Landlord compliance calendar: UK checks and deadlines

How to use this calendar

Landlord compliance deadlines come in three kinds, and it helps to diarise them differently:

Recurring checks that run from the date of the last one, such as gas safety every 12 months and electrical inspections at least every 5 years.
Tenancy deadlines that run from the day a tenancy starts or a deposit is received, such as protecting a deposit or giving the tenant their paperwork.
Registrations and licences with their own renewal cycles, such as landlord registration and HMO licences.

Housing law is devolved, so the rules and even the names differ: in England most assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026, Wales has occupation contracts, Scotland has private residential tenancies, and Northern Ireland has private tenancies. The table gives the headlines; the sections below add detail and official sources.

At a glance

Main recurring checks and deadlines for private landlords, as reviewed in September 2026
Check	England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland
Gas safety check	Every 12 months	Every 12 months	Every 12 months	Every 12 months
Electrical inspection (EICR)	At least every 5 years	At least every 5 years	At least every 5 years, plus checks on appliances you provide	At least every 5 years
EPC	Valid 10 years; minimum rating E	Valid 10 years; minimum rating E	Needed for each new tenant; minimum standard proposed, not yet law	Valid 10 years; no minimum rating
Alarms	Smoke alarm each storey; CO alarm by fixed combustion appliances; check on day one	Mains-powered, interlinked smoke alarms each storey; CO alarms by gas, oil or solid fuel appliances	Interlinked smoke and heat alarms; CO detectors by carbon-fuelled appliances	Interlinked smoke and heat alarms; CO alarms by combustion appliances
Deposit protection	Protect and give prescribed information within 30 days	Protect and give required information within 30 days	Lodge and give information within 30 working days of the tenancy starting	Protect within 28 days; prescribed information within 35 days
Tenancy paperwork	Written information before the tenancy is agreed	Written statement and inventory within 14 days of the occupation date	Tenancy terms and notes by the end of the first day	Tenancy information notice within 28 days
Right to Rent	Before the tenancy starts	Doesn’t apply	Doesn’t apply	Doesn’t apply
Landlord registration	New national register opening by region from 15 December 2026	Rent Smart Wales, renew every 5 years	Council registration, renew every 3 years	Landlord registration, renew every 3 years

Gas safety: every 12 months

Every gas appliance and flue you provide must be checked for safety at least every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer. In England, Wales and Scotland this comes from the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, and in Northern Ireland from the equivalent 2004 regulations.

Give a copy of the record to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and to new tenants before they move in.
Keep records for at least 2 years.
GB Keeping your renewal date: since 2018 a check carried out in the 2 months before the deadline is treated as done on the deadline date, so the renewal date doesn’t creep earlier each year. We found no equivalent rule in the Northern Ireland regulations, so there, diarise from the date of the last check.

Electrical safety: at least every 5 years

All four nations now require the fixed electrical installation to be inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every 5 years, or sooner if the last report says so. What differs is who gets the report, and when.

England Give the report to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection, to new tenants before they move in, to a prospective tenant within 28 days of a request, and to the council within 7 days of a request. Remedial work is due within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so.
Wales Give the report to the contract-holder within 14 days of the occupation date, and within 14 days of each new inspection.
Scotland The Repairing Standard requires an electrical safety inspection at least every 5 years, and appliances you provide must be regularly inspected too (often called PAT testing). The law doesn’t set a fixed interval for appliance checks.
NI Required for new private tenancies from 1 April 2025 and existing ones from 1 December 2025. Give existing tenants the report within 28 days and new tenants before they move in; remedial work is due within 28 days.

EPC and energy efficiency

You need a valid Energy Performance Certificate when you let a home. An EPC lasts 10 years, so the date to diarise is the expiry of the current certificate before your next letting.

England Wales A privately rented home must currently be rated at least E, unless a valid exemption is registered. In January 2026 the UK Government confirmed a higher standard, equivalent to EPC C and based on new EPC metrics, for all private tenancies by 1 October 2030; the regulations are still to be made, and new-style EPCs are now expected in the second half of 2027.
Scotland An EPC is needed for each new tenant. The Scottish Government has consulted on a minimum energy efficiency standard for private rentals, but it isn’t law yet and EPC reform in Scotland has been delayed to April 2028, so treat any dates you see as proposals.
NI An EPC is needed when a property is marketed for rent. There is currently no minimum rating for private rentals.

Smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms

England A smoke alarm on every storey with a room used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any such room with a fixed combustion appliance, such as a boiler or wood burner, but not a gas cooker. You must check they are in working order on the day a new tenancy begins, and repair or replace an alarm as soon as reasonably practicable once it is reported faulty.
Wales Mains-powered, interlinked smoke alarms on each storey, and a carbon monoxide alarm in every room with a gas, oil-fired or solid fuel appliance. Unlike England, gas cookers are not excluded.
Scotland Interlinked smoke alarms in the living room and every hallway and landing, a heat alarm in the kitchen, and a carbon monoxide detector where there is a carbon-fuelled appliance or flue. This applies to all homes, not just rentals.
NI Since 1 December 2024, all private tenancies need interlinked smoke alarms in the main living room and every hallway, stairway and landing, a heat alarm in the kitchen, and a carbon monoxide alarm where there is a fixed combustion appliance (other than a gas cooker) or a flue.

Whatever the nation, test every alarm at check-in and write the result into the check-in inventory.

Deposits: protection and prescribed information

England Protect the deposit in a government-approved scheme (the Deposit Protection Service, mydeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme) within 30 days of receiving it, and give the tenant the prescribed information within 30 days. A court can order you to pay the tenant up to three times the deposit, and an unprotected deposit restricts most grounds for possession. Deposits are capped at 5 weeks’ rent, or 6 weeks’ where annual rent is £50,000 or more.
Wales Protect the deposit and give the required information within 30 days. The same three schemes operate in Wales.
Scotland Lodge the deposit with SafeDeposits Scotland, Letting Protection Service Scotland or mydeposits Scotland, and give the tenant the required information, within 30 working days of the tenancy starting. The deposit can’t be more than two months’ rent.
NI Protect the deposit with TDS Northern Ireland or mydeposits Northern Ireland within 28 days of receiving it, and give the prescribed information within 35 days. Since 1 April 2023 a deposit can’t be more than one month’s rent.

What happens at the end of the tenancy is covered in our guide to evidence for deposit disputes.

Paperwork for the tenant at the start

England For tenancies from 1 May 2026, give the required written information before the tenancy is signed or agreed, plus the gas safety record, electrical safety report and EPC before the tenant moves in. Landlords of most existing tenancies had to give tenants the government’s Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 by 31 May 2026. The How to Rent guide was withdrawn on 1 May 2026, except for tenancies where a section 21 notice was served before then.
Wales Give the written statement of the occupation contract within 14 days of the occupation date. For standard occupation contracts, the inventory is due by the same deadline, and the contract-holder then has 14 days to comment on it.
Scotland Give the written tenancy terms, with the Scottish Government’s easy read notes or supporting notes, by the end of the day the tenancy starts, along with the gas, electrical and EPC documents and evidence of the legionella risk assessment.
NI Give a free tenancy information notice within 28 days of granting the tenancy, and a notice of any later change within 28 days of it.

Right to Rent (England only)

In England, you or your agent must check that every adult who will live in the property can legally rent, before the tenancy starts, even if they aren’t named on the agreement. If someone’s permission to stay is time-limited, do the check in the 28 days before the tenancy starts, and diarise a follow-up check before their permission runs out. Updated Home Office codes of practice take effect on 1 October 2026. Right to Rent checks don’t apply in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Registration and HMO licensing

England Mandatory HMO licensing applies where 5 or more people forming more than one household share facilities, and councils can require additional or selective licences for other properties. Licences last up to 5 years. A national private rented sector database is opening region by region from 15 December 2026, starting with the West Midlands; each region gets a three-month window to register, and every landlord actively letting must be registered by 14 November 2027.
Wales Every private landlord must register with Rent Smart Wales, and landlords who manage their own lets need a licence too. Both last 5 years. Mandatory HMO licensing applies to HMOs of three or more storeys with 5 or more people in two or more households, and councils can license others.
Scotland Register with the council for the area the property is in and renew every 3 years. An HMO licence is needed where 3 or more unrelated people live in the property (not all members of one or two families), for up to 3 years at a time.
NI Register with the landlord registration scheme and renew every 3 years. An HMO licence is needed where 3 or more people from more than two households live in the property; licences last up to 5 years.

Legionella

In Great Britain, landlords must assess and control the risk from legionella in a property’s water system. The Health and Safety Executive says the law sets no fixed review interval and doesn’t require a “legionella test certificate”, so review the assessment when something changes, such as a new tenancy or work on the water system. In Scotland, evidence of the assessment goes to a new tenant. In Northern Ireland, check HSENI’s guidance.

What’s changing next

1 October 2026 England Updated Right to Rent codes of practice take effect.
6 October 2026 Scotland New timescales for investigating damp and mould, and starting repairs, become part of the Repairing Standard. See our damp and mould guide.
15 December 2026 to 14 November 2027 England Landlord and property registration opens region by region.
2027 England Wales New-style EPCs expected in the second half of the year, and regulations for the higher energy standard due to be made.
Expected 2028 England Membership of a private landlord ombudsman becomes compulsory, according to the government’s roadmap.
1 October 2030 England Wales All private tenancies to meet the EPC C-equivalent standard.
2035 England The new Decent Homes Standard applies to private and social rented homes.

Official sources

This guide is general information for private landlords, letting agents and hosts in the UK, not legal advice. It was last reviewed in September 2026 and the rules change, so check the official sources linked above for your nation and your tenancy, and take advice from a qualified professional where a lot is at stake. How evidence is weighed in a dispute is always up to the adjudicator or court.