What Landlords Need to Know About 2025 Compliance Rules

Compliance is the foundation of being a landlord. Not the interesting bit — the bit you'd rather not think about — but the bit that keeps your tenancy legal, your property protected, and your tenant safe. And right now, landlords need to know about compliance more than ever, because 2025 and early 2026 have brought changes that affect nearly every property, from gas appliances to electrical wiring to deposit procedures. At Ascot Knight, we manage compliance on behalf of our landlords every single day. If you self-manage or are considering buying your first rental property, here's what you need to have in place right now.

Gas Safety

Any property with a gas appliance — boiler, cooker, fire, heater — must have a Gas Safety Record carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer every 12 months. This is not a suggestion. This is law, and it has been for decades. Yet we still encounter landlords who've let it lapse.

Here's what happens: you give a copy to your tenant within 28 days of the check being completed. You keep a copy yourself. If a new tenant moves in, they must receive a copy before they arrive. If the engineer finds any defects, they'll be categorised as either immediately dangerous, at risk, or unsatisfactory. You cannot let a tenant stay in a property with a defect marked immediately dangerous.

A Gas Safety Record costs roughly £100–£150 in the Middlesbrough area. A fine for not having one? Up to £6,000 — and if someone is injured as a result, you could face prosecution. So £120 for peace of mind looks reasonable in that light.

Our annual compliance timeline covers gas checks and the other critical dates you need to hit every year. Bookmark it.

Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICRs)

Since April 2021, every privately rented property in England must have a valid Electrical Installation Condition Report — an EICR. This is a detailed inspection of all fixed electrical wiring, fittings, and installations, carried out by a qualified electrician. It's valid for five years. If yours is expiring, book the appointment now — not in a month's time.

Here's why: electricians across Teesside are booked months ahead. Call in June for a September deadline and you've left it too late. Landlords who leave it too late end up in breach.

The report categorises any defects as Category 1 (immediate danger), Category 2 (potential danger), or Category 3 (improvement recommended). Category 1 or 2 issues must be remedied within 28 days — or sooner if the engineer specifies. Your tenant must be informed in writing of the defects found. If you don't fix them, the local authority can take action, including prosecution. Fines can reach £30,000 per property.

Cost? Around £150–£250 for a standard property. So again: do not skip it or defer it.

EPC Ratings — Planning for Change

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are mandatory for all rental properties. Currently, the minimum standard is E: your property must be rated E or better to be let. But the government is signalling a move to C for new tenancies, with existing tenancies following later. The exact date has been deferred to 2030 — but the direction of travel is clear.

If your property is currently D or E, the time to plan is now, not when the deadline lands. Get an EPC assessment, understand what improvements would push you to C, and cost them. In many cases, loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, or a boiler upgrade can bridge the gap. Some of these upgrades qualify for government grants or schemes.

An EPC costs £50–£120 and lasts 10 years. Improvements typically range from £1,000 (loft insulation) to £5,000+ (new boiler). For Middlesbrough properties — especially Victorian terraces and Edwardian semis, which are common in TS5 and TS7 — we have a full guide on EPC requirements and the most cost-effective compliance routes.

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms

Since October 2022, you must have a carbon monoxide alarm in any room containing a fixed combustion appliance — your gas boiler, for example. Smoke alarms must be fitted on every floor. These are not luxuries; they save lives. And they are legal requirements.

Both must be tested at the start of every tenancy. Your tenant must be shown how to test them. If the alarms are faulty or missing when the tenancy begins, the tenant can report you to the local authority, who can issue compliance notices.

Cost: a battery-operated CO alarm is £20–£40; smoke alarms are similar. Negligible. If a fire occurred and you had no alarms, your insurer will refuse the claim. Full details on carbon monoxide regulations and what you must provide.

Deposit Protection

Take a deposit from a tenant. You have 30 days to register it with a government-approved deposit protection scheme. This is not optional, and it is extraordinarily commonly done wrong. The three approved schemes are the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits, and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

Within the same 30-day window, you must give your tenant the prescribed information relating to their deposit — a specific document that explains how the scheme works, the tenant's rights, and how disputes are resolved. If you don't provide this, the tenant can claim three times the deposit amount back from you. So if the deposit was £1,000, the tenant could claim £3,000. That is the penalty for getting it wrong.

At the end of the tenancy, use the scheme's dispute procedure if there's any disagreement over deductions. Do not withhold money, issue an invoice, or threaten the tenant. The scheme exists to handle this. Use it.

Right to Rent Checks

Before any tenancy begins, you must carry out a Right to Rent check to confirm your prospective tenant has the legal right to reside in the UK. These checks must be documented and retained for at least two years. The Home Office can inspect them.

As of 2024, the digital Right to Rent system makes this straightforward. It takes 10–15 minutes per applicant. If you fail to carry out the check, or if you knowingly let to someone without the right to rent, you can be fined up to £20,000 per illegal tenant.

So: run the checks, keep the records, move on.

Renters Reform and Section 21

Section 21 (the no-fault eviction) was abolished in October 2024. This was not a surprise to anyone who'd been paying attention since 2019, but it was a surprise to everybody who hadn't.

What this means: you cannot serve Section 21 anymore. If you want a tenant to leave, you must either agree it with them, or you must serve a Section 8 (fault-based) notice — breach of tenancy terms, rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, or similar. Section 8 requires you to prove the breach in court, which takes time and costs money.

The government is also introducing a national landlord register, a ban on replacement clauses designed to circumvent the Section 21 abolition, and new rules on rent increase notices. The full picture is still being finalised, but the trajectory is clear.

For landlords in Middlesbrough and across Teesside, this is a material change. If you've relied on Section 21 as your exit route, you need a new playbook. We've written an update on the Renters Reform Act changes here, and we cover Section 8 in detail here.

One quick note: the abolition of Section 21 has made mediation and early mutual agreement much more valuable. A landlord once asked us to serve Section 21 on a tenant six weeks behind on rent. We asked why. Turned out the tenant had lost their job and was waiting for universal credit. We negotiated a payment plan instead. The landlord got 80% of their arrears within eight weeks, the tenant kept their home, and nobody's solicitor got paid. That outcome is now worth thinking about earlier in the process.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the financial penalty if I don't comply with these requirements?

Deposit protection: £3,000 (three times the deposit). Gas safety: up to £6,000 per breach. EICR: up to £30,000. Right to Rent: up to £20,000 per illegal tenant. Plus, in serious cases, criminal prosecution. Don't gamble on this.

Can I pass the cost of compliance checks (gas, EICR, EPC) on to my tenants?

No. These are your legal obligations as a landlord. You cannot recover the cost through the tenancy. You can factor them into your rental yield when deciding whether a property is worth buying, but you cannot bill the tenant for them during the tenancy.

How much does compliance actually cost per year?

For a standard property: gas safety (£100–£150/year), EICR (£0–£250/five years, roughly £50/year), EPC (£0–£120/ten years, roughly £12/year), smoke and CO alarms (one-off ~£80, then minimal maintenance). Total: roughly £200–£300 per year for a property with no major issues. That is the cost of doing business. Many landlords budget 5–10% of rent toward maintenance and compliance; that is a reasonable rule of thumb.

What happens if a tenant reports me to the local authority for non-compliance?

The local authority will investigate. If you're in breach — deposit not protected, gas check missing, EICR overdue — they will issue a notice requiring you to remedy it. Fail to comply, and they can prosecute. You might also be served a Proceeds of Crime Act notice, which can allow the local authority to seize rental income. This is not a minor inconvenience.

Do I need to be a member of a redress scheme?

Not legally — landlord redress is not mandatory. However, if a tenant complains about you and you're not part of a scheme, they can take you to court at their own expense. If you're part of a scheme, most disputes are resolved faster and cheaper. It is worth joining one. The cost is minimal (typically £20–£50/year) compared to the hassle of litigation.

How often should I carry out inspections to check compliance?

Formal inspections are separate from compliance checks. We'd suggest a quarterly or half-yearly walkthrough where you (or your agent) check that smoke and CO alarms are present and working, look for signs of damp or damage, and confirm the property is well-maintained. This is not a legal requirement, but it catches problems early and protects you.

What's the easiest way to stay on top of all this?

Use a calendar. Mark every required renewal date (gas, EICR, EPC) and set reminders three months before each one so you've time to book contractors. Or hire an agent to manage it. We track every deadline for every property we manage, so our landlords never have to think about compliance again. If you're self-managing, a simple spreadsheet works. The point is: do not rely on memory.

I've just inherited a rental property — where do I start?

First: order an EICR, gas check, and EPC if they're not current. Second: confirm the deposit (if any) is protected with one of the three approved schemes and that prescribed information was provided to the tenant. Third: run a Right to Rent check on the current tenant. Fourth: check your building insurance covers landlord liability. Fifth: ring us if you want to hand the property off to someone else. Many first-time landlords try to manage a single property themselves, but most discover it's more work than expected.