Landlord safety certificates: gas, EICR and EPC

If you let a home in England, including a house let room by room, you need a gas safety check every 12 months where there are gas appliances, an electrical installation condition report (EICR) at least every five years, a valid energy performance certificate (EPC) that meets the minimum rating where an EPC is required, and working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Tenants must get copies of the gas and electrical reports within set deadlines, and you need to keep records. In a shared house, every tenant gets a copy, and your licence may add further conditions.

This guide explains each certificate, the deadlines that go with it, what changes when you let a house by the room, and how to keep track of renewals without a spreadsheet full of dates.

The certificates at a glance

The sections below give the source for each rule. Where a detail depends on your circumstances, the official guidance is linked so you can check it.

Gas safety

Under regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, the gas fittings and flues you're responsible for must be kept in a safe condition, and each gas appliance and flue must be checked at least every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer. The Health and Safety Executive's guidance for landlords explains the duties in plain terms.

Copies and records

• Give existing tenants a copy of the gas safety record within 28 days of the check.
• Give new tenants a copy before they move in.
• Keep each record until two further checks have been done (in practice, about two years).

In a shared house, regulation 36 has an alternative for a tenant whose own room has no gas appliance: you can display a copy of the record in a prominent position in the house, with a statement that they can ask you for their own copy. Giving every tenant a copy is simpler.

Booking the check early

Under regulation 36A, a check carried out in the two months before the deadline is treated as if it had been done on the deadline date, so you keep the original anniversary. That makes arranging access much easier.

Tenants' own appliances

The duty doesn't cover an appliance the tenant owns and is entitled to take away, but it does cover the installation pipework you're responsible for. In a shared house, the appliances in the shared kitchen and the boiler are almost always yours.

Electrical safety (EICR)

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, now extended to social housing, require the fixed electrical installation to be inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years, or more often if the report says so. Since the 2025 amendments, the installation must also have been inspected and tested before a new tenancy starts. The government's guidance says an existing report less than five years old that doesn't need further work is enough, as long as you give the new tenant a copy, and recommends at least a visual check before each new tenancy. A council can impose a financial penalty of up to £40,000 for a breach.

Copies and deadlines

• Give existing tenants a copy of the report within 28 days of the inspection.
• Give new tenants a copy before they move in.
• Give a copy to a prospective tenant within 28 days if they ask in writing.
• Give a copy to the local council within seven days if they ask in writing.
• Keep the report until the next inspection is due or done, and give a copy to the next inspector.

If the report finds problems

Reports use codes. Where the report says remedial work or further investigation is needed, a qualified person must do it within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so. Get written confirmation from them that the work is done, and within 28 days of the work being finished give it, with the report, to each tenant and the council. Read the guidance on what each code means.

Appliances

The EICR covers the fixed installation, not plug-in appliances. For private landlords, the regulations don't require appliances to be tested. But every shared house licence requires you to keep electrical appliances you supply safe and to give the council a declaration about their safety when asked (Housing Act 2004, Schedule 4), so many landlords have them tested to have evidence. Check what your council expects.

Energy performance certificate (EPC)

Where a home needs an EPC, you must have it before you market the home to let, show it to prospective tenants, and give the new tenant a copy free of charge (regulation 6 of the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations 2012). An EPC is valid for ten years. See the government's page on energy performance certificates.

The minimum energy efficiency standard

Since 1 April 2020, you can't let or continue to let a home that legally needs an EPC if it's rated F or G, unless a valid exemption is registered on the PRS Exemptions Register. The minimum is currently an E rating. The landlord guidance on the minimum standard explains the exemptions and penalties.

In January 2026 the government said it will raise the minimum to the equivalent of EPC C, with a single compliance date of 1 October 2030 and a cost cap of £10,000. The regulations for this haven't been made yet, so check GOV.UK before you plan works.

EPCs and rooms

Under current government guidance, you don't need an EPC to let a single room in a shared house, because a room isn't a separate building or unit. If you let the whole house on one tenancy, it does need one. The government has said it plans to require a valid EPC for the whole shared house when a single room is let, with a transition period (partial government response, March 2026). Check GOV.UK for whether that rule is now in force.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, as amended from 1 October 2022, require private landlords to make sure:

• at least one smoke alarm is fitted on every storey where there's a room used as living accommodation;
• a carbon monoxide alarm is fitted in any room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance, excluding gas cookers;
• the alarms are working on the first day of each new tenancy; and
• alarms are repaired or replaced as soon as reasonably practicable once you're told they're faulty and they're found not to work.

The government's explanatory booklet for landlords sets these out. A council can serve a remedial notice and impose a penalty of up to £5,000 if a landlord doesn't comply with it.

Shared houses with a licence

The booklet explains that licensed shared houses are exempt from most of these regulations because the licensing rules impose similar requirements through licence conditions. The regulations do apply to unlicensed shared houses. In practice, a licensed shared house usually needs a more extensive fire alarm system anyway. See our guides to shared house licensing and fire safety in a shared house.

Lodgers

The regulations don't apply where the occupier shares a kitchen, bathroom, toilet or living room with you or your family, such as a lodger in your home. Fitting alarms is still the safe thing to do. See lodger or tenant?

The How to Rent guide

For years, landlords had to give tenants the government's How to Rent guide at the start of a tenancy. GOV.UK withdrew it on 1 May 2026 because of the Renters' Rights Act; it's now kept only for tenancies where a section 21 notice was served before that date. Existing tenants with a written agreement had to be given the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet by 31 May 2026 (GOV.UK overview for landlords). See tenancy agreements for a room for what a new tenant must receive in writing.

What changes in a house let by the room

The rules are the same, but a shared house multiplies the admin:

• More tenants, more copies. Every tenant needs a copy of the gas record and EICR, and every new tenant needs them before moving in. If a room turns over three times a year, that's three more sets.
• More access. Engineers need to get into every room with an appliance or electrical point. Give each tenant proper notice and keep a record of it.
• Licence conditions. If the house needs a licence, the council will usually set conditions on gas, electrics, alarms, fire doors and furniture. Those conditions sit on top of the general rules.
• Shared areas. Fire safety law applies to the shared parts of a shared house (the legal term is HMO). See fire safety in a shared house.

Before a new tenant moves in

A simple routine for every new tenancy:

1. Check the gas record and EICR are in date and will stay in date for a sensible time.
2. Test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms on the day the tenancy starts, and note it.
3. Give the tenant the gas record, EICR and EPC, and keep a note of when and how you gave them.
4. Give any other information a new tenant must receive. See tenancy agreements for a room.
5. Protect their deposit and give the prescribed information. See tenancy deposit protection: the 30-day rule.

Worked example

Sarah lets a four-bedroom terrace room by room. There's a gas boiler and a gas hob in the shared kitchen, and four tenants on separate tenancies.

• The boiler and hob were checked on 12 March. Sarah gives all four tenants a copy of the record the same week, well within 28 days, and keeps the record on file.
• In July, Room 3 becomes free. A new tenant, Dev, moves in on 1 August. Sarah emails Dev the gas record, EICR and EPC on 28 July, before he moves in, and tests the alarms on the morning of 1 August.
• The EICR was done in June two years ago, so it has about three years left. The report recorded no remedial work.
• The EPC is valid until 2031 and the house is rated D, above the current minimum of E. Sarah notes that she may need to improve it if the planned C standard for 2030 becomes law.
• The next gas check is due by 12 March next year. Sarah books the engineer for mid-February, after checking the HSE guidance so the early check doesn't move her anniversary date.

When she adds a fifth room next year, she checks with the council whether the house now needs a mandatory licence, which would bring conditions of its own.

Keeping track

The hard part isn't the checks; it's remembering them across several houses and getting copies to tenants on time. The free compliance calendar tool works out the next due dates for a shared house. For definitions of the terms used here, see our glossary of letting terms.

How Rentap helps

Rentap's compliance calendar suggests the usual checks for a shared house: gas safety, EICR, EPC, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and the shared house licence, and you can add your own. Record each check with the date it was done and upload the certificate, and the next due date is filled in for you. Rentap reminds you 60, 30 and 7 days before each due date and again when something is overdue, and you can download a one-page PDF summary. Giving copies to tenants and meeting the legal deadlines stays with you.

Sources

• Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36
• HSE: gas safety, landlords and letting agents
• Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020
• Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36A
• GOV.UK: electrical safety standards in the private and social rented sectors, guidance
• Housing Act 2004, Schedule 4
• Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, regulation 6
• GOV.UK: energy performance certificates
• GOV.UK: reforms to the energy performance of buildings regime, partial government response
• GOV.UK: minimum energy efficiency standard, landlord guidance
• GOV.UK: improving the energy performance of privately rented homes, government response
• Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015
• GOV.UK: smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, explanatory booklet
• GOV.UK: How to Rent (withdrawn)
• GOV.UK: Renters' Rights Act, an overview for landlords

Last checked: 10 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice.