Letting out one or two homes used to mean a tenancy agreement, a gas certificate and a deposit scheme. Now it means knowing whether your street sits inside a council licensing scheme, which landlord registers you must join, what replaced section 21, how often the rent may rise and on which form, and which safety checks are due this year. Get one step wrong and the cost is a civil penalty, a rent repayment order or a notice that is invalid when you need it.
The rules depend on where the property is, and they change in stages. England's Renters' Rights Act arrives in phases, Scotland is bringing in rent control areas, most Australian states have rewritten their tenancy laws in the last few years, Ontario and British Columbia publish new rent rules each year, and New Zealand has moved its notice periods and Healthy Homes deadlines. Each of our guides takes one place and one job, such as a council's licensing scheme, a rent increase notice or a bond lodgement, and walks through it in the order you will meet it, with the forms, fees, deadlines and a checklist.
Every guide states the date of the rules it describes, and points to the official pages where you can check them. Landlord Start Guide is independent and is not connected with any council, tribunal or government body. We explain what the rules require and how the process works; we do not give legal advice on a particular case or dispute.