The words a tenancy is written in. Certificates, licences, checks and deposits — what each term actually means, what it obliges a landlord or agent to do, and which of them quietly decide whether a notice is valid months later.
Certificates & safety
Gas safety record
A gas safety record, often called a CP12, is the document produced when a Gas Safe registered engineer checks the gas appliances and flues in a rented property.
EICR
An EICR is an Electrical Installation Condition Report recording the condition of a property's fixed electrical installation.
EPC
An EPC rates a property's energy efficiency from A to G and is required when a property is let or sold.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements
Landlords must provide smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms in rented properties according to rules set by regulation, and must check they work at the start of each new tenancy..
Landlord gas safety duty
A landlord must ensure gas appliances, fittings and flues in a rented property are maintained in a safe condition and checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer, with the record given to the tenant..
Legionella risk assessment
A legionella risk assessment considers the risk from water systems in a rented property.
Electrical Safety Standards Regulations
The electrical safety standards regulations require landlords in England to have the fixed installation inspected and tested at defined intervals, to give reports to tenants, and to carry out remedial work within a set period..
Licensing
HMO licence
An HMO licence is a local authority licence required for certain houses in multiple occupation.
Selective licensing
Selective licensing is a scheme a local authority may introduce requiring most or all private rented properties in a designated area to be licensed, regardless of whether they are HMOs..
House in multiple occupation
A house in multiple occupation is a property occupied by people from more than one household who share facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom.
Additional licensing
Additional licensing is a scheme a local authority may introduce requiring HMOs that fall below the mandatory threshold to be licensed in a designated area..
HMO management regulations
The HMO management regulations place duties on the manager of an HMO covering common parts, fire safety, water and drainage, waste, and the display of contact details — whether or not the HMO is licensed..
Rent repayment order
A rent repayment order requires a landlord to repay rent to a tenant or to a local authority, where specified offences have been committed — operating an unlicensed property among them..
Client money protection
Client money protection is a scheme letting agents in England must belong to, protecting rent and deposits held on behalf of landlords and tenants if the agent fails..
Tenancy & deposits
Right to rent check
A right to rent check confirms that an adult occupier has the immigration status to rent residential property in England.
Deposit protection
Deposit protection requires a tenancy deposit taken for an assured shorthold tenancy to be placed in an authorised scheme within a set period, with prescribed information given to the tenant..
Tenancy agreement
A tenancy agreement is the contract between landlord and tenant setting out the terms of the let.
Section 21 notice
A section 21 notice is the no-fault notice a landlord can use to seek possession of an assured shorthold tenancy in England.
How to Rent guide
The How to Rent guide is a government publication that landlords in England must give to tenants at the start of an assured shorthold tenancy.
Assured shorthold tenancy
An assured shorthold tenancy is the most common form of residential tenancy in England.
Section 8 notice
A section 8 notice seeks possession on one or more statutory grounds — rent arrears and breach of tenancy being the most common.
Rent arrears
Rent arrears are unpaid rent owed under a tenancy.
Prescribed information
Prescribed information is the set of details about a protected deposit that must be given to the tenant within a defined period — the scheme used, how to get the deposit back, and how disputes are resolved..
Deposit dispute
A deposit dispute is a disagreement about deductions at the end of a tenancy, resolved by the scheme's adjudicator on the documents both parties submit..
Tenant Fees Act
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 bans most fees charged to tenants in England and caps tenancy deposits and holding deposits.
Right to rent civil penalty
A right to rent civil penalty is the charge a landlord or agent can face for letting to someone without the right to rent, where the prescribed check was not carried out correctly..
Retaliatory eviction
Retaliatory eviction is serving a no-fault notice in response to a tenant complaining about disrepair.
Guarantor
A guarantor agrees to meet the tenant's obligations if the tenant does not — most commonly the rent.
Joint tenancy
A joint tenancy is one tenancy held by two or more tenants together.
Periodic tenancy
A periodic tenancy runs from period to period — usually month to month — rather than for a fixed term.
Standards & condition
Inventory
An inventory, or schedule of condition, is the dated record of a property's contents and condition at the start of a tenancy.
Decent Homes Standard
The Decent Homes Standard is a minimum standard for social housing covering serious hazards, repair, facilities and thermal comfort.
Fair wear and tear
Fair wear and tear is the deterioration that occurs from reasonable use over time.
Check-out report
A check-out report records the condition of a property at the end of a tenancy, compared against the check-in.
Property inspection
A property inspection is a periodic visit during a tenancy to check the condition of the property, identify disrepair, and confirm the property is being occupied as agreed..
Disrepair
Disrepair is a failure to keep a property in the condition the landlord is obliged to maintain.
A–Z
- Additional licensing
- Assured shorthold tenancy
- Check-out report
- Client money protection
- Decent Homes Standard
- Deposit dispute
- Deposit protection
- Disrepair
- EICR
- Electrical Safety Standards Regulations
- EPC
- Fair wear and tear
- Gas safety record
- Guarantor
- HMO licence
- HMO management regulations
- House in multiple occupation
- How to Rent guide
- Inventory
- Joint tenancy
- Landlord gas safety duty
- Legionella risk assessment
- Periodic tenancy
- Prescribed information
- Property inspection
- Rent arrears
- Rent repayment order
- Retaliatory eviction
- Right to rent check
- Right to rent civil penalty
- Section 21 notice
- Section 8 notice
- Selective licensing
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements
- Tenancy agreement
- Tenant Fees Act
More terms are being added. These pages explain what the words mean; they are not legal advice, and possession in particular turns on details a glossary cannot see.