Stage one: before you let
Everything here should be done before the property is advertised, not before the tenant moves in. Several items take weeks.
Both countries
- Energy performance certificate. Valid for ten years, and the rating must be E or better unless a valid exemption is registered. It must be available to prospective tenants before they view.
- Gas safety. Every gas appliance and flue checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer, with a record dated within the last twelve months.
- Electrical installation. A satisfactory electrical installation condition report, renewed at least every five years.
- Smoke and heat alarms. Interlinked alarms are required throughout Scotland. In England, a smoke alarm on every storey and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker.
- Consent. Mortgage lender, freeholder and insurer all told that the property is let. Ordinary residential insurance does not cover a tenancy.
England only
- Right to rent checks. Carried out on every adult occupier before the tenancy begins, with copies retained.
- Licensing. A mandatory house in multiple occupation licence for five or more people from two or more households. Selective and additional licensing schemes then apply street by street, so check your specific address with the council. In Manchester, for example, designations run across three phases in named neighbourhoods, and a city wide Article 4 direction means planning permission is needed to create even a small three to six person share.
Scotland only
- Landlord registration with the council before letting. It lasts three years and letting without it is a criminal offence. From 1 April 2026 the fee is eighty five pounds for the principal registration plus twenty pounds per property.
- House in multiple occupation licence at three or more unrelated occupants, not five. This catches ordinary three bedroom flats.
- The repairing standard. A statutory standard the property must meet, wider than the English equivalent and enforced through the First-tier Tribunal.
- Short term let licence if you are letting on a nightly basis. In Edinburgh, the whole council area is a control area, so planning permission is needed as well for any property that is not your principal home.
Stage two: starting the tenancy
Both countries
- A written tenancy agreement in the correct current form. In England that is no longer an assured shorthold tenancy. In Scotland it is a private residential tenancy, which is open ended with no fixed term.
- Inventory and schedule of condition, dated, photographed and signed by the tenant. This is the single most useful document you will ever hold at the end of a tenancy.
- Deposit protected in an approved scheme. Within thirty days in England, within thirty working days in Scotland, using one of the three approved Scottish schemes.
- Prescribed information served on the tenant, confirming which scheme holds the deposit and how to get it back. Protecting the deposit without serving this is a breach in itself.
- Certificates handed over: gas record, electrical report and energy performance certificate.
England only
- The government How to Rent guide, in the version current at the time, given to the tenant.
- A section 48 address in England or Wales at which notices can be served on you. Until that is given, rent is not lawfully due.
Scotland only
- The Scottish Government tenant information pack or the equivalent statutory notes for a private residential tenancy.
- No tenant fees. Charging for referencing, administration, renewal or inventory is unlawful and the money is recoverable.
Stage three: during the tenancy
- Gas safety record renewed annually, and a copy given to the tenant within twenty eight days of the check.
- Electrical report renewed at least every five years, and any category one or two issues remedied.
- Repairs handled within a reasonable time. In England, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act applies throughout. In Scotland, the repairing standard applies throughout and the tribunal can order works.
- Inspections with proper notice, at least twenty four hours in writing, with a written report.
- Rent increases through the statutory route. In Scotland, once every twelve months with three months of notice, and the tenant may refer it to Rent Service Scotland within twenty one days. In England, the process set out in the Renters' Rights Act.
- Licences kept current. Scottish house in multiple occupation licences all expire on the same date in the council calendar rather than on the anniversary of the grant, which catches people out.
- Insurance and mortgage conditions still met, especially if the property becomes a house in multiple occupation or is left empty between tenancies.
Keep a dated file. Almost every dispute at a tribunal or in a deposit adjudication turns on what can be evidenced rather than what happened. A folder with dated certificates, inspection reports with photographs and a rent ledger wins arguments that memory does not.
Stage four: ending the tenancy
- Notice served correctly. In England, section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026 and possession now runs through specified statutory grounds. In Scotland, a notice to leave citing one of the statutory eviction grounds, with the correct notice period.
- Check out inspection against the original inventory, dated and photographed.
- Deposit returned or deductions proposed within the scheme's timescale, with evidence. Fair wear and tear is not damage, and betterment is not deductible.
- Final accounts settled: rent to the end date, utilities and council tax responsibility transferred back.
- Records kept for at least six years. Deposit claims, tax enquiries and tribunal applications all reach back further than most people expect.
What it costs to get wrong
| Failure | Where | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit not protected, or prescribed information not served | England | One to three times the deposit, payable to the tenant, and possession may be blocked |
| Deposit not lodged in an approved scheme | Scotland | Up to three times the deposit, ordered by the First-tier Tribunal |
| Letting without landlord registration | Scotland | Criminal offence, fine up to 50,000 pounds, and a rent penalty notice |
| Letting an unlicensed house in multiple occupation | Scotland | Fine up to 50,000 pounds |
| Letting an unlicensed house in multiple occupation | England | Unlimited fine, or a civil penalty up to 30,000 pounds, plus a rent repayment order of up to twelve months of rent |
| No gas safety record | Both | Prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive, unlimited fine and possible imprisonment |
| Breach of the letting agent code of practice | Scotland | Tribunal order against the agent, and a payment order |
| Breach of the Renters' Rights Act | England | Local authority penalties, up to 7,000 pounds for a first breach and 40,000 pounds for a repeat in Manchester |
| Charging unlawful tenant fees | Both | The money is recoverable, plus a financial penalty on the landlord or agent |
Two things you do not need
Both of these are sold to landlords regularly, often bundled into a compliance package, and neither is a legal requirement in the form it is sold.
A legionella certificate
There is no such document in law. The duty is to assess the risk of legionella in the water system, which for a normal domestic property is a short exercise a competent person can carry out, and that person can be the landlord. The Health and Safety Executive has stated plainly that landlords are not required to produce a certificate. Assess the risk, write down what you found and what you did, and keep it on file. If a system is complex, such as a large shared house with a stored water tank, get professional help, but do that because the system warrants it rather than because a certificate was offered.
Annual PAT testing of everything
The duty is to ensure that electrical equipment you supply is safe, not to test every appliance every year. For a typical furnished let, visual inspection plus testing where there is reason to suspect a problem will usually satisfy it, and the fixed installation is covered separately by the electrical installation condition report. In Scotland, the repairing standard requires appliances supplied by the landlord to be in proper working order, and testing is one reasonable way to evidence that, so the case for it is stronger there. Either way, it is a judgement about risk, not an annual invoice you are obliged to pay.
What an agent takes on, and what it cannot
A full management service will normally arrange the gas safety check, hold and renew the certificates, protect the deposit, serve the prescribed information, carry out inspections and serve notices. That is most of this page, and it is the main thing you are paying for.
What no agent can take on is the legal responsibility. If the gas check does not happen, the landlord is prosecuted. If the deposit is not protected, the landlord pays the penalty. If the property is unlicensed, the rent repayment order is made against the landlord. You may then have a claim against your agent, which is a slower and less certain remedy than the one being enforced against you.
That asymmetry is the argument for choosing on evidence rather than on price. Our city rankings check registration, accreditation and client money protection for every agency, and say plainly what could not be verified.
Common questions
Do I need a legionella risk assessment certificate?
You need to have assessed the risk. You do not need a certificate, and there is no such thing as a legionella certificate in law. The Health and Safety Executive has said explicitly that landlords are not required to produce one, and that for most domestic rented property a simple assessment by a competent person, which can be the landlord, is enough. Companies selling annual certificates are selling reassurance, not compliance.
Is PAT testing a legal requirement for landlords?
Not as a blanket annual exercise. The duty is to ensure electrical equipment you supply is safe. For a furnished let, that usually means visual checks and testing where there is reason to, not routine testing of every appliance every year. In Scotland the position is firmer, because the repairing standard requires appliances supplied by the landlord to be in proper working order, and testing is one way to evidence that.
What changed for English landlords in 2026?
The Renters' Rights Act came into force on 1 May 2026. Assured shorthold tenancies and fixed terms have gone, section 21 no fault evictions are abolished, and possession now runs through specified grounds. Rent increases follow a statutory process. Any agency still talking about section 21 is out of date.
Do Scottish landlords need to worry about rent controls?
Not today. No cap is in force anywhere in Scotland. Councils began assessing rent conditions on 1 April 2026 under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 and must report to Scottish Ministers by 31 May 2027. Only after that can an area be designated, capping increases at inflation plus one percent to a maximum of six percent, once every twelve months.
Does using a letting agent transfer my legal responsibility?
No. An agent can be instructed to arrange the gas safety check, protect the deposit and serve the notices, and a good one will. If any of it is not done, the landlord is the person prosecuted or fined. Delegating the task never delegates the duty, which is why the agency you choose matters more than the fee it charges.
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