The complete landlord compliance checklist for 2026

Scope: England and Wales, private rented sector, verified against the legislation on 11 August 2026. The two jurisdictions are listed separately below rather than merged — Wales runs occupation contracts under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 and most of the English list does not apply there. Information tool, not legal advice.

This is the reference list. Every duty, grouped by when it starts to bite, one sentence each and a link to the guide that covers it properly. Print it, work down it, and follow the links for the detail.

If you are starting out and want the order to do things in rather than the full list, the compliance sequence is the better page.

The four that cannot be fixed late

Most duties on this page can be put right after the fact, at some cost. These four cannot, and they are worth reading before anything else.

1. Deposit protection within 30 days — protect on day 31 and the breach is not cured by protecting late. One to three times the deposit, and the claim survives the tenancy ending.
2. Prescribed information within 30 days — the same deadline and the same consequence.
3. The Right to Rent check, before occupation — the statutory excuse is having checked beforehand, so checking afterwards creates nothing. England only.
4. The inventory, before keys change hands — it cannot be recreated later, and without it a deposit deduction rarely stands up.

Before you let at all

• Mortgage consent to let — letting on a residential mortgage without it is a breach of your terms.
• Landlord insurance — your residential policy is typically void from the day you let, with no cancellation letter to warn you.
• Licensing — mandatory HMO, selective or additional. Operating unlicensed is a criminal offence; see what each council charges.
• Whether it is an HMO — this changes almost everything else on the list.
• Planning permission — separate from licensing, and having one does not give you the other.
• EPC at the minimum standard — required before marketing.
• Lawful advertising — including the discrimination ban that has applied since 1 May 2026.

Choosing a tenant

• Referencing — what you may check, and what you may no longer ask.
• Right to Rent — England only, before the tenancy begins, on every adult occupier.
• Guarantors — the rules changed, and demanding one selectively is now a risk in itself.
• Setting the rent — with evidence, because a challenge now goes to the tribunal.

Safety, before anyone moves in

• Gas Safety Record — annual, by a Gas Safe engineer you have verified, served before occupation.
• EICR — five-yearly, with C1 and C2 remedials inside 28 days.
• Smoke and CO alarms — tested and working on the first day, not merely installed.
• Legionella risk assessment — an assessment, not a certificate anyone sells you.
• Fire safety and room sizes and amenities if it is an HMO.

At the start of the tenancy — England

• How to Rent guide, the current version — and keep a copy of which version you served.
• The written statement of terms and the Renters' Rights information sheet.
• A periodic tenancy — fixed-term ASTs could not be created on or after 1 May 2026.
• Deposit protected and prescribed information served — within 30 days, both absolute.
• Your name and address — section 1, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
• PRS Database registration — see who must register and by when.
• The full day-one serving list, with the deadline on each.

At the start of the contract — Wales

Wales is not a variation on the above. It is a different statute with different documents.

• Occupation contracts and contract-holders — not tenancies and tenants.
• The written statement of the occupation contract — which replaces most of the English list. There is no How to Rent guide in Wales.
• Rent Smart Wales — registration and licensing are two different things and you may need both.
• Deposits in Wales, repairs and hazards, and fitness for human habitation.
• HMO licensing in Wales and selective licensing in Wales.
• The divergence map — what differs, item by item.

During the tenancy

• Repairs under section 11, and Awaab's Law timescales for damp, mould and prescribed hazards.
• Heating and hot water when the boiler fails.
• Re-serving documents when a certificate renews or a guide is reissued.
• Rent increases — one route now, and it is section 13.
• Pet requests — you must consider them, and refuse only reasonably.
• Complaints and the PRS Landlord Ombudsman.
• Arrears and what you can lawfully charge for late rent.
• The HMO management regulations, if it is an HMO.

Ending a tenancy

• Section 21 is gone — every possession claim runs on a ground.
• Form 3A — the prescribed section 8 notice since 1 May 2026, and the mistakes that invalidate one.
• The grounds table — which ground, how much notice.
• Deductions that stand up, against the inventory you took at the start.
• Selling with a tenant in place, and void periods between lets.

Tax and money

• Tax on rental income and allowable expenses versus capital.
• Section 24 — the mortgage interest restriction.
• Making Tax Digital — check whether the threshold catches you.
• CGT on sale and SDLT versus LTT on purchase.

What it costs to get wrong

One caution on figures you find elsewhere: legislation.gov.uk often shows the wrong fine, because the amending instrument is a separate document from the one you are reading.

Keeping this list true

This page is dated for a reason. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 changed a great deal of it during 2026, and some of what people think changed did not. Licensing designations shift monthly — this month's changes are written up separately, and every scheme change we hold updates continuously.

Run the free compliance check and it will produce this list narrowed to your actual property — five questions, no account, with the legislation behind each item. Or check your tenancy agreement against the current regime.