Setting Up a Tenancy: A Landlord's Compliance Checklist for 2026

Getting a new tenancy set up correctly is the single most important thing a private landlord does. Mistakes made in the first week — a missed right to rent check, a deposit protected late, a gas certificate not handed over — can cost thousands in penalties, block you from regaining possession later, or trigger a rent repayment order. Since the Renters' Rights Act came into force on 1 May 2026, the paperwork at the start of a tenancy has changed materially, and the old How to Rent booklet is no longer the centrepiece of onboarding.

This guide is a practical setting up a tenancy landlord checklist for self-managing landlords in England, sequenced in the order you actually need to do things.

TL;DR: what you must do before handing over the keys

To set up a compliant tenancy in England in 2026 you must: (1) advertise the property without a bidding war and without discriminating against tenants with children or on benefits; (2) carry out a right to rent check on every adult occupier before the tenancy starts; (3) reference the tenant and agree terms in writing; (4) issue a written statement of the key tenancy terms and the government's Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet; (5) protect the deposit in a government-approved scheme within 30 days and serve the prescribed information; and (6) hand over a signed inventory, the gas safety certificate, the EPC and the electrical installation condition report (EICR) on or before move-in day. Miss any one of these and you risk a civil penalty of up to £40,000, per government guidance.

Stage 1: Before you advertise

The Renters' Rights Act rewrote the rules of the marketing stage. Before you so much as post a photo on Rightmove, three things have to be true about your advert and your approach to prospective tenants.

You must publish an asking rent and stick to it. Bidding wars are banned. You cannot accept an offer higher than the figure in your written advert, and language like "offers over £1,500" is not allowed. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has been explicit that listings, emails and agent scripts all need cleaning up before a new tenancy is agreed (MHCLG guidance, March 2026).

You cannot refuse tenants because they have children or receive benefits. The "No DSS, no children" era is over — see our deeper write-up on the discrimination ban under the Renters' Rights Act.

You cannot demand large sums of rent up front. Under the Renters' Rights Act, you can only take rent once the tenancy agreement is signed, and the rent-in-advance position is tightly controlled. We cover the detail in our guide to rent in advance under the Renters' Rights Act.

Stage 2: Right to rent and referencing

Once you have an applicant you want to proceed with, you move into checks. These are the two most commonly fumbled steps for new landlords.

How do I do a right to rent check?

Landlords in England must check that every adult who will live in the property has the right to rent before the tenancy starts. The Home Office's Landlord's guide to right to rent checks sets out three acceptable methods: a manual document check, a digital check through a certified Identity Service Provider (IDSP) for British and Irish citizens, or the GOV.UK online check using a share code for everyone else (Home Office, 2025).

For non-British, non-Irish tenants the share code is now the only valid route — they generate a 9-character code on GOV.UK, which you then enter alongside their date of birth at the landlord side of the service. The Home Office confirms a share code is valid for 90 days and that an online check on a person with a time-limited right gives you a statutory excuse against a civil penalty for 12 months.

Keep a clear, dated copy of whatever you relied on, and diarise any follow-up check. Our deeper walkthrough lives at right to rent checks: a landlord guide.

What does good referencing look like without a letting agent?

Referencing is not a statutory requirement — but a tenancy you can't enforce or insure against is far more expensive than one half-hour spent verifying employment and a previous landlord. Affordability, identity, previous landlord reference and a credit search are the four core checks. The tenant referencing without a letting agent article runs through how to do this proportionately and lawfully.

Stage 3: Safety certificates you must have ready

These are non-negotiable and must exist before the tenant moves in — not the week after.

If you cannot prove you served the gas certificate and EPC before move-in, you cannot later rely on certain possession grounds. Treat day-one paperwork as evidence, not admin.

Stage 4: The tenancy agreement and written statement of terms

Under the Renters' Rights Act, every new tenancy in England from 1 May 2026 is an assured periodic tenancy with no fixed term. The fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy (AST) is gone for new lettings. Practically, that means your tenancy agreement template needs updating — and you must give the tenant a written statement covering the key terms.

For any tenancy made after 1 May 2026, the landlord must also provide the government's Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet, downloaded directly from GOV.UK. The official guidance is unambiguous: a copy must be given to every named tenant, the exact PDF from the GOV.UK page must be used, and a link in an email does not count. The fine for failing to provide it is up to £7,000.

For the wider new paperwork picture, see our pillar on the written statement of tenancy terms under the Renters' Rights Act.

Stage 5: Deposit, inventory and move-in

How long do I have to protect a tenancy deposit?

You have 30 calendar days from receiving the deposit to protect it in one of the three government-approved schemes (Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme) and to serve the prescribed information on the tenant. Miss this window and the tenant can claim up to three times the deposit, and your ability to serve a Section 8 notice on most grounds is affected. The full mechanics are in our tenant deposit protection guide.

What goes in a good inventory?

The inventory is the cheapest insurance policy in property management. A photo-led, dated, signed check-in inventory is what you will rely on at the end of the tenancy if you want to make a deposit deduction stick at adjudication. Our inventory and check-in checklist sets out a room-by-room template.

The full setting up a tenancy landlord checklist

1. Advertise compliantly. Publish a single asking rent, no bidding language, no "no DSS" or "no children" wording, and accept no rent until the agreement is signed.
2. Reference the tenant. Identity, affordability, previous landlord reference, credit search — proportionate to the let.
3. Carry out a right to rent check on every adult. Manual, IDSP or GOV.UK share code, before the tenancy start date.
4. Issue the tenancy agreement and written statement of terms. Assured periodic tenancy template, updated for May 2026.
5. Serve the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet. Downloaded fresh from GOV.UK, given as the PDF itself to every named tenant.
6. Hand over safety documents. Gas certificate, EPC, EICR — and demonstrate the smoke and CO alarms work.
7. Take the deposit and protect it. Within 30 days, in a government-approved scheme, with the prescribed information served.
8. Complete a signed check-in inventory. Photographs dated, meter readings recorded, keys logged.
9. File everything. Keep your tenancy file for the life of the tenancy plus at least six years — see storing tenancy documents securely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I still need to give a tenant the How to Rent guide?

In most cases, no. The government's Housing Hub confirms that for tenancies starting after 1 May 2026, landlords do not generally need to provide the How to Rent guide; the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet replaces it. The withdrawn guide is only retained for tenancies where a valid Section 21 notice was served before 1 May 2026.

When does a right to rent check have to be done?

A right to rent check must be carried out within 28 days before the tenancy starts and must be complete before the tenant takes up occupation as their only or main home. According to the Home Office's Landlord's guide to right to rent checks, failing to do so can result in a civil penalty and, in serious cases, criminal prosecution.

Can I take six months' rent up front from a tenant who can't pass referencing?

Not in the way landlords used to. The Renters' Rights Act caps rent-in-advance and bars accepting any rent before the tenancy agreement is signed. MHCLG's guidance is that you can only ask for up to one month's rent in advance once the agreement is signed by all parties; see our detailed write-up on rent-in-advance limits and confirm the current position before relying on a higher figure.

What happens if I forget to protect the deposit within 30 days?

If you fail to protect a deposit within 30 days or fail to serve the prescribed information, the tenant can apply to the county court for up to three times the deposit amount, and you cannot rely on certain possession grounds while the breach is unremedied. The cleanest course of action if you realise you've missed the window is to return the deposit in full immediately and take legal advice.

Do I need to give an Information Sheet to existing tenants too?

Yes — landlords had to give the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet to existing tenants whose tenancies were in writing by 31 May 2026, or face a fine of up to £7,000, per GOV.UK. If you missed that deadline, serve it now and take advice on mitigation. New tenants must receive it at the start of the tenancy.

Where to go next

If this is your first tenancy under the new regime, work through the broader Renters' Rights Act compliance checklist alongside this one, and bookmark the Renters' Rights Act timeline of key dates so you know what is coming in later phases — the property portal, the PRS ombudsman, Awaab's Law for the private sector and the Decent Homes Standard are all still to land.

Setting up a tenancy properly is unglamorous and slow. It is also the cheapest insurance in this business.