Landlord safety certificates in England: 2026 checklist

A private landlord in England needs a gas safety check every 12 months if they provide gas appliances, an EICR at least every five years, and a valid EPC rated E or better. Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms must be checked and working on the day each new tenancy begins. PAT testing is not legally required. Checked October 2026.

This is the hub of our landlord compliance series. It lists every check in one place, explains what happens when one fails, and sets out what Harrow, Brent and Barnet councils add on top. We are EliteShires Property Services, based at 6 Station Parade, Kenton Lane. We carry out these certificates, and the repairs that follow them, across Harrow, Kenton, Stanmore and Edgware. Each certificate has its own detailed page, which we link rather than repeat.

Which certificates and checks does a landlord legally need?

Most private lets in England need four things in place before a tenant moves in: a gas safety record if gas appliances are provided, a satisfactory EICR, a valid EPC and working alarms. Two further duties, legionella and appliance safety, need managing but carry no certificate. The table sets out each one against the law that creates it. To narrow the list to one property, answer six questions in our certificate checker.

The core safety checks for a private let in England (checked October 2026)

Gas safety: what does the annual check involve?

A Gas Safe registered engineer must check every gas appliance and flue you provide at least every 12 months, and you must keep all pipework and fittings safe (regulation 36, Gas Safety Regulations 1998). A check done in the two months before it is due keeps the original anniversary. Keep each record until two further checks have been done. Appliances the tenant owns are outside your check, but the pipework serving them is not. We issue the record on the day. Our page on booking a landlord gas safety check covers what the engineer tests. Our guide to what changes the price of a gas safety certificate explains quotes.

EICR: what has changed for electrical safety?

The penalty has changed most: since 1 November 2025 a council can fine up to £40,000 per breach, up from £30,000 (SI 2025/1043), while the inspection is still needed at least every five years. Our guide to when an EICR expires explains why the report can set an earlier date. The same SI added a reasonable-steps defence and a duty to keep each report until the next inspection. Any C1 or C2 code makes the report unsatisfactory. Under BS 7671 Amendment 4, an FI code on its own no longer does, but if the report says further investigation is required, the regulations still give you 28 days. We issue the report within 48 hours. See our EICR inspections for the codes in plain English.

EPC: what rating do you need to let?

You need an EPC rated E or better, unless a valid exemption is registered (GOV.UK minimum energy efficiency guidance, updated 5 May 2026). The certificate lasts ten years and must be commissioned before you market the property. The government has decided on EPC C by 1 October 2030, but that is not yet law, and nothing changes for new tenancies before then. Our guide to the EPC C target for 2030 sets out what was decided in January 2026. We lodge an EPC for your rental within 24 hours of the visit.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms: what are the rules?

You need 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. Gas cookers are excluded. Check the alarms on the day each new tenancy begins, and repair or replace any alarm reported faulty. The regulations do not require hard-wired alarms. Bathrooms count as living accommodation, which catches boilers fitted there. Licensed houses and HMOs follow equivalent licence conditions instead. Our full guide to the smoke and CO alarm rules covers placement, records and enforcement.

Legionella: do you need a certificate?

No. HSE states plainly that health and safety law "does not require landlords to obtain or produce a 'legionella test certificate'" (HSE landlord guidance, updated 30 September 2024). The duty is to assess the risk from the hot and cold water system and control it. Most landlords can do that themselves, and sampling is usually not needed. A written record is not always required, but it is the easiest way to show you did it. Our legionella risk assessments for landlords come with the written assessment on the day.

PAT testing: is it a legal requirement?

Not for an ordinary private let in England. HSE says the law does not make appliance testing a legal requirement, or require it annually (HSE PAT FAQ, 16 April 2025). You must still keep any appliance you supply safe. Every HMO and selective licence requires a safety declaration to the council on demand. Brent's selective licence conditions go further and ask for appliance test reports within 14 days of a request. The new five-yearly appliance checks in SI 2025/1043 apply to social landlords only. A PAT record is the simplest evidence, and our PAT testing visits leave a certificate and asset register on the day.

Which check should you book first?

Book the EPC first if you are about to market, then the EICR and gas check together, as early as you can. The order matters because a failed EICR or gas check needs remedial work, and that work has to fit before the move-in date. Alarms and the water system come last, once the trades have finished.

1. EPC. You must have commissioned one before the property is advertised. If the rating is F or G, you cannot let without improvements or a registered exemption, so find out first.
2. EICR and gas safety check. Book both at once, early in the void or before a re-let. Since 1 May 2026 every assured tenancy is periodic, so there is no fixed end date to plan around. Work back from the tenant's leaving date.
3. Remedial work. EICR items coded C1 or C2, and any further investigation the report requires, must be done within 28 days or the shorter period stated. Then written confirmation goes to the tenant and the council. Gas defects recorded on the safety record must be acted on.
4. Alarms and water. Fit or replace alarms once the electrician has finished. Run the taps and showers if the property has stood empty, and review the legionella assessment.
5. Move-in day. Hand over the gas record, the EICR and the EPC. Test every alarm and have the tenant sign the inventory to confirm it.

Using one contractor for the certificates and the follow-on trades cuts the number of visits. That is how we work.

What happens if a check fails?

A failed check starts a deadline, and only paperwork closes it. An unsatisfactory EICR gives you 28 days, or less if the report says so, followed by written confirmation to the tenant and the council. A gas defect is recorded on the safety record, and an unsafe appliance should not be used until a Gas Safe registered engineer has put it right. Our guide to what happens after a failed safety check takes each certificate step by step.

We can fix defects found during our checks, priced before we start. Defined jobs are a fixed price, and other repairs are hourly, with the rate and an estimate confirmed first. We don't do boiler servicing, damp investigation or structural work, and we will refer those on. For what a visit is like, see what to expect at a landlord safety inspection.

What paperwork goes to the tenant and the council?

The tenant gets the gas record within 28 days of each check, the EICR within 28 days of each inspection, and all three documents (gas record, EICR and EPC) before moving in. The council must have the EICR within 7 days of a written request. Written confirmation of EICR remedial work goes to the council within 28 days of finishing, whether or not it asks. A licensed property must also produce the gas record each year. Our list of documents landlords must give tenants covers the full move-in pack, and our guide to EICR remedial paperwork covers the two 28-day clocks.

Do Harrow, Brent or Barnet add anything for your address?

Yes, if the property needs a licence, and in our patch that depends on the street. Licences carry mandatory conditions under Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004. They include producing a gas safety certificate to the council each year, and declarations on demand about appliances, furniture, the electrical installation and alarms. Our guide to licensing in Harrow, Brent and Barnet has the full detail.

Harrow licenses every privately rented house in six wards, Brent's Kenton ward is under selective licensing, and Barnet licenses HMOs borough-wide. Harrow's previous additional HMO scheme ended on 5 August 2026, and the council has approved a new one for three or four sharers, starting on 6 January 2027. Kenton Road and Edgware both sit on borough boundaries, so check the council before you check the scheme: see our Kenton, Edgware, Harrow and Stanmore landlord guides. Councils do enforce. In January 2026 Harrow Council reported a £9,000 bill for an Edgware landlord who failed to provide fire safety and electrical certificates.

What is changing in 2026 and 2027?

Enforcement and registration are changing, not the certificates: higher penalties since 1 May 2026, and a national landlord database that London landlords are due to join between 15 July and 14 October 2027 under draft regulations. The dates below are as confirmed on GOV.UK in October 2026.

• 1 May 2026 (in force): section 21 abolished, all tenancies periodic, civil penalties up to £40,000 and rent repayment orders up to 24 months' rent. See what the Renters' Rights Act changes for safety and repairs.
• 15 December 2026 (regulations laid in draft on 9 September 2026, still awaiting Parliament's approval on 28 October 2026): the landlord database opens; see our guide to getting ready for the landlord database.
• 8 October to 18 December 2026 (consultation): Awaab's Law for private landlords. No start date has been set.
• 2028 (announced): the private rented sector landlord ombudsman.
• 1 October 2030 (announced): EPC C for rented homes.
• 2035 (announced): the Decent Homes Standard for private lets. See the Decent Homes Standard for private rentals. Category 1 hazards are enforceable now, and since 22 June 2026 councils can fine up to £7,000 where one could reasonably have been removed. Our guide to the reformed hazard rating system explains how councils score them.

How do you keep every date in one place?

Put every certificate on one calendar from the date it was issued, not from the tenancy start. Gas runs yearly, the EICR five-yearly and the EPC ten-yearly, so they drift apart over time. Our table of certificate renewal dates shows how to line them up. Landlords with several lets can also hand the diary to us, as part of property maintenance for landlords and agents.

For a local booking, our area pages cover gas safety checks in Harrow, EICRs in Kenton, EPCs in Stanmore and property maintenance in Edgware.

Which guides go further on each topic?

Each guide below takes one item from this checklist further; new guides are added as they are published.

• Renters' Rights Act 2025: safety, repairs and certificates
• The landlord database: what to have ready
• Landlord fines for gas, electrical, EPC and alarm failures
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm rules
• Safety documents a landlord must give tenants
• The Decent Homes Standard for private rentals
• HMO safety rules beyond a single let
• How long each landlord certificate lasts