribed notice, with three months’ warning. How a Scottish tenant challenges an increase and what the adjudication can do.
Rent control areas under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025
The framework commenced 1 April 2026, but no area is designated and the first council assessments are due 31 May 2027. What is live, and what is not yet.
The Repairing Standard: every element, cited
Section 13 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, element by element, with the 2024 additions — and why the alarm rules reach it through the tolerable standard.
The Tolerable Standard, and how it differs
Section 86 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 — the condemnation threshold, not the letting standard. What it covers and how it feeds the Repairing Standard.
Scotland’s fire and smoke alarm standard
Interlinked alarms in every Scottish home since February 2022: one per living room, one per circulation space, a kitchen heat alarm, plus CO where needed.
Tenancy deposits in Scotland: 30 working days
Scotland’s three approved schemes, the thirty working day window, the prescribed information, and the sanction of up to three times the deposit.
Scottish income tax and LBTT for landlords
Six income tax bands on Scottish rental profit for 2026-27, and LBTT with the 8% Additional Dwelling Supplement. What is devolved, and what is not.
Scotland vs England: the divergence map
Every rule that differs between the two systems, each side cited to its own Act — tenancy, eviction, licensing, deposits, alarms, standards and tax.
Wales
HMO amenity and space standards in Wales
Wales prescribes amenity ratios nationally but no minimum room size in square metres. Your council sets the space standard through licence conditions.
Rent Smart Wales: registration versus licensing
Every Welsh landlord must register. Only those who manage must be licensed. The distinction decides your obligations, and getting it wrong stops your rent.
Occupation contracts and contract-holders: Welsh terms
Wales has no tenancies or tenants. It has occupation contracts and contract-holders, and the words carry different rules. What changed on 1 December 2022.
Section 173: Wales kept no-fault when England ended it
England abolished section 21 in May 2026; Wales did not. Six months of notice, a twelve-month bar, and the sharpest divergence between the two.
Fitness in Wales: EICRs and alarms are part of the test
Wales made electrical reports and working alarms a condition of fitness from December 2022 — a different legal route to England's, reaching the same place.
The written statement in Wales: 14 days, or it costs rent
Wales replaced the tenancy agreement with a written statement of the occupation contract. It is due within 14 days, and late delivery costs the landlord rent.
HMO licensing in Wales: mandatory, plus Rent Smart Wales
Welsh HMO licensing runs on the same Housing Act 2004 as England, on top of Rent Smart Wales registration. Which councils add an additional scheme, dated.
Selective licensing in Wales: why there is none
No Welsh council publishes a selective licensing designation. What that does and does not mean, and the Welsh regimes that do the same job instead.
Deposits in Wales: 30 days, different consequences
Protection runs on the Housing Act 2004 as in England, but the sanctions arrive through the Renting Homes (Wales) Act — including a bar on section 173.
England vs Wales: the landlord law divergence map
Every point where letting law in England and Wales now differs, in one table, each side cited to its own Act and section. Housing is devolved.
Repairs in Wales: Awaab's Law does not reach here
Wales has no fixed clock. It has the fitness regime and section 91 instead — a direct contractual claim, and a bar on possession.
Tenancies
Student lets after fixed terms: how the year cycle works
Fixed-term student tenancies ended on 1 May 2026. How the yearly cycle runs on a periodic tenancy, and what Ground 4A actually requires.
Holiday let or assured tenancy? Where the line sits
A holiday let sits outside the assured tenancy regime until it does not. What actually decides it, and why the label on the agreement is nearly irrelevant.
Leasehold flats: what your lease bans, licences aside
You can hold every licence and certificate and still breach your lease. Subletting clauses, consent, notice fees, and the sanctions — including forfeiture.
Serving notices: method, proof, and the errors that void
A perfect notice served badly is a void notice. The methods your tenancy permits, how to prove service months later, and what sends you back to the start.
The possession court process, end to end
What happens after the notice expires: the claim, the fee, the hearing, the order and the warrant — and why accelerated possession probably will not apply.
Company lets are not assured tenancies. What applies instead
Let to a company and the assured regime does not apply — no grounds, no section 8, no deposit duty. What replaces it, and how landlords get it wrong.
Custodial or insured? The deposit schemes compared
Custodial schemes hold the money and are free. Insured schemes let you keep it and charge a fee. What each costs, and which one wins you a dispute.
Disability adaptations: what a landlord must permit
Refusing a reasonable adjustment is discrimination, not a tenancy decision. What the Equality Act requires, who pays, and where the duty stops.
Mid-tenancy document re-service: what must go out again
Which documents must be re-served during a tenancy when a certificate renews or a government guide is reissued — and which do not.
End-of-tenancy deductions: the evidence that wins
How deposit adjudication actually works, why betterment and fair wear and tear defeat most claims, and the evidence that succeeds.
Rent arrears: the sequence, and what to log from day one
Ground 8 needs the arrears at notice AND at hearing. A tenant who pays a month down before the hearing defeats it — which is why the log starts on day one.
An empty property is not a surrendered tenancy
No rent, no answer, no sign of life — and the tenancy continues. Taking the property back without a court order is a criminal offence, however obvious.
Joint tenancies: one tenant's notice ends it for everyone
Long-standing law that used to be a curiosity, because fixed terms hid it. Every new English tenancy is periodic now, so it bites from the first day.
Guarantors: with fixed terms gone, when does liability end?
A guarantee is only as good as its drafting and its ending. On a periodic tenancy an open-ended one is a far longer commitment than it reads.
Inventories: what actually wins a deposit dispute
Adjudicators decide on evidence and the burden is on the landlord. A dated, signed check-in with photographs beats any amount of certainty about it.
Death of a tenant: the 12-month Ground 7 window
A tenancy does not end when the tenant dies. It passes to the estate or a successor, rent keeps accruing, and the possession clock starts at the death.
Subletting and lodgers: where it leaves you
An unauthorised sublet creates no tenancy between you and the occupier — but it can turn your property into an unlicensed HMO, which is your offence.
Joint or individual tenancies in an HMO: which to use
One joint tenancy makes everyone liable for everyone's rent. Individual room tenancies make each liable for their own, and change deposits and possession.
The Renters' Rights Act: 9 things to check now
A plain-English checklist of what changed under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 — Section 21, notice periods, certificates, deposits and licensing.
Licensing
Article 4 directions: how to check one before you buy
An Article 4 direction removes the permitted development right to convert a house to a small HMO. How to check an address before you exchange, not after.
Rent-to-rent: who holds the licence, who carries the offence
Owner, intermediary and occupier each think someone else is liable. Who must hold the licence, who commits the offence, and why an owner is not insulated.
HMO licence fees across England and Wales: the table
What each council we hold a figure for charges for a mandatory HMO licence, in its own words, dated. Not a typical range — the real numbers, attributed.
Licensing changes: August 2026
Selective and additional HMO licensing schemes commencing, expiring and newly designated this month across England and Wales, each with its source.
Is my property an HMO? The three-person, two-household test
Three people from two households sharing a kitchen is an HMO, licence or no licence. The section 254 test, and why the duties start the day it is met.
Section 257 HMOs: the converted block that catches you
A building of self-contained flats can be an HMO. If the conversion missed the 1991 Building Regulations and under two-thirds are owner-occupied, it applies.
Mandatory HMO licensing: England dropped the storey rule
Five or more occupiers in two or more households needs a mandatory HMO licence in England, at any height, since October 2018. Councils may add conditions.
HMO room sizes: 6.51m² for one adult, 10.22m² for two
England's mandatory licence minimums since October 2018, plus the 4.64m² child room. Floor under a 1.5m ceiling does not count. Wales sets its own.
Planning vs licensing for HMOs: C4, sui generis, Article 4
A licence is not planning permission. C3 to C4 is usually permitted development — until an Article 4 direction removes it, and then it is not.
The HMO management regulations bind you, licence or not
The 2006 Regulations apply whether or not you hold a licence. Breach is an offence under section 234(3), with an unlimited fine.
Converting a house to an HMO: the sequence, in order
Planning first, always. Then standards, then licence, then tenancies. Any other order is how landlords spend the money before finding out they cannot.
How to check whether your property needs a licence
A licence requirement depends on the address, not the town. How to establish whether yours needs one, and where our records cannot answer for you.
Schemes in transition: designated, lapsed, and the gaps
A designation has three dates and only one of them bites. The schemes starting soon, the schemes ending within a year, and where the gap was the story.
When a council contradicts its own notice: Croydon
Croydon's website said 25 September. Its section 80 notice said 1 September. Both are quoted here — why the instrument wins, and what 24 days would cost.
How to read a licensing designation notice
A designation notice answers in one page what council websites take five to half-answer. What each part means, worked through three real notices.
Ward boundaries vs designations: why a current map misleads
A designation is fixed by the wards as they were drawn when it was made. Ward boundaries change; designations do not follow them. The Charnwood case.
The General Approval and the 2025-26 designation wave
Until December 2024 a large selective licensing scheme needed the Secretary of State's confirmation. The General Approval removed that step.
Licensing under the Renters' Rights Act: what changed
The Act reshaped tenancies, not the licensing regime. What genuinely changed for licensed landlords, what stayed put, and where the two interact.
Do I need a licence for three tenants?
Three sharers sits on the line: below the national mandatory threshold, and inside additional licensing wherever a council has designated it.
Selective licensing explained: who needs it, how to check
Designated by a council under section 80 of the Housing Act 2004, and it covers ordinary private lets, not just HMOs. How to check your own address.
Additional HMO licensing: the scheme for small shared houses
Designated under section 56 of the Housing Act 2004, it covers HMOs outside the mandatory scheme — typically three or four sharers. How to check.
Selective, additional or mandatory: which licence applies
Three regimes, three tests. Mandatory applies nationally; additional and selective only where a council designates. Side by side, each cited to the Act.
Do I need a licence to rent out my house?
Most landlords need no licence; some need one and do not know it. The three regimes, the questions in order, and how to confirm it against your council.
What happens if I let without a licence?
A criminal offence, a civil penalty of up to £30,000, a rent repayment order of up to twelve months of rent, a bar on possession, and maybe a banning order.
Penalties
Illegal eviction: the criminal line a landlord can cross
Changing the locks or cutting the utilities are offences under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. What they are, what they cost, and why the risk rose.
A rent repayment order has landed: what happens now
The tribunal process from the landlord's side — what the tenant must prove, what reduces the award, the deadlines, and the defence that almost never works.
Rent repayment orders: what unlicensed letting costs
The enforcement mechanism tenants use most and landlords understand least. Who can claim, how much, over what period, and why unlicensed is easiest to win.
Why legislation.gov.uk shows the wrong fine
The maximum fine for no gas safety certificate is not £20,000; that stopped applying on 12 March 2015. LASPO section 85 made it unlimited, silently.
Can my council really fine me £30,000?
Yes, and without going to court. Section 249A lets a council impose a civil penalty of up to £30,000. What 'up to' means, and the two-stage appeal.
Banning orders and the rogue landlord database
A banning order stops you letting for at least 12 months and puts you on the rogue landlord database. Who is entered, who can see it, and how to come off.
Gas safety: the CP12, reg 36, and the day it lapses
Twelve months, every appliance and flue, a Gas Safe engineer. The penalty is an unlimited fine and imprisonment — not the £20,000 the statute still prints.
EICR rules: the 5-year cycle and the 28-day clock
Every five years and at the start of a new tenancy. What the codes mean, what "unsatisfactory" obliges you to do within 28 days, and the £30,000 penalty.
EPC minimum standards: band E is the law, band C is not
Band E is the law. Band C is a stated intention for 1 October 2030 with no final regulations. The difference matters, and most advice blurs it.
Smoke and CO alarms: the 2022 amendment, room by room
One smoke alarm per storey, a CO alarm in every room with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker, and repair on the day you are told.
Deposit penalties: 1× to 3×, and the half that trips you
Protecting the deposit is half the duty. The other half is serving the prescribed information within 30 days — and it is the half that produces most claims.
HMO conditions breaches: the fines nobody prices in
Breaching an HMO licence condition is an offence under section 72(3) of the Housing Act 2004, carrying an unlimited fine or a civil penalty up to £30,000.
Council improvement notice: you have 21 days to appeal
What the notice is, what happens if you ignore it, and why doing the work is not the same as complying. The appeal window runs from the date of service.
Getting started
Landlord record keeping: what to keep, and for how long
A landlord who complied perfectly and cannot prove it is in the position of one who did nothing. What to keep, for how long, and in what form.
How much does it cost to become a landlord in 2026?
The real setup costs before a tenant moves in: the certificates, the licence you may need, and the figures we can evidence versus the ones nobody can.
The complete landlord compliance checklist for 2026
Every legal duty on a private landlord in England and Wales in 2026, in the order they apply — before letting, at the start, during and at the end. Dated.
Becoming a landlord: the compliance sequence, in order
Every legal step before a tenant moves in, in the order it has to happen — and the three that cannot be fixed retrospectively if you miss them.
Consent to let or a buy-to-let mortgage? Letting your home
What consent to let actually is, when a residential mortgage is enough, and what happens if you let without telling your lender or your freeholder.
Tenant referencing: what you can check, what you cannot ask
Lawful screening in England and Wales after the discrimination ban — the checks you may run, the questions now prohibited, and which signals matter.
Right to Rent checks: share codes and the £10,000 mistake
How to check a tenant lawfully in England: the share code route, the manual route, follow-up checks, and the penalty that rose tenfold in 2024.
Landlord insurance: what buildings and rent guarantee cover
Why a residential policy lapses the day you let, what each type of landlord cover does and does not include, and the exclusions that catch people out.
The first tenancy checklist: what to serve on day one
Every document a landlord in England must serve at or before the start of a tenancy, the deadline on each, and what you lose by missing it.
Buying with sitting tenants: the checks before completion
What transfers with the property and what does not — deposit liability, licences, safety records — and what to demand from the seller before you exchange.
Self-manage or use an agent? The true cost
What letting and management fees actually buy, which legal duties stay with you whatever you pay, and the redress rules an agent must meet.
Setting the rent: evidence, comparables and section 13
How to evidence an opening rent, why the first figure now matters more than it used to, and how increases work once section 13 is the only route.
Advertising lawfully: listings, deposit and holding caps
What a rental listing must show, what it may no longer say, the deposit cap, and the strict rules on holding deposits under the Tenant Fees Act.
Money
Utilities: what a landlord may and may not charge
If you buy energy and resell it to your tenant there is a legal maximum. The resale price rules, prepayment meters, and the charges that are prohibited.
Insurance claims and tenant damage: evidence and process
Most tenant damage is below the excess, and most declined claims fail on evidence or delay rather than cover. Why you cannot claim from the deposit too.
Refinancing with tenants in situ: what lenders check
A remortgage turns your compliance file into a valuation. What underwriters and buyers' solicitors ask for, and the four failures that stop a deal.
Void periods: council tax, utilities and your insurance
What you become liable for the day a tenancy ends — council tax, standing charges, and the unoccupancy clause that quietly suspends your insurance.
Late rent: 14 days before you can charge anything
Then interest capped at 3% above base rate, and nothing else. A flat late payment fee is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act, and repayable.
HMO council tax: room-by-room banding ended in 2023
From 1 December 2023 most English HMOs are banded as one dwelling with the landlord liable. Section 257 flats are excluded and keep their separate bands.
Making Tax Digital for landlords: who is in from April 2026
MTD for Income Tax started in April 2026 above £50,000 of qualifying income. Qualifying income is GROSS rent, not profit — which is where landlords misjudge.
Section 24: the mortgage interest restriction, in numbers
Mortgage interest is no longer an expense. It is a 20% tax reducer, and the difference pushes landlords into higher-rate tax on money they never received.
Allowable expenses: why a new boiler is a repair
Replacing a failed boiler restores the property, so it comes off this year's profit. A new kitchen can be either. Where HMRC draws the line.
Replacement of domestic items relief: the sofa rule
You can claim the replacement sofa. You cannot claim the first one. The rule catches out every landlord furnishing a property for the first time.
CGT on a rental: 18% or 24%, and 60 days to report
Residential property CGT is 18% or 24%, the annual exempt amount is £3,000, and you have 60 days from completion to report and pay — even if you owe nothing.
Incorporation: when a limited company actually wins
Companies deduct mortgage interest in full, which is the whole argument. The costs the advice skips are CGT and SDLT or LTT on the transfer.
The 50/50 rule: Form 17 and the 60-day deadline
Married couples are taxed 50/50 on jointly held property whatever the deeds say. Changing that takes a declaration of trust and Form 17, in that order.
Rental losses: what carries forward, and against what
A property loss carries forward indefinitely, but only against future profits of the same property business. It cannot touch your salary or a capital gain.
SDLT vs LTT: the England-Wales split on purchase tax
Buy a rental in England and pay SDLT plus a 5% surcharge. Buy in Wales and pay LTT higher rates from the first pound. Same price, different bill.
How much tax will I pay on rental income?
Rental profit is taxed at your income tax rate, but the profit figure is not what lands in your bank. Worked at basic and higher rate, mortgage included.
Licence fees councils actually charge
Every property licence fee we hold, attributed to its council and dated. Real published figures only — no typical ranges and no estimates.
Safety
Fire risk assessments: what the Fire Safety Order reaches
The Order covers the common parts of a building containing flats, not the inside of yours. Who the responsible person is, and what a leaseholder must do.
Asbestos: the duty to manage, and where it does not apply
The duty covers non-domestic premises — for most landlords the common parts of a block, not the inside of a house. Where it bites and where it does not.
Japanese knotweed: the duty to disclose, and not to spread
Having it is not an offence. Letting it spread is, and it is a nuisance claim from your neighbour. Failing to disclose it can unwind a sale.
HHSRS: how a council decides your property is unsafe
The system behind improvement notices and most council enforcement: the 29 hazards, how a score is reached, and what Category 1 obliges a council to do.
What certificates does a landlord legally need?
The complete list for England and Wales — gas, electrical, energy, alarms, legionella and the deposit paperwork — and the two on it that are not certificates.
EPC improvements that actually move the band
Which measures shift an EPC rating and which barely register, why the assessment rewards some work over better work, and what the 2030 standard means.
Section 11: what the landlord must repair, room by room
The repairing covenant in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 — structure, exterior, heating and water. What it excludes, and where the tenant's duty starts.
Boiler breakdown: your obligations and the timescales
Who is responsible when the heating fails, how quickly you must act, when a cold home becomes a reportable hazard, and what temporary heating to provide.
Verifying a Gas Safe engineer, and reading the CP12
How to check an engineer is registered for the work they are doing, what each part of the Gas Safety Record means, and which codes need immediate action.
EICR remedials: what C1 and C2 mean, and the 28 days
How to read an unsatisfactory EICR, which codes force action, the 28-day deadline for remedial work, and the written confirmation that proves you met it.
Legionella: no certificate exists, but the duty does
The real duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act and HSE ACOP L8, why no legionella certificate is required by law, and what an assessment looks like.
Fire safety in HMOs: what a LACORS inspection checks
LACORS is the benchmark councils enforce, and it is not a regulation. Alarm grade and category, FD30 doors, escape routes, and who owns the common parts.
Renters' Rights
Form 3A: the section 8 notice that replaced Form 6A
From 1 May 2026 a section 8 notice on an English private assured tenancy must be on Form 3A, prescribed by SI 2026/354. What changed, and what voids one.
Tenant complaints: staying ombudsman-ready
How to handle a complaint so it does not escalate, what the new PRS Landlord Ombudsman will expect, and the records that decide the outcome.
The Section 8 grounds table: notice periods and evidence
All possession grounds after the Renters' Rights Act, in one table — mandatory or discretionary, the notice period, and what the court will want to see.
Selling a tenanted property: Ground 1A and the 12 months
The sale ground needs four months of notice, cannot bite in the first 12 months, and bars re-letting for 12 months after. Or you sell with the tenant in.
Section 21 is gone: what Section 8 now requires
No-fault eviction ended on 1 May 2026. Every possession claim now runs through a Section 8 ground, each with its own evidence and notice period.
Periodic tenancies by default: what happened to fixed terms
Every tenancy from 1 May 2026 is periodic from the first day. Fixed terms and break clauses no longer take effect. What that changes about notice and rent.
The pet request right: what a landlord can and cannot refuse
Tenants can request a pet and a landlord must not unreasonably refuse. What counts as reasonable, the reply deadline, and what a wrong refusal costs.
The PRS Database: who must register, and by when
A national register of private landlords and their properties. Who it covers, what must be on it, and why an unregistered landlord cannot get possession.
The PRS Landlord Ombudsman: what it is and what it can order
Mandatory membership for private landlords, free for tenants to use, and binding when the tenant accepts. What it can award, and how it differs from court.
Rent increases: the only lawful route under section 13
One increase a year, by statutory notice, with the tenant able to challenge it at the tribunal. Rent review clauses no longer give you a second route.
The rental discrimination ban: what 'no DSS' now costs
Refusing someone because they receive benefits or have children is now unlawful in its own right. What it covers, the checks you may do, and the penalty.
Awaab's Law: the timescales that now bind private lets
Fixed deadlines to investigate and remedy serious hazards, extended from social housing to private lets. What the clock is, and what starts it.
The written statement and the information sheet
Two separate documents with two separate deadlines. What each is, when it must be served, and why one of the deadlines has already passed.
What the Renters' Rights Act did NOT change
Rent controls, a ban on evictions, compulsory pet acceptance, EPC C by 2028 — none of these are in the Act. The myths, and what the position actually is.
Checking a specific property? Look up your council's licensing position or run the free compliance check — five questions, no account.