How to Check Your Landlord Compliance —
Five Free Tools for England 2026

Why Checking Compliance Matters More Than Ever

Since Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026, a landlord's compliance record has become the foundation of every possession claim. A missing Gas Safety Certificate, an un-served EICR, or deposit prescribed information that was protected but never formally served — any of these can be raised as a defence in Section 8 proceedings and delay or defeat a possession claim that should have been straightforward.

The good news is that checking your compliance position takes a few minutes with the right tools. Here are the five most useful free tools for landlords in England right now.

1. Compliance Deadline Tracker

The most commonly missed compliance failures involve certificates expiring without the landlord noticing — Gas Safety Certificates (annual), EICRs (5-yearly), and EPCs (10-yearly). Across a portfolio of five properties that is 15 separate renewal dates to track.

The free Compliance Deadline Tracker lets you enter the issue dates for all your certificates across multiple properties and get an instant colour-coded dashboard — green for current, amber for expiring within 60 days, red for lapsed. It takes about two minutes per property and immediately shows you where your exposure is.

2. Interactive Pre-Tenancy Checklist

The Pre-Tenancy Checklist covers all 22 steps required before a tenant moves in — in the correct legal sequence. Each item links to the detailed guide for that obligation.

Use it at the start of every new tenancy to confirm you haven't missed anything, and use it retrospectively on existing tenancies to identify any gaps that may have been missed when the tenancy started.

3. Deposit Penalty Calculator

Deposit failures are the most commonly litigated landlord compliance breach. Many landlords protect the deposit correctly but fail to serve the prescribed information within 30 days — and are unaware that this is a separate, equally serious obligation.

If you have any doubt about whether your deposit obligations were met on any tenancy, the Deposit Penalty Calculator shows you what your court exposure would be — from 1× to 3× the deposit amount — based on your specific situation and conduct.

4. Section 8 Possession Timeline Calculator

If you are considering serving a Section 8 notice, the Section 8 Timeline Calculator does two important things: it checks your compliance position first (flagging any gaps that could weaken your claim), and then generates a personalised week-by-week possession timeline based on your specific ground and serve date.

This is the most strategically useful tool for landlords who are planning possession action — it forces a compliance review before the notice is served, which is exactly the right time to identify and remedy any gaps.

5. Notice Period Calculator

Getting the notice period wrong is one of the most common procedural errors in Section 8 claims. The wrong effective date, served from the wrong date, for the wrong ground — any of these can mean re-starting the process from scratch.

The Notice Period Calculator covers all 12 Section 8 grounds with the correct notice period for each, and calculates the exact effective date, court application window, and estimated possession timeline from your serve date.

The Free Compliance Pack

All five tools are free and require no sign-up. For landlords who want a permanent reference rather than an online tool, the free compliance pack includes a 47-point checklist, pre-tenancy checklist, compliance tracker spreadsheet, deposit protection guide, and proof of service record — all as downloadable documents.