Landlord Legal Requirements

Any property let out with a gas supply or gas appliances is required to have a gas safety inspection carried out annually. It is vital that a Gas Safe Registered engineer carried out the check within 12 months of the last certificate date, or prior to a tenant moving in should it be a first time rental property.

The law initially changed in July 2020. Any tenancy created or renewed after this time had to have a valid landlord electrical safety certificate in place. On 1 April 2021, the law changed again. All rental properties now have to have a certificate in place and this has to be renewed every five years.

An Energy Performance Certificate is compulsory for any property that is bought sold or rented, and again a copy must be provided to the tenants at their move in. The EPC provides an energy rating – from A to G (A being the most efficient and G the least) – along with information and recommended ways on how to improve this. It also shows the energy efficiency and environmental impact of the property. Once a property has been inspected the corresponding certificate then lasts for 10 years.

By law your property must have an EPC rating of “E” or above.

All properties need to have a risk assessment complied by a trained individual, including water testing and sampling. A report will then be complied outlining any risk factors found, and advice on how to avoid or improve these potential threats. A copy of the risk assessment must be provided to the tenant at move in.

Landlords are required to ensure that there is a working smoke alarm on every living floor of the property otherwise they are at risk of a £5000 civil penalty. Whilst it is the tenants’ responsibility to maintain and change batteries during tenancy, the landlord must ensure they are working prior to any new tenancy.

A Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarm must also be installed into any room where solid fuel is burnt (e.g., wood or coal burning fire or stove) and within date.

Landlords and agents are responsible for ensuring that any new tenants can prove they have the ‘right to rent’ in the UK. Original documents for any adult applying to rent a property in the UK, such as passports, Travel Documents, Right to Rent Share Codes, must be seen and a copy retained for the full duration of the tenancy. A tenancy agreement cannot be entered into without this proof. The landlord or agent must also carry out ‘follow up checks’ if the tenant has a limited stay visa, to ensure that they continue to have the right to rent in the UK.

The government has created and issued a ‘How to Rent’ guide for tenants. All tenants must have access to a copy of this before signing a new tenancy agreement.

For any tenancy where a deposit has been taken, the deposit must be registered into a recognised tenancy deposit protection scheme (such as TDS or DPS). This allows any deposit disputes to be mediated fairly by a third party who is uninvolved in the tenancy and unbiased. The tenants must also be provided with the prescribed information about the chosen scheme within 30 days of the deposit being registered.

Failure to register a deposit could lead to up to a three-month rent fine along with the possibility of not being able to issue a Section 21 notice.