How to Manage a Rental Property: The Practical Guide

To manage a rental property in England, set it up legally before you let (safety certificates, EPC, licensing, registration), check and onboard tenants properly, protect the deposit, collect rent and handle arrears early, carry out repairs within a reasonable time, inspect with written notice, keep MTD-ready records, and end tenancies only through Section 8 grounds.

Updated 2 November 2026. Applies to England unless stated.

This guide applies to England. Wales operates under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act and Scotland under private residential tenancies, with different rules on contracts, notices and registration.

Whether you planned to become a landlord or became one by accident, the job is the same: keep the home safe, the paperwork right and the tenant relationship workable. Since 1 May 2026, the rules reward landlords who run their lets as a system. This guide sets out that system, stage by stage.

Self-managing or using an agent

A self-managing landlord handles everything: marketing, checks, rent, repairs and compliance. A managing agent does this for a fee. Many landlords use a let-only service and manage day to day themselves.

Either way, the legal duties stay with you as landlord, with limited exceptions such as Right to Rent where an agent agrees in writing to take responsibility. Using an agent does not remove the need to know the rules. It changes who carries out the work.

If you have inherited a property or are letting your former home, the planned accidental landlord guide covers mortgage consent, insurance and tax points to sort first.

Stage 1: set up the property

Before you advertise, get the basics in place:

• Mortgage and insurance. Confirm your lender allows letting and that you hold landlord insurance.
• Ownership structure. Personal ownership and limited company ownership are taxed very differently. The planned limited company guide covers the trade-offs.
• Licensing. Check with your council whether the property needs an HMO, additional or selective licence.
• Systems. Decide where certificates, tenancy documents, rent records and correspondence will live. One connected record from day one saves hours later.

Stage 2: compliance before you let

Councils can fine up to £40,000 for electrical safety breaches and up to £5,000 per breach where a landlord fails to comply with a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm remedial notice. Energy standards are tightening too: under confirmed government policy, all private lets in England and Wales must reach EPC C equivalent by 1 October 2030 (the regulations have not yet been laid). See our gas and electrical safety guide, EPC guide and the full landlord compliance pillar.

Landlord registration

The new “Register your rental property” service opens region by region from 15 December 2026, starting with the West Midlands. Each region gets a three-month window, and the deadline follows where the property is, not where you live. The fee is £65 per property per year, and you upload gas, electrical and EPC certificates. Failing to register can mean a civil penalty of up to £7,000, and an unregistered landlord cannot obtain a possession order except on the anti-social behaviour Grounds 7A and 14. Our landlord registration pillar lists every regional deadline.

Stage 3: find and onboard tenants

The Renters’ Rights Act changed how you market and select. You cannot invite or accept bids above the advertised rent, and you cannot discriminate against applicants with children or who receive benefits.

1. Advertise. State the rent and show the EPC rating.
2. Take a holding deposit of no more than one week’s rent if you want to reserve the property. Agree the deadline in writing (15 days by default).
3. Carry out Right to Rent checks on every adult who will live there. See our Right to Rent guide.
4. Reference for affordability and previous tenancy history.
5. Sign a written tenancy agreement. All new tenancies are assured periodic tenancies with no fixed term. See our tenancy agreements pillar.
6. Take rent in advance only within the limits. Nothing before the agreement is signed, and between signing and the start date usually no more than one month’s rent (or 28 days’ rent).
7. Protect the deposit (capped at five weeks’ rent where annual rent is under £50,000) within 30 days and serve the prescribed information. See tenancy deposit protection.
8. Hand over the move-in documents: gas safety record, EICR, EPC and the tenancy agreement, and keep proof that you did.
9. Complete a check-in inventory with dated photos, signed by the tenant.

For tenancies that existed before 1 May 2026, landlords with a written agreement had to give tenants the government’s Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet by 31 May 2026. If you missed it, put it right now. Our Renters’ Rights Act pillar explains the wider changes.

Stage 4: rent collection and arrears

Rent is due on the day stated in the tenancy agreement. Once the tenancy has started, you cannot enforce a term requiring rent before its due date, although a tenant can choose to pay early.

Rent increases

Rent review clauses no longer work. You can increase rent once a year using a statutory section 13 notice, giving at least two months’ notice. The tenant can challenge the increase at the First-tier Tribunal. Use our section 13 preparation tool and rent increase guide.

Handling arrears

1. Contact the tenant as soon as a payment is missed. Most arrears are easier to resolve in the first week than the first month.
2. Put the position in writing: amount owed, dates, and what you are asking for.
3. Agree a realistic repayment plan where you can, and confirm it in writing.
4. Keep a running rent statement. If the case reaches court, this is your evidence.
5. If arrears reach the mandatory threshold, consider Section 8 Ground 8: at least three months’ rent (or 13 weeks if rent is paid weekly or fortnightly) owed both when notice is served and at the hearing, with four weeks’ notice.

A late payment fee is only allowed if the tenancy agreement provides for it and rent is 14 or more days overdue, with interest capped at 3% above the Bank of England base rate. The planned rent arrears guide covers the process in full.

Stage 5: repairs and maintenance

Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 makes you responsible for keeping in repair:

• the structure and exterior, including drains, gutters and external pipes
• installations for the supply of water, gas and electricity, and for sanitation
• installations for space heating and heating water

On top of that, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 requires the home to be fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and throughout. Courts consider issues such as serious damp, instability, poor ventilation or natural light, water supply, drainage and the 29 hazards in the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. Tenants can take you to court for works and compensation, with no set cap.

A repairs routine that protects you

1. Give tenants one clear channel for reporting repairs.
2. Acknowledge every report in writing and log the date.
3. Triage: emergencies (no heating, gas leak, flooding, security) same day; everything else within a reasonable time.
4. Give at least 24 hours’ written notice before entering, unless it is an emergency.
5. Record the work done, the contractor and the completion date.

You are generally liable once you have been told about a problem, so speed and records matter. You are not required to fix problems caused by the tenant’s behaviour. See the planned repairs guide.

Stage 6: inspections

Section 11(6) of the 1985 Act gives you the right to enter at reasonable times of day, on 24 hours’ written notice to the occupier, to view the condition and state of repair. Use it. Regular inspections catch damp and damage early and give you dated evidence for deposit disputes.

• Agree a schedule at the start of the tenancy, for example every six months.
• Serve written notice at least 24 hours ahead, stating the date and time window.
• Photograph each room and note anything needing action.
• Send the tenant a short summary and log any repairs raised.

The planned inspections guide includes a room-by-room checklist.

Stage 7: records, systems and Making Tax Digital

Good records protect you in deposit disputes, possession claims, council investigations and tax returns. For each property, keep:

• certificates and their expiry dates (gas, EICR, EPC, licences)
• the tenancy agreement, information sheet and deposit prescribed information, with proof of service
• Right to Rent records and follow-up dates
• rent statements, invoices and receipts
• repair reports, inspection notes and correspondence

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

MTD for Income Tax has applied since 6 April 2026 to landlords and sole traders with qualifying income over £50,000. The threshold falls to £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Qualifying income is gross property plus self-employment income before expenses. Limited companies are not in MTD for Income Tax.

If you are in scope, you keep digital records and send quarterly updates through HMRC-recognised software. The deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. HMRC has said there are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline in the 2026 to 2027 tax year, but the updates must still be sent before you can submit your tax return.

ORBIT keeps MTD-ready digital records for each property. It does not file with HMRC: you or your accountant submit through HMRC-recognised software. See our Making Tax Digital for landlords pillar and the planned portfolio systems guide.

Stage 8: ending a tenancy

Section 21 has been abolished. Since 1 May 2026, no new section 21 notices can be served, and the window to use notices served earlier closed on 31 July 2026. Possession is now only available through Section 8 grounds.

• Selling or moving in (Grounds 1 and 1A): four months’ notice, and not usable in the first 12 months of the tenancy.
• Rent arrears (Ground 8): three months’ arrears at notice and hearing, four weeks’ notice.
• Anti-social behaviour (Grounds 7A and 14): proceedings can start immediately.

Before any claim, check your compliance. A court will not make a possession order on most grounds if the deposit was not protected and the prescribed information given, and an unregistered landlord cannot obtain a possession order once the registration duty applies, except on Grounds 7A and 14. See our Section 8 grounds pillar and what replaced Section 21.

Tenants can end the tenancy with two months’ notice, ending at the end of a rent period. At the end, carry out a check-out inspection against the inventory, agree any deductions with evidence and return the deposit within 10 days of agreement.

Your management system in one page

1. Set up: lender consent, insurance, licensing, ownership structure.
2. Comply: gas, EICR, EPC, alarms, fitness, registration.
3. Onboard: Right to Rent, written agreement, deposit protection, move-in documents, inventory.
4. Collect: rent statement, early arrears contact, annual section 13 review.
5. Maintain: logged repairs, 24 hours’ notice, regular inspections.
6. Record: one file per property, MTD-ready digital records.
7. End: Section 8 grounds only, compliance checked first.

Want to check your existing paperwork against the new rules? Run your agreements through the RRA Compliance Checker, build replacements in AI Document Studio, or book legal advice for a specific problem.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice.