Most landlord compliance failures are not deliberate, they are calendar failures. A gas safety certificate that expired three weeks ago because nobody entered the renewal date into a diary. An EICR that ran its full five years unnoticed because it felt far away when it was issued. A deposit registration certificate misfiled and never re-sent to the tenant after a renewal. The penalty for these lapses can be catastrophic, civil penalties up to £40,000, voided insurance, blocked possession claims, and the fix is mundane: a calendar.
This is that calendar. Print it, pin it to a wall, or copy it into your phone. Every London landlord should have one.
Annual items, fixed to the tenancy anniversary
Gas Safety Certificate (CP12)
Renewed annually if the property has any gas appliance. The new certificate must be issued before the old one expires, and must be provided to the tenant within 28 days of issue. Cost: £90-£140 for a standard two-bedroom flat. A full guide to gas safety certificates is available here.
Calendar entry: set a reminder six weeks before expiry. Book the Gas Safe engineer five weeks out, comfortably inside the gas safety grace period, so the renewal keeps your original expiry date. Serve the certificate on the tenant within a week of receiving it.
Landlord buildings insurance
Annual renewal. Read the small print on the policy: many landlord insurance providers require valid compliance certificates (gas, EICR, EPC) as a pre-condition of cover. Letting a compliance certificate expire can invalidate the insurance retroactively, which is the worst kind of compounded risk.
Calendar entry: renewal diary date set for 30 days before policy expiry. Update with latest valuation if building has been renovated.
Tenancy anniversary review (if rolling into Year 2+)
Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, tenancies are periodic with rent reviews limited to once per year, by Section 13 notice. The anniversary is the natural review point. If you intend to increase rent, serve Section 13 a clear two months before the proposed increase takes effect.
Calendar entry: three months before tenancy anniversary. Research current market rents for the property in the current state. Draft the Section 13 with the evidence pack attached.
Biennial, five-yearly and longer items
EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report)
Renewed every five years, or sooner if the previous report specified a shorter review interval. The EICR inspection must be carried out by a qualified and competent person. Membership of a scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT is the usual way to show that competence, but it is not itself a legal requirement. Typical cost: £180-£280 for a two-bedroom flat. Any "unsatisfactory" findings must be remediated before the report can be considered passed, failing to complete the remedial work within 28 days (or any shorter period the report sets) is a breach that can attract a civil penalty of up to £40,000.
Calendar entry: six months before expiry. The six-month lead time is important because unsatisfactory findings are common on older London stock, and remediation often requires a tenant-free window to carry out.
EPC (Energy Performance Certificate)
Valid for ten years. Minimum rating required for letting is currently E, rising to C under the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) from 1 October 2030. A full EPC guide is here. Cost: £60-£110 for a new assessment.
Calendar entry: a year before the ten-year expiry. Start planning any efficiency upgrades needed to hit C before MEES bites.
Deposit scheme registration renewal
Deposits must be registered within 30 days of receipt, and the tenant must be served with prescribed information within the same window. The scheme registration does not automatically renew, if the tenancy continues beyond the original term, check the deposit remains correctly registered. Cost: usually zero with custodial schemes; small annual fees with insurance-backed schemes.
HMO licence (where applicable)
Where a property is a licensable house in multiple occupation, the licence runs for up to five years and must be renewed before it expires. Whether you need one depends on the borough and the property, as our guide to HMO licensing London explains. Calendar entry: six months before the licence expiry.
New and ongoing, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 items
PRS database, register when your region opens
Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, landlords will have to register themselves and their properties on the private rented sector database. The government published its landlord guidance on 29 October 2026. Registration opens region by region from 15 December 2026, and London landlords and properties register between 15 July and 14 October 2027. The fee is £65 per property per year. You will provide evidence of the gas safety certificate (where there is a gas supply), the electrical safety certificate and the EPC, and you must update anything that changes or expires within 28 days.
Calendar entry: once registered, add a reminder to update the database within 28 days each time any certificate is renewed. Add a quarterly reminder to log in and confirm the property record is current.
PRS Ombudsman membership
The landlord ombudsman is not open yet; it is expected in 2028. Once it opens, membership will be mandatory and ongoing. Failing to join can lead to a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for an initial breach, and up to £40,000 or prosecution for continuing or repeat breaches.
Calendar entry: once the scheme opens, add the annual renewal to the diary, set a month before it is due.
The mid-tenancy items
Mid-term inspection
Not legally required but strongly recommended at around the six-month mark of a new tenancy. An AIIC-accredited mid-term inspection documents the property's condition, flags any emerging issues, and creates a contemporaneous record that is invaluable if any end-of-tenancy dispute later reaches the deposit scheme.
Calendar entry: six months after check-in. Schedule a two-hour window with the tenant.
Quarterly safety walk-through
Particularly for unfurnished properties where the tenant has discretion to add appliances, fixtures, or make cosmetic changes. Check smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are working, any alterations have been approved, and the condition is broadly as expected.
Calendar entry: every 3 months. 30-minute visit, preferably combined with any routine maintenance.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm testing
Landlords must ensure functioning smoke alarms on every storey and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance (gas cookers excluded), a rule in force since 1 October 2022. Check-in day test is mandatory; ongoing responsibility is the tenant's, but prudent landlords check again at each inspection.
Seasonal items, London-specific
September, pre-winter boiler service
The annual gas safety certificate doesn't cover boiler servicing unless explicitly scoped. A separate boiler service in early autumn, before the heating season, reduces the chance of mid-winter breakdowns and the associated tenant relationship damage.
Calendar entry: first week of September. £80-£120 for a standard boiler service.
October, gutter and external check
London's wet autumn/winter combined with blocked gutters is the single most common cause of damp-related disrepair complaints. A quick gutter inspection and clear in October prevents a problem that becomes much larger by February.
January, first-week check-in after holiday period
Frozen or burst pipes in properties left empty over Christmas are an avoidable crisis. A scheduled check in the first week of January on any property that has been vacant catches problems before they escalate.
Event-driven items
These don't fit a calendar. They're triggered by specific events.
End of tenancy, the full checklist
- Section 8 notice served on correct ground (if landlord-initiated) or tenant two-month notice received
- Check-out inventory scheduled on or before the tenancy end date
- Deposit return process initiated within statutory time window
- Final utility readings recorded
- End-of-tenancy clean and inventory booked
- PRS database updated to reflect tenancy end (once registration is open)
- Re-listing prepared if new tenancy planned
New tenancy, the full checklist
- Right-to-rent checks performed and documented
- Full referencing completed (employment, credit, landlord, ID)
- Assured periodic tenancy agreement drafted and signed
- Deposit registered within 30 days and prescribed information served
- Written statement of terms and required written information given (the How to Rent guide was withdrawn on 1 May 2026)
- Valid gas safety certificate served on tenant
- Valid EICR served on tenant
- Valid EPC served on tenant
- Smoke and CO alarm tested on check-in day
- Check-in inventory completed with tenant present and signed
- PRS database updated with new tenancy (once registration is open)
Every one of these items can prevent a future dispute. Skipping any one of them creates a vulnerability that will surface later.
How we handle this for managed clients
Every property under AIHPG full property management is maintained on an internal compliance calendar. Certificate renewal dates, anniversary reviews, quarterly walk-throughs, and seasonal items are all tracked against the property record. When a certificate is within 30 days of expiry, our in-house engineers are booked automatically. When an anniversary approaches, the account manager schedules the conversation about rent review. When the portal needs updating, it's updated.
This is the single biggest reason managed properties rarely lose disputes or have Section 8 claims blocked: the paperwork is on file, the certificates are current, and the record shows the landlord acting reasonably throughout.
Want us to handle the calendar for you?
Full property management with every compliance item tracked, scheduled and renewed before expiry. One named account manager, one single point of contact, and the paperwork is always ready when you need it.
See Full Management →Download and print
A one-page printable version of this compliance calendar, laid out as a single sheet you can pin to a wall or file with each property, is available on request. Call us on 020 3488 8072 or request a copy and we'll email you the PDF. No obligation, no sales follow-up.
Compliance is not the most exciting part of being a London landlord. But it is the part that, handled well, lets everything else work, and handled badly, unravels everything else. A single calendar on a single wall is enough to stay ahead of it.
Frequently asked questions about landlord compliance deadlines
Do I need to set a reminder for every certificate?
Yes, because the penalty for letting a certificate expire ranges from voided insurance (self-inflicted) to a civil penalty of up to £40,000 (from local authority enforcement) to a weaker position if you later need to seek possession. A single calendar covering EICR (5-year), gas safety (1-year), EPC (10-year), deposit scheme renewals, and database updates is the minimum setup.
What happens if a certificate expires mid-tenancy?
Legally, the certificate should be renewed before expiry. If it expires during the tenancy, the landlord is in breach: not automatically prosecuted, but exposed to a civil penalty, a weaker position in any later dispute, and insurance cover being voidable. Renewing the moment the new certificate is issued (not waiting for the tenant to notice) is the right posture.
Do the same compliance rules apply to short-term lets?
Largely yes, plus some additional rules. Short-term lets still need valid gas safety, EICR, and deposit registration where a deposit is taken. London's 90-night rule applies to entire-property lets. HMO licensing may apply depending on the borough. Short lets are more regulated than many platform-letting landlords realise.
