Property compliance is not proven by a contractor visit, a telephone conversation or a certificate that once existed in somebody’s inbox. It is proven by clear, retrievable and properly maintained evidence. That distinction becomes critical when a tenant disputes a deduction, a local authority requests information, a serious repair issue is raised, or possession is needed. At that point, the question is rarely whether a landlord or managing agent intended to act properly. The

For landlords, letting agents and portfolio managers, the short answer is straightforward: the Government first published the How to Rent guide on 10 June 2014. The more commercially important answer is that 1 October 2015 was the point at which the former statutory duty to provide the relevant guide took effect for assured shorthold tenancies in England. Those dates should not be blurred. One is a publication date. The other marks the start of a compliance duty that, for his

The Question That Matters: What Needs Doing Next? Now that the new rules in force, the most important question is simple: what needs doing next? This is the question that matters, and it is what separates organized landlords from stressed landlords. For many landlords, the answer is clear: the big task for this month is serving the official Information Sheet to existing tenants before 31 May. This is not optional, flexible, or negotiable 31 May is the deadline, and it is a fi