Free, ungated guides for landlords in England · Written by James Nicholson · Last updated 20 August 2026
England only — Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate regimes
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Everything below is free and open — no email address, no membership, no gate. If you only read one thing, make it the Renters’ Rights Act guide: it covers what changed on 1 May 2026, and the deposit rule inside it now blocks possession in a way most landlords haven’t noticed.
The Renters’ Rights Act
What changed on 1 May 2026, what hasn’t happened yet, and what it costs
The complete landlord guideThe full picture — tenancy conversion, possession, rent, pets, and the four provisions still not in force.
Everything that changed on 1 MayEleven changes, ordered by how likely each one is to catch you out.
When did it come into effect?Commencement dates, what was staged, and what is still to come.
The PRS database (landlord register)Every regional deadline from 15 December 2026, the £65 fee and the fines.
The information sheetWhat it is, who had to receive it, and the £7,000 penalty per tenancy.
How to serve it, and prove you didAttach the PDF, serve every named tenant, keep a record that survives.
Missed the 31 May deadline?The deadline has passed. What the penalty is and how to limit it.
Section 13 rent increasesForm 4A, the 52-week rule, and why the tribunal can no longer raise your rent.
Can you refuse a pet?The 28-day clock, reasonable refusal, and why you can’t charge for it.
Possession and eviction
Section 21 is gone. Everything runs through section 8 grounds now.
Section 8 grounds for possessionAll 32 grounds, notice periods, the evidence each one needs, and the court process.
Section 21 abolishedWhat happened to no-fault possession and what replaced it.Form 3A, field by fieldThe prescribed section 8 notice and the fields that void it.Ground 8: rent arrearsThe three-month threshold and the dual-date test.Ground 1A: sellingFour months notice and a twelve-month re-letting ban.The possession claimForms, fees and how long it really takes.
Tenancy agreements
One tenancy type now: the assured periodic tenancy
Break clausesWhy a new tenancy cannot have one, and what happens to the clause in your old agreement.
Joint tenanciesJoint and several liability, and why one tenant’s notice ends it for everyone.
Tenancy agreements in 2026What a compliant agreement must contain, and which old clauses are now a liability.
Free 2026 agreement templateThe full clause list — 14 clauses you need, 6 to delete, 5 documents to serve alongside.
Periodic tenancies explainedHow they work, the two-month tenant notice, and the asymmetry to plan around.
What happened to ASTsAssured shortholds were abolished. What replaced them and what it means for your paperwork.
HMOs
HMOs explainedWhat counts as an HMO, the room sizes, planning traps, and whether the numbers still work.
HMO licensingMandatory, additional and selective schemes, and the two years’ rent an unlicensed HMO can now cost.
Council tax in an HMOWho pays after the December 2023 change, and the student exemption worth protecting.
EPC and energy efficiency
EPC rules for landlordsThe EPC E minimum today, and the confirmed EPC C deadline of October 2030.
The 2030 EPC C deadlineWhat was confirmed, the £10,000 cap, and the transition rule worth using.
MEES explainedThe rule that binds you today, the exemptions and the register.
EPC grants for landlordsWhat you can actually claim, and the £7,500 heat pump grant.
Lodgers
Taking in a lodgerExcluded occupiers, the £7,500 Rent a Room allowance, and the consents you need.
Free lodger agreement templateA plain-English agreement you can copy and adapt.
Investing and insurance
Buy-to-let in 2026A full worked deal from stamp duty to net cash, and where the numbers still work.
Landlord insuranceWhich covers are essential, which are a waste, and the clause that voids claims.
Rent guarantee insuranceWhat it costs, what it covers, and the conditions behind most declined claims.
Compliance and certificates
The compliance checklistEvery certificate, deadline and penalty on one screen, and what non-compliance actually costs now.
Gas safety certificatesThe annual check, the 28-day rule, early renewal, and what to do when you cannot get access.
EICR explainedThe five-year cycle, what C1, C2 and C3 really mean, and the £30,000 penalty.
Referencing and right to rent
Tenant referencingThe four checks, which ones actually predict arrears, and what you may no longer ask.
Right to rent checksWho you must check, the three methods, and the penalties for getting it wrong.
Right to rent share codesWhat the code is, how a tenant gets one, and what to do when it fails.
How to check a share codeThe GOV.UK check step by step, what each result means, and what to keep afterwards.
Tax and Making Tax Digital
Landlord tax in 2026What you pay on rental profit, what you can claim, and the 22/42/47% property income rates coming in April 2027.
Making Tax Digital for landlordsWho is in scope and when, the quarterly deadlines, the penalties, and which software can actually file.
Software and membership
Landlord software comparedEvery product, what it costs, and which ones are on HMRC’s recognised list. We include ourselves, unflatteringly.
Property management softwareThree different products are sold under one name. Which one you need, and what buying the wrong category costs.
Free landlord softwareWhich free tiers are genuinely usable, what each one caps, and where free stops being free.
Is NRLA membership worth it?What you get for the fee, and the cheaper routes to the same things.
How these guides are written
Every page here is sourced to primary legislation — the Act itself, the commencement regulations by SI number, and the prescribed forms — not to other landlord blogs. Where a provision is not yet in force, we say so plainly, because a great deal of what is published about the Renters’ Rights Act describes the PRS database and the landlord ombudsman as though they already applied. They don’t.
They’re written by a working landlord rather than an agency or a law firm, which means the numbers in them are real numbers. Every page carries the date it was last updated, and gets corrected when the law moves. If you find something wrong, tell me and I’ll fix it.
More guides are being added weekly — deposits, landlord tax, EPC and compliance, referencing and rent arrears are all in progress.
The guides are free. The tracking isn’t.
Knowing the rules is one thing; keeping every certificate, deposit and notice deadline straight across a portfolio is another. That’s what the app does. £10 a month, cancel anytime.
See what’s includedTenancy deposits
Tenancy deposits: the complete guideProtection, prescribed information, the caps, and what the Renters' Rights Act changed on 1 May 2026.
Unprotected deposit penaltiesThe court must order between one and three times the deposit. Why gov.uk describes this incorrectly.
Protection schemes comparedDPS, mydeposits and TDS on cost, interest and how fast each decides a dispute.
Holding depositsOne week's rent, the fifteenth-day deadline, and the seven-day notice that decides if you keep it.
Deductions and disputesWhat adjudicators actually award, and the published data on how often landlords win outright.
Free calculators
Deposit cap calculatorThe five or six week tenancy deposit cap and the one week holding deposit cap, from any rent figure.
Section 8 notice period calculatorPick a ground, enter the service date, get the earliest date you can issue.
All toolsFree and ungated. Nothing stored, nothing sent anywhere.
Rent arrears
Rent arrears: the recovery processGround 8 now needs three months and four weeks' notice. The order to work in, and the deposit trap that stops the order.
UC47 and direct paymentsThe form was withdrawn in 2018. What replaced it, and why applying can cost you Ground 8.
Arrears letter packFour letters you can copy, plus the offences that catch landlords who chase too hard.
Money claims for arrearsSix years to sue, the real fees, and what a judgment actually gets you.
Ground 8 threshold checkerAre you over the 13-week or three-month line? With the universal credit disregard applied.
England only. These guides describe the law in England. General information from a landlord, not legal advice.