Editorial team
LandlordQuote Editorial
Writes the guidance here from primary sources, and rechecks it on a schedule.
The editorial team researches and writes every guide on this site. Pages covering the law are written from the legislation and the government guidance itself rather than from other people’s summaries, and each one lists the sources it was built from.
Letting law in England changed substantially on 1 May 2026, and parts of the Renters’ Rights Act are still being commenced. Every page carries the date it was last checked, and where something has not yet come into force the page says so rather than presenting it as settled.
We do not give advice. The guidance here explains how something works so you can decide what to do, and it says plainly where you should take advice from someone regulated to give it.
The guidance here sits alongside the site’s landlord insurance comparison, which is how it is paid for.
Covers
- Letting law
- Possession and notices
- Deposits and rent
- Safety and licensing
- Landlord insurance
Guides written by LandlordQuote Editorial
- HMOs and multi-occupancy Do You Need an HMO Licence? Mandatory licensing covers five or more occupiers from two or more households. Three enforcement changes landed on 1 May 2026, and they all bite harder.
- Tenancy setup How Do You Carry Out a Right to Rent Check? Check every adult occupier before the tenancy starts, keep the record and diarise the follow-up. Failing to report a failed follow-up is what carries prison.
- Rent and deposits How Do You Legally Increase the Rent? One increase a year, two months of notice, on Form 4A. Since 1 May 2026 a tribunal can never set a rent above the one you proposed. That changes the maths.
- Rent and deposits How Do You Protect a Tenant's Deposit Correctly? Deposits go into an approved scheme within 30 days, with prescribed information served. Since 1 May 2026 a failure blocks possession too, but it is fixable.
- Eviction and disputes How Do You Serve a Section 8 Notice? Section 8 is the only route to possession in England. How to pick a ground, complete Form 3A, prove service and apply to court without starting again.
- Maintenance and damage How Do You Tell If a Property Has Subsidence? Subsidence cracks are diagonal, wider at the top and thicker than a 10 pence coin. Most cracks are not subsidence, and the difference decides what follows.
- Eviction and disputes Is a Section 21 Notice Still Valid? Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026 and the transitional window closed on 31 July. What that means for a notice you already served, and what replaced it.
- Safety and standards What Are Your Gas Safety Duties as a Landlord? An annual Gas Safe check, a record with nine required items, and a copy to the tenant within 28 days. Three of the rules are widely described wrongly.
- Legislation and licensing What Does the Renters' Rights Act Mean for Landlords? The Renters' Rights Act came into force on 1 May 2026. Section 21 is gone, fixed terms have ended, and possession needs one of 37 grounds.
- Maintenance and damage Who Is Responsible for Damp and Mould in a Rented Home? Government guidance says blaming lifestyle is totally unreasonable. What the law requires today, and why Awaab's Law does not yet apply to private landlords.