What certificates does a landlord legally need?

Every certificate and record a UK landlord needs, how long each lasts, and what happens if one lapses.

8 min read · Updated 2 August 2026

Overview

Compliance is a small set of documents renewed on a predictable cycle. The difficulty is not obtaining them but proving, years later, that each was valid and served on the tenant at the right time.

Why it matters

Missing paperwork is the fastest route to a failed possession claim, a civil penalty or a rent repayment order — and the enforcement authority decides on your records, not your recollection.

Legal requirements

Gas Safety Record — annually where there is a gas supply or appliance; served on the tenant within 28 days.
Electrical Installation Condition Report — at least every five years, with remedial work within 28 days.
Energy Performance Certificate — valid for ten years and at least rating E to let in England and Wales.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms — installed and tested at the start of each tenancy.
Legionella risk assessment — written and reviewed after changes to the water system.
Licence — where the property is an HMO or falls within an additional or selective scheme.

Common mistakes

Letting the gas record lapse by a few days because the renewal was diarised from the wrong date.
Obtaining an EICR but never completing the C2 remedial work.
Never serving the certificates on the tenant, which is a separate duty from holding them.
Assuming a managing agent has done all of the above without seeing the documents.

Practical guidance

Diarise every renewal two months early so a failed appointment does not create a gap.
Serve every document by email and keep the sent record with the certificate.
Store certificates by property, not by year, so a possession bundle can be assembled in minutes.
Re-run a full compliance check at every change of tenancy.

How long should I keep old certificates?

Keep everything for the life of the tenancy plus at least six years. Rent repayment order and deposit claims both reach back years, and superseded certificates prove there was no gap.

What if a tenant refuses access?

Record every attempt in writing, offer reasonable alternative dates, and escalate formally. A documented pattern of refused access is the defence relied on where a check could not be carried out.