Landlord Maintenance Checklist: Safety Checks, Damp and Mould
The figures in the worked example are made up.
The safety checks the law requires, what to do about damp and mould now and under Awaab's Law, and the jobs to do each month to avoid big bills.
- Category
- Lettings
- Who it is for
- Landlords in England
- Time to set up
- An hour a property, then a short check each season
- Saves or earns
- About £1,100 a year a property
01The Problem
A rental needs two kinds of work. Some checks are required by law, have fixed dates and carry fines. Others stop small problems turning into big bills: a blocked gutter turns into a damp bedroom, a tired boiler fails on the coldest night of the year.
The checks the law requires now:
Gas
Every gas appliance and flue checked each year by a Gas Safe registered fitter. Give the record to the tenant within 28 days of the check, and to a new tenant before they move in. You can have the check done up to two months early and keep the original due date.
Electrics
A full inspection by a qualified electrician at least every five years, or sooner if the report says so. Give the report to the tenant within 28 days, and to the council within 7 days if asked. Urgent or required work must be done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says. Fines go up to £40,000 for breaches since 1 May 2026 (it was £30,000 before).
Alarms
A smoke alarm on every floor with a room used as living space, and a carbon monoxide alarm in every room with a fixed fuel-burning appliance such as a boiler or wood burner (gas cookers aren't included). Test them on the first day of each tenancy and fix any reported fault. Fines go up to £5,000.
Energy Rating
A valid energy certificate, rated E or better, unless you have registered an exemption. All private lets must reach the new equivalent of band C by 1 October 2030, with spending capped at £10,000 a property, and work done since 1 October 2025 counts towards that.
Legionella
You must assess the risk from the water system. For most homes a short written check is enough, with no test certificate needed.
Licences
Check whether your council runs an HMO, additional or selective licensing scheme where the home is.
Damp and mould is where most landlords get caught out, and the rules have moved. What applies to a private landlord today:
Keep It in Repair
Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 you must keep the structure and outside in repair, including roofs, gutters, drains and windows, and keep the heating, water, gas, electrics and toilets working. A leak or a boiler that can't heat the home is your job.
Keep It Fit to Live in
Since 20 March 2020 every tenancy in England carries a promise that the home is fit to live in, and serious damp is one of the things that can make it unfit. A tenant can take you to court for the work and for compensation.
The Council's Hazard Rules
Councils inspect using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), which scores hazards in a home. A new version started on 23 June 2026, cutting the list from 29 hazards to 21. Damp and mould growth is still one of them. A serious one is a category 1 hazard, and the council must act: it can serve an improvement notice telling you what to fix and by when, or do emergency work itself and send you the bill.
Council Fines
Since 23 June 2026, councils can also fine a landlord up to £7,000 for a category 1 hazard that was reasonably practicable to fix, per hazard, or once where several hazards have one cause. Failing to put things right, or repeat breaches, can mean up to £40,000.
Don't Blame the Tenant by Default
The government's 2023 guidance on damp and mould tells landlords not to assume it is caused by the tenant's "lifestyle" and to find and fix the cause. Councils and courts read it.
Awaab's Law is the name for legal deadlines on fixing damp, mould and other hazards. It is named after Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old who died in 2020 after long exposure to mould in his family's social housing flat. Where it stands:
Social Housing, Since 27 October 2025
Social landlords must investigate significant damp and mould within 10 working days of becoming aware of it, send the tenant a written summary within 3 working days of the investigation, make the home safe within 5 working days, and deal with emergency hazards within 24 hours. More hazards (such as fire, cold, falls and electrics) are due to be added in phases from late 2026 and 2027.
Private Renting, Not Yet
Section 60 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 lets the government apply the same kind of deadlines to private tenancies, but it is not yet in force. A consultation runs from 9 October to 18 December 2026. It asks whether private landlords should have 5, 10 or 15 working days to investigate, 3, 5 or 10 working days to make safe, and 12, 24 or 48 hours for emergencies, with the social housing figure as the middle choice each time. The government says 2027 is the earliest start, and its own impact assessment assumes it is brought in from 2028.
How It Would Work
The deadlines would be written into every tenancy, so a tenant could sue and a court could order the work and compensation. Councils keep their own powers and fines as well.
02The Cost
Take a three-bed semi let at £1,250 a month. A planned year costs about £600: a boiler service and gas check together at about £120, the five-yearly electrical inspection at about £200 (£40 a year), gutters cleared at about £100, new alarms and batteries at about £30, and about £310 on the small spring and summer jobs below.
Compare what happens without it. A blocked gutter overflowing down a wall for one winter can mean a damp bedroom: £1,500 or more to dry, treat, re-plaster and redecorate, against about £100 to clear it. A boiler that fails in January means an emergency call-out, heaters for the tenant and a tenant who starts looking elsewhere. One empty month costs £1,250.
If the tenant complains to the council, a category 1 finding can bring a fine of up to £7,000 and a deadline to do the work anyway. If the tenant sues because the home isn't fit to live in, you pay for the work, their compensation and often part of their legal costs. A tribunal hearing a rent challenge will also mark the rent down for a mouldy home.
The other fines are real too: up to £5,000 for alarms, up to £40,000 for electrics, and a gas safety failure can be a criminal case.
03The Fix
Build One Dates Sheet for Every Property
Gas check, electrical inspection, energy certificate, alarm tests, licence and insurance renewals. Set reminders eight weeks before each date, and record the date you gave each certificate to the tenant.
September and October: Heating First
Have the boiler serviced and the gas check done in one visit before the cold weather. Bleed the radiators, lag loft pipes and test the carbon monoxide alarms. Tell the tenant where the stopcock is.
November: Gutters, Drains and Roof
Once the leaves are down, clear the gutters and check the downpipes and drain gullies outside. On the next wet day, look in the loft for drips or damp patches. A slipped tile is about £100 to fix now and far more after a winter of leaks.
December to February: Watch for Damp
Message the tenant every six weeks to ask about damp, mould or anything not working, and check extractor fans clear steam within a few minutes.
Answer Damp Reports on the Social Housing Timetable Now
Reply the same day. Inspect within 10 working days, and within 24 hours if there is a leak, no heating or mould near a baby or someone unwell. Send the tenant a short written note within 3 working days of the visit saying what you found, what you will do and by when. Start the work within 5 working days. That is likely to be close to the rule once Awaab's Law reaches private lets.
Find the Cause Before You Treat the Stain
Most mould in rented homes is condensation: black spots on cold outside walls and behind furniture, worse in winter. Damp from outside is a patch that grows after rain, often under a gutter or sill. A plumbing leak is wet all year. A cheap hygrometer helps: indoor humidity of about 40 to 60 per cent is normal. Get a surveyor for anything you can't explain.
Fix Condensation Properly
Fit or upgrade extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom, ideally ones that switch on with humidity. Clear air bricks and vents, top up loft insulation and make sure the heating can warm every room at a cost the tenant can afford. In a flat that stays damp, a positive input ventilation unit often solves it for a few hundred pounds. Give the tenant a one-page note: fan on when cooking and showering, washing dried with a window open, furniture a little off outside walls.
Clean Mould Safely, Then Stop It Coming Back
Small patches on hard surfaces can be wiped with a mould remover. Black silicone needs cutting out and replacing. Mouldy plaster, carpet or an area bigger than about a metre square needs a specialist. Repaint with mould-resistant paint only after the cause is fixed.
March and April: Walk Round the Outside
Roof tiles, chimney, pointing, render, window seals, paths and steps (a trip hazard is a hazard in law too). Book repairs for the dry months.
May to July: the Bigger Jobs
Outside paintwork, new bath and shower sealant, and any work towards band C such as loft insulation and radiator valves. Keep every invoice, because work done since 1 October 2025 counts towards the £10,000 cap.
At Every Inspection, Every Three to Six Months
Test the alarms, look under sinks for leaks, check sealant, window locks and signs of condensation. Take dated photos.
At Every Change of Tenant
Test every alarm on the first day of the new tenancy. Give the new tenant the gas record, electrical report and energy certificate before they move in.
Keep a Repair Log
Write down when each report came in, when you inspected, what you told the tenant and when it was fixed. Aim for the same day for emergencies, three working days for urgent jobs and two weeks for routine ones. A dated log is your best answer to a council officer or a tenant's claim.
04The Result
Before
About £2,400 a year on emergency repairs and call-outs
After
About £700 a year on emergency repairs
Cost
About £600 a year on servicing, gutters and seasonal checks
Better Off
About £1,100 a year a property, before counting fines and empty weeks avoided
The Lessons
- Gas every year, electrics at least every five years, alarms tested on the first day of every tenancy.
- Clear gutters and service the boiler before winter. Most expensive damage starts there.
- Awaab's Law deadlines bind social landlords now and are not yet law for private lets. But councils can already fine you up to £7,000 for a serious damp hazard.
- Inspect damp within 10 working days, tell the tenant in writing what you will do, and fix the cause, not just the stain.
- Plan and keep invoices for band C work now, because spending since October 2025 counts.
- If you are unsure what applies to your property, check your own position with a lettings professional or your council.
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