What a lettings compliance and maintenance VA does

Who stays responsible

The duties below belong to the landlord, or to the agent where the agent has taken them on. That does not change when a VA does the chasing. Your VA tracks the dates, books the engineers, prepares the paperwork and tells you what is due. You make the decisions, check the documents and sign things off.

Everything here is the position in England as at 25 September 2026. Gas safety rules apply across Great Britain, but Wales and Scotland have their own rules for most of the rest, and several of these rules are changing. Treat this as a checklist of what to track, not legal advice, and take advice where you are unsure.

The compliance calendar

The recurring dates for a typical private let in England, and what a VA does with each:

Gas and electrical safety

The gas safety check is the one most people know, and the one with the tightest cycle. Each appliance and flue has to be checked at intervals of not more than 12 months. The HSE says a check can be done up to two months before it is due while keeping the original deadline date, so a VA can book it inside that window without the date creeping earlier every year. Records have to be kept until two further checks have been done.

Electrical safety runs on a longer cycle. In England, the installation has to be inspected and tested at least every five years, or sooner if the last report asks for it. A prospective tenant who asks in writing is entitled to a copy of the report within 28 days, and the council within seven days of a written request. For both gas and electrics, the deadline to give the tenant a copy is as real as the deadline for the check, so the VA keeps proof of when each copy went.

Deposits and the start of a tenancy

A deposit has to be protected in an authorised scheme within 30 days of the landlord receiving it, and the prescribed information given to the tenant within the same 30 days. In England and Wales there are three schemes: the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. A VA can prepare the registration and the prescribed information for you to approve, and the deadline should be counted from the day the money arrives, not the day the tenancy starts.

Right to rent checks apply in England to every tenant and lodger aged 18 or over, whether or not they are named on the agreement. Where somebody has time-limited permission to be in the UK, the check has to be done in the 28 days before the tenancy starts, and a follow-up check just before the later of the end of their permission or 12 months after the last check. Copies are kept for the tenancy and one year after. A VA can gather the documents, keep the file in order and diarise the follow-ups; the check itself should follow the Home Office guidance, and the result is yours to confirm.

Alarms belong on the move-in list too. The regulations require each alarm to be checked in proper working order on the day a new tenancy begins, and a faulty alarm reported by a tenant to be repaired or replaced. Councils can fine up to £5,000 where a landlord fails to comply with a remedial notice.

Licences, EPCs and the landlord register

A mandatory HMO licence applies where a property is rented to five or more people who form more than one household and share a toilet, bathroom or kitchen. A licence lasts up to five years and has to be renewed before it runs out. Separately, a council can designate all or part of its area for selective licensing, for up to five years at a time, so that every privately rented home there needs a licence. A VA can keep a list of which schemes cover which addresses, and when each ends.

An EPC lasts ten years. Since 1 April 2020, a landlord in England or Wales cannot let, or continue to let, a property rated below E unless a valid exemption is registered. The government has said it plans to raise the minimum to C for all private tenancies by 1 October 2030, but that still needs new legislation, so the VA's task for now is to track expiry dates and flag the properties that would fall short.

The new private rented sector database arrives this winter. GOV.UK says the service launches on 15 December 2026 in the West Midlands and rolls out region by region, with three months to register once an area is called forward and a final deadline of 14 November 2027. A VA can watch for your region's date and prepare each registration for you to check.

What the Renters' Rights Act has changed

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 applies to England. Its first phase came in on 1 May 2026. From that date, assured shorthold tenancies became rolling assured periodic tenancies, section 21 no-fault evictions ended, rent increases were limited to once a year, and landlords can ask for no more than one month's rent in advance. Landlords with existing tenancies had to give each tenant the government's information sheet on or before 31 May 2026.

The later phases are still arriving. The landlord database starts in December 2026, the private rented sector ombudsman is expected in 2028, and the government says the new Decent Homes Standard will apply to private renting from 2035. Extending Awaab's Law to private renting is still to be consulted on, with no date set.

Two practical jobs follow for a VA. One is an audit of the files: does every existing tenancy hold proof the information sheet was sent, and does every new tenancy have the written information it now needs? The other is updating the tracker as each new phase gets a date. Anything about notices, possession or rent increases is legal ground, so take advice before acting.

Maintenance, contractors and owner updates

Compliance and repairs run side by side, and both are coordination work. A maintenance VA typically:

• Logs every repair report, from tenants, inspections or the certificates themselves, with photos and access notes.
• Triages urgency against the rules you have written down, including what counts as an emergency and who decides.
• Gets quotes from your approved contractors and raises the work order once you, or the owner, have approved it.
• Arranges access with the tenant and confirms the date with the contractor the day before.
• Chases the job to completion, asks for photos and paperwork, and matches the invoice to the work order.
• Sends owners a short update at each stage, from templates you approve.

Setting up the tracker

One row per property, one column per item: date last done, expiry, date to start booking, the document itself, and who is responsible. Build in each item's lead time, so a gas check is booked inside the two-month window and an HMO renewal starts months ahead. A spreadsheet is fine if your software does not do this.

Ask your VA for a short monthly report: what expires in the next 90 days, what is booked, what is waiting on somebody, and anything overdue. That is the page you check.

Where to draw the line

• Your VA books and chases; you check certificates and decide whether a property is safe to let.
• Your VA prepares deposit paperwork; you approve it, and deposit disputes come to you.
• Your VA collects right to rent documents; the check is done and confirmed as the Home Office guidance requires.
• Your VA can draft notices from your templates; nothing is served without your decision and, where needed, legal advice.
• Your VA can approve spend only up to a limit you set, and above it the work waits for you or the owner.

How we help

This is the work our letting agent and property management VAs take on: tracking gas safety, EICR and EPC dates and booking renewals before they lapse, logging repairs and raising jobs with contractors, and preparing tenancy paperwork and deposit registrations for you to check. Legal responsibility stays with you, so certificates and sign-offs come to you.

Our letting agents page shows the rest of the role. If you would like a plan for your own business, including which jobs to hand over first, our free plan at /fit takes about three minutes.