What certificates does a UK rental property need? The checklist for England

Before a property in England can be let, and for as long as it stays let, the landlord or their agent needs a specific set of certificates, checks and records in place. The list itself is rarely the difficulty. Compliance slips when nobody is keeping track of when each item expires across a growing portfolio. Here is the core checklist, with how often each item recurs.

Gas Safety Certificate (CP12): every 12 months

Any property with gas appliances, fittings or flues that the landlord provides must have an annual gas safety check carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. The record, commonly called a CP12, must be given to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and to new tenants before they move in. Each record must be kept until two further checks have been made (or for two years after the last check if the appliance is removed). Since 2018 a check carried out in the two months before the deadline can preserve the original expiry date, which stops the renewal date creeping earlier each year. The HSE's landlord gas safety guidance is the authoritative reference here.

Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR): at least every 5 years

Privately rented homes in England must have their fixed electrical installation inspected and tested at least every five years (or sooner if the report itself specifies a shorter interval). Tenants must receive a copy within 28 days of the inspection, new tenants before they occupy, and the local authority within seven days if they ask. If the report records C1 or C2 defects, or FI (further investigation), the work must be done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so. Within 28 days of finishing it, the tenant and the local authority must both receive the report and the electrician's written confirmation that the work is done. We cover the detail in our EICR renewal guide.

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC): every 10 years

An EPC is valid for ten years and must be in place before a property is marketed to let. The duty is tied to marketing and letting rather than the expiry date, so a new one is needed when the property is next marketed or let without a valid certificate. To let a property in England and Wales it currently needs a minimum rating of E unless a valid exemption is registered. The government has decided the minimum will rise to C by 1 October 2030, which still needs legislation before it is law. The minimum standard, the six exemptions and the penalties are set out in EPC rules for rented properties.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms: checked at every tenancy start

For most private tenancies, at least one smoke alarm is required on every storey with living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation with a fixed combustion appliance (excluding gas cookers). Alarms must be shown to be working at the start of each new tenancy, and landlords must repair or replace faulty alarms once reported. The regulations prescribe no certificate, so the record you keep is the evidence; the alarm rules guide covers which rooms need a carbon monoxide alarm, which tenancies are excluded, who tests them, and what to keep on file.

Deposit protection: within 30 days of receiving the deposit

A tenancy deposit must be protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days, and the prescribed information given to the tenant in the same window. Getting this wrong affects both potential penalties and the ability to recover possession later, so the protection date and the prescribed-information date are both worth recording. The deadlines, the three schemes, the deposit cap and the penalties are in tenancy deposit protection deadlines.

The paperwork that isn't a renewable certificate

• Written information and the tenancy information sheet: a new tenancy needs the government's specified written information about its key terms, given before it is agreed, in the tenancy agreement or separately. Tenants with a written agreement from before 1 May 2026 were instead due the government's information sheet about the changes. (The old How to Rent guide was withdrawn that day; GOV.UK's assured periodic tenancies guidance is the current reference.)
• Right to Rent checks: landlords in England must check every adult occupier's right to rent before the tenancy starts and keep a copy of the check for the tenancy and one year after.
• Legionella risk assessment: there's no statutory certificate, but landlords have a duty to assess and control the risk of legionella. Keeping a written record of the assessment is the practical way to evidence it.
• Licensing: larger HMOs need a mandatory licence, and many councils operate additional or selective licensing schemes covering ordinary lets. Whether a licence is needed depends on the specific council, so check locally for each property.
• PRS Database registration (not yet in force; from 15 December 2026): under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, landlords of assured and regulated tenancies in England will have to register themselves and each let property, region by region from 15 December 2026 (West Midlands first) with the last deadline on 14 November 2027, at £65 a year per property. The gas, electrical and EPC details above are part of what each registration asks for; what is confirmed and what to prepare is on its own page.

The maximum penalty for missing each of these, from the £5,000 alarm charge to an unlimited fine for gas safety, is collected with its source on the landlord fines and penalties page.

Certificates are one part of a landlord's duties. The full set, in the order they arise from marketing a property to the end of a tenancy, is in the landlord compliance checklist for England.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differ

The rules above describe England (and, for EPCs, Wales). Scotland's Repairing Standard, Wales's Renting Homes framework and Northern Ireland's rules each set their own requirements and frequencies. If you manage properties across nations, track the requirements per property rather than assuming one checklist covers everything.

The calendar is the hard part

Every item above has a date attached: an annual gas check, a five-year EICR, a ten-year EPC and a 30-day deposit window. That is manageable for one property. Across a portfolio those dates fall on different days of different months for every property, which is why tracking certificates in a spreadsheet tends to fail as the portfolio grows. In Verixad each certificate is filed against its property with an expiry date. The status follows from that date, and a reminder arrives on the days something is due. See how it works.