What property records should a letting agency keep?

When a tenant, a landlord or a local authority asks for something, the question is rarely whether you once had it. It is whether you can find it now. This checklist groups the records a letting agency should keep by the thing they belong to, which is also the simplest way to file them.

Per property

• Gas safety records (keep at least two years), the current EICR and any remedial confirmation, and the EPC.
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm checks at the start of each tenancy, and any repairs when a tenant reports a fault.
• Fire risk assessment and licence for an HMO, where one applies.
• Legionella risk assessment notes (a simple assessment is usually enough for a typical home).
• Maintenance history: what was reported, who fixed it, what it cost.

Per tenancy

• The signed tenancy agreement and any renewals or variations.
• Deposit protection certificate and the prescribed information, given within 30 days of receiving the deposit in England and Wales.
• Inventory and check-in report, then the check-out report.
• The “How to rent” guide given at the start (England), and evidence of the gas, EICR and EPC copies given to the tenant.
• Rent schedule and payment history; arrears correspondence.
• Notices served and received, with dates and how they were delivered.

Per person

• Right to Rent check record for each adult occupier (England): what was checked and when.
• Referencing outcome as recorded, with the date and who ran it.
• Contact details and the communication history, so a conversation is not reconstructed from three inboxes.

Where records go missing

Almost always in the handover between people: the engineer emails one person, the tenant copy is sent by another, and the renewal lands with a third. Filing everything against the property or tenancy it belongs to, rather than the person who received it, is most of the fix. The government's guidance on renting out a property covers the legal side in full, and it changes, so check it rather than this page for current requirements.

Verixad keeps documents, tenancies, tasks and contacts attached to the property they belong to, with a screening logbook that records who checked what and when. See properties and tenancies, and the certificate checklist for the renewal frequencies.