Landlords guide

First impressions count. The front of the property is the first thing prospective tenants see, and a tired exterior puts a lot of people off before they’ve even stepped inside.

• Clear the front garden, path and drive of weeds and rubbish.
• Repaint or pressure-wash the walls where they need it, so no cracks or marks show.
• Cut back the hedges, mow the lawn and tidy any garden at the back.
• Make sure the house number can be read easily from the pavement.
• Empty any garage so that a tenant can actually use it.

Indoors, plain and neutral wins. It can feel a little dull, but a neutral scheme suits more tenants than any bold choice would, and the rooms look larger and lighter for it.

• Walls: white or a warm neutral, in matt emulsion, and no bold feature walls.
• Flooring: carpet that will stand up to wear, with wood or laminate in the kitchen, the bathroom and the busiest areas.
• Bathrooms: tenants nearly always prefer a decent shower to a bath on its own.
• Kitchens: clean, working, and with enough storage. Tired units seldom need replacing outright, as new doors or handles will often bring them back to life.

There are three ways to offer the property, and the right one depends on the kind of home it is and where it sits, because demand differs. We’ll tell you which we think suits yours.

• Furnished: the usual choice for students and shorter lets, with beds, sofas, a dining table, white goods and curtains or blinds all provided.
• Part-furnished: normally no more than the white goods and curtains or blinds, and a common choice for family lets.
• Unfurnished: the blank canvas, which long-term tenants with furniture of their own tend to prefer.

By the day the tenant moves in, every utility should be on and working.

• Gas, electricity, and water connected.
• A live phone line, and broadband available to the property, even if the tenant then picks a provider of their own.
• Where the property runs on LPG or oil, the tanks should be topped up and working.
• Any septic tank should be emptied before the tenancy starts.

Before any tenancy begins, the central heating, hot water, plumbing and electrics must all be safe, sound and in good working order.

Put the manuals for the boiler, the cooker and the other appliances together in a folder or a kitchen drawer, with the details of any maintenance contracts, such as boiler cover or the alarm system. A tenant who knows how something works is far more likely to use it properly.

Have the whole property cleaned professionally before the tenant arrives. That clean shows the condition you expect back when the tenancy ends, and gives the inventory check a fair starting point.

Pay particular attention to the oven, extractor fan, bathroom grouting, and carpets: these are the areas most often disputed at check-out.

A residential mortgage on the property means you need your lender’s written permission before any tenancy begins. Let without that consent and you may be in breach of the mortgage terms.

Most flats, and some houses, are leasehold. If yours is, read the lease closely before you let.

A lease will often say you need the written permission of the freeholder or management company before sub-letting. Some forbid sub-letting outright; others limit how many years you can let for, or charge an administration fee every time a new tenancy starts.

Your insurer must be told that the property is being let. Standard home insurance does not cover a rental property: you need specialist landlord insurance covering buildings, contents (if furnished), and public liability.

Work out a proper budget before you commit to letting. What the property rents for and what you actually keep are two different numbers.

• The mortgage, bearing in mind that a buy-to-let rate may not match a residential one.
• Whatever work the property needs to reach a lettable standard first.
• Letting agent and/or management fees.
• Landlord insurance.
• Money put aside for repairs and maintenance as they come up, because a boiler can fail at any time.
• Empty spells between tenancies (void periods), when no rent comes in but the mortgage is still due.

The rent you receive has to be declared to HMRC. You are responsible for informing Revenue and Customs and paying any tax due: if you live in the UK, it isn’t deducted at source.

If you live abroad, your agent (or your tenant, if there is no agent) must deduct basic rate tax from the rent unless HMRC has approved you to receive it gross under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax now applies to landlords too: from April 2026 if your qualifying income from property and self-employment is over £50,000, from April 2027 if it is over £30,000, and from April 2028 if it is over £20,000.

Moving out of a home you have lived in yourself? Set up a Royal Mail redirection to your new address before the tenancy begins. It avoids tenants having to handle (and possibly lose) your post, and it keeps sensitive documents out of someone else’s hands.

Every year, a Gas Safe registered engineer must check all the gas appliances, pipework and flues. (Gas Safe took over from CORGI in 2009.)

Since July 2020, the electrical installation in a let home in England must be inspected and tested by a qualified electrician at least every five years, and arranging it falls to the landlord.

Tenants must be given the resulting Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) before they move in, and existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection. Any remedial work the report calls for must be done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so. Any appliances you supply have to be safe and in good working order as well.

If you supply upholstered furniture, mattresses, pillows, cushions or sofa-beds, they must comply with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations.

• A compliant item carries a permanent label, so make sure it is there.
• Anything unlabelled whose compliance cannot be verified must be removed before the property is let.
• Antique furniture (manufactured before 1950) is exempt, but use common sense: very old upholstery may still need to go.

Since October 2022 these rules have covered every tenancy, existing ones included, and the alarms must be in working order when each tenancy starts.

• Smoke alarms: every storey with a room used as living accommodation needs at least one.
• Carbon monoxide alarms: one in every room used as living accommodation that has a fixed combustion appliance, such as a gas boiler, wood burner or open fire (gas cookers are excluded).
• Testing: at the start of every new tenancy, each alarm must be tested and confirmed as working.

From the moment the property is marketed, a valid EPC must be available to prospective tenants. Each certificate lasts 10 years and grades the property from A, the most efficient, down to G, the least.

Whatever deposit you take must be protected in a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme within 30 days of receipt, and the scheme’s prescribed information must be given to the tenant.

There are three approved schemes to choose from: the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), MyDeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS).

Before the tenancy begins, the Immigration Act 2014 requires you to verify that every tenant aged 18 and over has a legal right to rent in England.

• UK or Irish passport.
• A share code from the Home Office online service, for anyone with an eVisa, settled or pre-settled status.

Biometric residence permits are no longer accepted as proof of the right to rent.

You must keep the records for as long as the tenancy lasts and for one year after it ends. Digital checks via the government’s online service are acceptable for most documents.

As a landlord you must assess the risk of exposure to Legionella bacteria in the property you let. In most homes that risk is low, but a simple risk assessment should still be carried out, written down and reviewed from time to time.

A property is an HMO when it is let to three or more tenants, forming two or more households, who share facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom.

• Mandatory HMO licence: needed for the larger HMOs, meaning five or more tenants from two or more households.
• Additional licensing: many councils operate extra licensing schemes for smaller HMOs. Check your local council’s website.
• Selective licensing: in designated areas, some councils license every private rental, whether or not it is an HMO.

The Equality Act took the place of the old Disability Discrimination Act. Under it, a landlord must not discriminate against tenants or prospective tenants because of disability, race, sex, religion or any other protected characteristic.

If a disabled tenant asks for reasonable adjustments to the property, the landlord must consider the request. It cannot be refused unreasonably, and in some cases you may have to pay part of the cost.

Local authorities use the HHSRS to assess potential hazards in residential properties across 29 categories, from damp and mould to excess cold, fire, and electrical risk.

Where the council finds a serious (Category 1) hazard, it can require improvements or issue an enforcement notice, and in extreme cases it can prohibit occupation.

No law in a generation has changed private renting as much as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, and its main changes started on 1 May 2026.

• Section 21 “no-fault” evictions abolished.
• Most tenancies are now periodic: fixed-term ASTs ended on 1 May 2026.
• Rent can go up only once a year, and an increase can be challenged at tribunal.
• Rent in advance limited to one month, taken only between signing and the start date.
• Rental bidding banned.
• A national landlord database (registration from December 2026, £65 a year per property) and a landlord ombudsman (expected in 2028).