The Landlord Certificate Checklist: Every Document You Need

Being a landlord means juggling a lot of paperwork. Miss one certificate renewal and you could face fines, prosecution, or invalid eviction notices.

Here's a plain-English checklist of every certificate you need, when it expires, and what happens if you let it lapse.

Gas Safety Certificate (CP12)

• Renewal: Every 12 months
• Required by law? Yes
• What happens if it lapses? Fines up to £6,000 per offence. Criminal prosecution possible. A missing CP12 also invalidates Section 21 eviction notices — meaning you can't legally evict a tenant until you have a current certificate.

This is the one that catches most landlords out. Annual renewals are easy to forget, especially if you manage multiple properties.

EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report)

• Renewal: Every 5 years
• Required by law? Yes, for all rental properties
• What happens if it lapses? Penalties up to £30,000. Your local authority can also issue a remedial notice requiring you to carry out electrical safety work.

Because EICRs last 5 years, they're easy to forget entirely. By the time you remember, the deadline may have passed.

EPC (Energy Performance Certificate)

• Renewal: Every 10 years
• Required by law? Yes — cannot legally let without one
• What happens if it lapses? Fixed penalty of £200. You also can't legally market or let the property. The current minimum rating is E, with proposals to raise it to C by 2030.

HMO Licence

• Renewal: Varies by council (typically 5 years)
• Required by law? Yes, for houses in multiple occupation
• What happens if it lapses? Unlimited fines. Tenants can also apply for a rent repayment order covering up to 12 months of rent.

Smoke and CO Alarm Check

• Renewal: Start of each new tenancy
• Required by law? Yes
• What happens if it lapses? Fines up to £5,000 from local authority enforcement.

Legionella Risk Assessment

• Renewal: Every 2 years (recommended)
• Required by law? Yes — landlords must assess and control legionella risk
• What happens if it lapses? HSE enforcement action. Criminal prosecution in serious cases.

Stop tracking certificates in spreadsheets

If you manage more than a handful of properties, a spreadsheet quickly becomes unmanageable. Amberline gives you a simple traffic-light dashboard — red for expired, amber for expiring soon, green for valid — with automatic email reminders before anything lapses.

Group certificates by property to see which addresses need attention. Tap any property to see all its certificates and their status.

Never miss a renewal date again. The calendar view shows upcoming expiry dates across your entire portfolio month by month.