Renters' Rights Act 2026: Which Certificates Landlords Now Need

Three changes matter most for day-to-day compliance:

Section 21 was abolished. You can no longer end a tenancy without giving a reason. Every possession claim now runs through a statutory ground under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, using the expanded grounds the Act introduced — rent arrears, antisocial behaviour, a landlord or close family member moving in (Ground 1, four months' notice), or sale of the property (Ground 1A, four months' notice).

A national landlord register is coming. The Act creates the Private Rented Sector Database. The 'Register your rental property' service opens on 15 December 2026 and is introduced region by region over the following twelve months, each region getting a three-month window, with every actively let property in England registered by 14 November 2027. Registering as a landlord is free; each property costs £65 a year. You will need photo ID, proof of ownership, and your gas safety record, EICR and EPC.

The Decent Homes Standard applies to private rentals, alongside Awaab's Law, which sets fixed timescales for investigating and fixing serious hazards such as damp and mould.

The through-line is that compliance has moved from something you prove when challenged to something you register up front.

Three documents sit at the centre of your database entry:

Gas Safety Record (CP12) — required annually for every property with a gas appliance, carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. This is the shortest-cycle obligation you have, and the one most likely to lapse unnoticed.

EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) — required at least every five years, and before a new tenancy begins. It must be carried out by a qualified person, and any C1 or C2 observations must be remedied within 28 days.

EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) — valid for ten years, and must be at least band E to let under the current MEES rules. Lodged on the national register within 24 hours of the assessment.

If you hold a property with a gas supply, you need all three. A property with no gas appliances needs an EICR and an EPC.

The old answer was that you could not serve a Section 21 notice. That consequence no longer exists, because Section 21 no longer exists — but the position is not softer, it is harder:

Your database entry is incomplete. Without a valid certificate you cannot complete registration for that property, and penalties apply for letting an unregistered property.

The fines are unchanged and significant. Gas safety breaches carry unlimited fines and potential prosecution under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. Electrical safety breaches carry fines of up to £30,000 per property under the 2020 Regulations.

Your insurance is exposed. Most landlord policies require current certificates as a condition of cover. A gas or electrical incident without one will very likely be refused.

Possession becomes harder, not easier. Section 8 claims are evidence-based and heard by a court. A landlord who cannot demonstrate they met their basic safety obligations is in a materially weaker position than one who can.

If you are catching up across a portfolio, work in this order:

1. **Find your expiry dates.** Gas is annual, EICR is five-yearly, EPC is ten-yearly. The gas certificate is almost always the one that has lapsed. 2. **Book the shortest-cycle item first.** A CP12 takes under an hour per property and is issued the same day. 3. **Bundle the visit.** If the EICR or EPC is also due within a few months, booking them together saves a second appointment and a second access arrangement with your tenant. 4. **Deal with remedial work immediately.** C1 and C2 observations on an EICR must be fixed within 28 days, and your certificate is not "satisfactory" until they are. 5. **Register each property** on the PRS Database once your region's window opens, from 15 December 2026 onwards.

For landlords with several properties, the practical bottleneck is rarely the inspection — it is arranging tenant access. Booking the certificates for one property in a single visit is the single biggest time saving available.

We cover all 32 London boroughs and the M25 corridor, with Gas Safe registered engineers, NICEIC / NAPIT certified electricians and accredited energy assessors.

• Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) from £60
• EICR from £77.99
• EPC from £99.99

All prices include VAT with no call-out charge, and certificates are issued the same day so you can upload them to the database without waiting on paperwork. Bundling gas and EICR into one visit starts at £129.

Book online for an instant price, or call 07426 409342 and we will confirm your appointment in under two minutes.