For landlords

What records should a landlord keep, and for how long?

Guide · about 14 min read · Covers the law in England as at October 2026 · Reviewed on 23 October 2026

A private landlord in England keeps each gas safety record until two further checks have been done, each electrical safety report (EICR) until the next inspection is due or has been carried out, whichever is later, unless a more recent report supersedes it, and Right to Rent copies for at least one year after the tenancy ends. An individual landlord keeps rent and expense records for tax until at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline, and longer while HMRC has an enquiry open. For deposit papers, the written statement of terms, the EPC, alarm checks, a licence and the inventory, the national rules set no fixed period, so the test is how long each record could still be needed, which data protection law also asks you to think about.

This guide covers England only and sets out what the law actually says for each record, including where it says nothing. It is general information, not legal advice.

Which records does a landlord in England have to keep, and for how long?

The table puts each record next to the retention rule that applies to it. Where the law sets a period, the provision is named. Where it does not, the table says so rather than guessing.

Record	How long the law says to keep it	Where that comes from
Gas safety record (often called a CP12)	Until two further checks of that appliance or flue have been done. If the appliance is removed, two years from its last check.	Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, reg. 36(3)(c)
Electrical safety report (EICR)	Until the later of the date the next inspection is due and the date it is carried out, unless a more recent report supersedes it.	Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020, reg. 3(3)(ca)
Right to Rent copies (document copies or the online check)	Not less than one year after the tenancy ends.	Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) Order 2014, arts. 5 and 5B
Rent and expense records for tax	Individual landlords: at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline, longer during an HMRC enquiry. Company landlords: GOV.UK says 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, or longer in some cases.	Taxes Management Act 1970, s.12B; GOV.UK company records guidance
Deposit protection certificate and prescribed information	No fixed period in law.	Housing Act 2004, ss.213 to 215
Written statement of terms and the Information Sheet	No fixed period in law.	Housing Act 1988, s.16D; GOV.UK Information Sheet guidance
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)	No fixed period in law. The certificate itself is valid for 10 years.	Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, reg. 6
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm checks	No record required by law. The check on the first day of a new tenancy is required.	Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, reg. 4
HMO or selective licence and its papers	No fixed period in Schedule 4. Your own licence can carry extra council conditions, so read it.	Housing Act 2004, Schedule 4, s.67 (HMO licences) and s.90 (selective licences)
Inventory or check-in report	Not required by law, so no period is set.	None

If you are working through the duties themselves rather than the paperwork, our landlord compliance checklist for England covers what has to be done and when.

How long do I have to keep a gas safety record?

The annual gas safety check produces a record, and the law says how long it stays. Under regulation 36(3)(c) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, the record is kept until there have been two further checks of that appliance or flue. With checks every year, that means holding at least the two most recent records at any time. If an appliance or flue is taken out of the property, the record of its last check is kept for two years from the date of that check. This wording replaced a flat two-year rule in April 2018, and plenty of older guidance still quotes the old figure.

Keeping the record is only half of the duty. Under regulation 36(6), a copy goes to each existing tenant within 28 days of the check, and a copy of the last record goes to a new tenant before they move in. Under regulation 36(5), the record must also be available for inspection, on reasonable notice, by anyone living in the property who may be affected by the appliance. Our guide to gas safety certificate dates and renewals explains the annual cycle and the early renewal window.

How long do I have to keep an EICR, and who gets a copy?

The electrical installation in a rented home must be inspected and tested at least every five years, sooner if the last report says so, and before a new tenancy begins. That is set out in regulation 3 of the Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020, now titled the Private Rented Sector and Social Rented Sector (England) Regulations. Regulation 3(3)(ca) says to keep a copy of the report until the later of two dates, the date the next inspection is due and the date it is actually carried out, unless a more recent report supersedes it.

The rule about a new tenancy does not always mean a fresh inspection. The GOV.UK guidance says that where the last inspection was less than five years ago and its report does not require further work, a new one is not required, and the new tenant is given a copy of the most recent report. Under regulation 3(2), that holds only while any earlier date the report set for the next inspection has not passed.

The same regulation sets out who gets a copy:

Existing tenants: within 28 days of the inspection.
A new tenant: before they move in.
A prospective tenant: within 28 days of a written request.
The local council: within 7 days of a written request.
The next inspector: a copy of the report.

Where the report requires further investigation or remedial work, a qualified person gives written confirmation once it is done. Under regulation 3(5), that confirmation goes to the tenants and to the council, together with a copy of the report that required the work, within 28 days of the work being completed. That confirmation is a record too, and it belongs with the report it answers. Our EICR guide for landlords explains the codes and the five-year cycle.

How long should I keep Right to Rent copies?

Right to Rent is the landlord's own legal duty in England. Where a landlord checks original documents, article 5 of the 2014 Order requires clear copies, the date they were taken, and that the copies are kept securely for not less than one year after the tenancy ends. Where the Home Office online service is used, article 5B requires a clear copy of the online check, kept for the same period. Keeping the copies is one part of the prescribed requirements that give a landlord an excuse against a civil penalty under the Immigration Act 2014. The checks themselves, their timing and any follow-up checks are a separate part, and keeping copies does not replace them.

The Home Office landlord's guide to right to rent checks, in its version from 1 October 2026, sets out each route and step. It describes the same retention period: for the length of the tenancy and at least one year after it ends.

How long do I keep deposit papers when the law sets no period?

The law is precise about the deadlines and silent on retention. Under section 213 of the Housing Act 2004, a deposit must be protected in an authorised scheme within 30 days of receipt. The prescribed information must reach the tenant, and anyone who paid the deposit on their behalf, within the same 30 days. Nothing in the Act says how long to keep the proof.

Section 214 explains why landlords keep it anyway. Under that section, a former tenant can still apply to the county court after the tenancy has ended. Where the court finds the rules were not followed, it must order the landlord to pay between one and three times the deposit. Neither section sets a date after which the papers can go, and this guide does not say how long after a tenancy a deposit claim can be brought, which is a question for legal advice. The practical point is that a claim can arrive after the keys are returned, so deposit papers are not something to dispose of on the day the tenancy ends.

The papers worth keeping are the scheme's certificate, the prescribed information as it was given, and something that shows the date each one reached the tenant. Our guide to how deposit protection works in England covers the schemes themselves.

Which other records have no fixed period in law?

Several records a landlord holds have rules about giving them, but none about keeping them.

Written statement of terms. Under section 16D of the Housing Act 1988, inserted by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, the landlord gives the tenant a written statement of the terms before the tenancy is entered into. For most tenancies that already existed on 1 May 2026, GOV.UK says the Information Sheet had to be given by 31 May 2026. Keep a copy of what was given and when.
EPC. Under regulation 6 of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, a valid certificate is given free of charge to the person who becomes the tenant. GOV.UK says an EPC is valid for 10 years. See what EPC rating you need to let a property.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Under regulation 4 of the 2015 Regulations, alarms are checked to be in proper working order on the day a new tenancy begins. The law does not require a written record, but a dated note is the simplest way to show the check happened. The alarm rules for landlords are set out separately.
Licence. Where a property is licensed, the mandatory conditions in Schedule 4 to the Housing Act 2004 include, if gas is supplied to the house, producing a gas safety certificate to the council annually, and supplying declarations about electrical and alarm safety on demand. A licence can also carry further conditions the council considers appropriate under section 67 for an HMO licence or section 90 for a selective licence, so read your own licence for anything it says about records. See whether you need a licence.
Inventory. No law requires one. It is still the record most often used to compare the condition of a home at the start and the end of a tenancy.

Why do records matter if I later need possession under Section 8?

Section 21 ended for assured tenancies in England on 1 May 2026. A landlord who needs possession now gives notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 on a ground in Schedule 2, and the court decides whether the ground is made out. Records are the evidence for that. A new section 21 notice cannot be given, but GOV.UK explains that a claim issued on or before 31 July 2026 on a notice that was valid before 1 May 2026 continues until the proceedings conclude, so the records behind such a claim are still needed.

The deposit is the clearest case. Under section 215 of the Housing Act 2004, as substituted from 1 May 2026, where a deposit was paid the court may make a possession order only if the deposit is held in an authorised scheme, the scheme's initial requirements were met, and the prescribed information was given. That restriction does not apply to an order on Ground 7A or Ground 14. It also does not apply once the deposit has been returned in full or with deductions agreed between landlord and tenant, or once a deposit claim has been decided, withdrawn or settled. Where a deposit was taken in a form other than money, section 215(6) stops a possession order until it is returned. None of this requires a particular certificate to be kept, but the papers are how a landlord shows the rules were followed.

The written statement matters for a different reason. Under section 16E(1)(f), a landlord must not rely on Grounds 1B, 2ZA to 2ZD, 4, 5 to 5H, 6A or 18 unless the written statement included the landlord's wish to be able to use them. Section 16E(5) says that breach does not stop the court making a possession order on the ground. The council can, however, impose a financial penalty of up to £7,000 under section 16I.

For rent arrears under Ground 8, where rent is paid monthly, at least three months' rent must be unpaid both when the notice is served and at the hearing. A clear rent account is how a landlord shows both dates. Older rules that stopped a section 21 notice where an HMO or house was unlicensed, in section 75 and section 98 of the Housing Act 2004, were omitted for England from 1 May 2026. We have not found any provision that bars a section 8 claim because a gas or electrical record is missing, so this guide does not say there is one. Landlord duties under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 covers the wider changes.

What if the council or a tribunal asks to see them?

Some records have to be produced on a deadline. The council can ask for an EICR in writing, and the landlord then has 7 days. A licence holder whose house has a gas supply produces a gas safety certificate to the council every year. Where a council imposes a civil penalty under section 249A of the Housing Act 2004, paragraph 10 of Schedule 13A lets the landlord appeal to the First-tier Tribunal, and the appeal is a re-hearing of the council's decision. A re-hearing is decided on what each side can put in front of it, which is easier with dated records than with recollection.

Can I keep tenant records forever, just in case?

No. Copies of identity documents, right to rent checks, references and contact details are personal data. Under Article 5(1)(e) of the UK GDPR, personal data is kept for no longer than is necessary for the purposes it is processed for. Where you collect data from the tenant, Article 13(2)(a) says they are told how long it will be stored, or the criteria used to decide that. Where it comes from someone else, such as a referencing company, Article 14(2)(a) sets the same requirement.

The ICO's guidance on storage limitation expects a policy with standard retention periods where possible. In practice that means a period for each type of record, a review when each tenancy ends, keeping only what a live duty or a realistic dispute still needs, limiting who can see it, and disposing of the rest securely. The statutory periods in the table are minimums for those records, not a reason to keep everything else.

Where should I keep landlord records so I can find them quickly?

The deadlines above are short: 7 days after a written request from the council, 28 days for existing tenants, and before move-in for a new tenant's gas and electrical copies. Keeping the records in one place, with the date each was given, makes them quicker for you to find. A simple structure is one folder per property, with a sub-folder per tenancy, and the gas, electrical and EPC records kept at property level because they outlast any single tenancy.

VEYLO X is a software platform for renting and letting in England. On VEYLO X, the landlord writes the tenancy record, VEYLO X keeps it, and the renter sees the same one. That puts the tenancy record where both sides can read it. VEYLO X does not carry out gas, electrical or Right to Rent checks, does not decide whether a record meets the law, and does not change any of the duties or time limits in this guide, which stay with the landlord.

Common questions

The short answers, in one place.

How long should a landlord keep a gas safety certificate?

In England, a landlord must keep the record of each annual gas safety check until there have been two further checks of that appliance or flue. With yearly checks, that means holding at least the two most recent records at any time. If an appliance or flue is taken out of the property, the record of its last check is kept for two years from the date of that check. The rule is in regulation 36(3)(c) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, which replaced a flat two-year rule in April 2018.

How long should a landlord keep Right to Rent records?

For the length of the tenancy and for not less than one year after it ends. That applies to the copies of documents a landlord takes during a manual check and to the copy of an online Home Office right to rent check. Keeping the copies is one part of the prescribed requirements for an excuse against a civil penalty under the Immigration Act 2014; the checking steps, their timing and any follow-up checks are set out in the Home Office landlord's guide. Right to Rent is the landlord's own legal duty in England.

Is there a legal time limit for keeping deposit protection papers?

No. The Housing Act 2004 says when a deposit must be protected and when the prescribed information must be given, but it sets no period for keeping the papers. A former tenant can still apply to the county court after the tenancy has ended, so the protection certificate, the prescribed information and proof of when each was given are worth keeping while a question about the deposit could still be raised, and then disposing of securely.

Can a missing record stop a landlord getting possession under Section 8?

Where a deposit was paid, the law ties possession to the deposit rules rather than to any certificate. Since 1 May 2026, section 215 of the Housing Act 2004 lets the court make a possession order only if the deposit is held in an authorised scheme, the scheme's initial requirements were met and the prescribed information was given. That does not apply to Grounds 7A and 14, or where the deposit has been returned in full or with agreed deductions, or a deposit claim has been decided, withdrawn or settled. The papers are how a landlord shows the rules were followed. For other records, the court decides each ground on the evidence in front of it, and this guide does not predict the outcome of any case.

Sources

The primary sources behind this guide. Where the law and a summary disagree, the law is what counts.

This article is general information, not legal advice. It reflects the law in England as at October 2026, after the main Renters' Rights Act 2025 tenancy provisions took effect on 1 May 2026. For your own situation, see the GOV.UK and Health and Safety Executive guidance, or take advice from a qualified adviser.

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