The Renters' Rights Act and gas safety: what changes, and what the penalties are now
By Jordan Valentine-Dunn, Gas Safe registered engineer · 9 July 2026
The Renters' Rights Act does not change your gas safety duties; they still come from the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. What changes is enforcement. From 1 May 2026, Section 21 no-fault evictions are gone, and civil penalties run up to £7,000 for a first breach and up to £40,000, or prosecution, for serious or repeated ones.
What has the Renters' Rights Act changed so far?
The Act received Royal Assent in October 2025, and the first phase took effect on 1 May 2026: Section 21 is abolished, tenancies are periodic rather than fixed-term assured shorthold, there's an annual cap on rent increases, and rental bidding is banned. Later phases, expected from late 2026, bring a Private Rented Sector Database and a landlord ombudsman. So the Act is not one change on one date; it lands in layers, and the compliance-heavy layers are still coming.
Do gas safety rules change under the Renters' Rights Act?
No, and that is the reassuring part. The annual gas safety check, the tenant's copy, the two-year record-keeping, all still come from the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, enforced by the HSE, exactly as before. You don't need to learn a new set of gas rules. What the Act changes is the context around them: who can investigate, how much a breach can cost, and how visible your compliance record becomes.
What are the penalties for gas safety failures now?
The penalties are real and stated: civil penalties of up to £7,000 for an initial breach, and up to £40,000 or criminal prosecution for continuing or repeated breaches. Remember that an out-of-date record is a breach whether you forgot or ignored it; the fine doesn't care which. A missed renewal that would once have been an awkward scramble is now an exposure measured in thousands of pounds, which changes the maths on how carefully renewal dates are worth tracking.
What does losing Section 21 mean for compliance?
With Section 21 gone, you can no longer rely on a no-fault route out of a difficult tenancy. Every possession case now runs on grounds you have to evidence, so your own conduct as a landlord gets examined, and safety obligations are the obvious place a tenant's adviser will look first. Keeping every gas record current, delivered and provable is no longer just about avoiding a fine. It's part of keeping your position clean if a tenancy ever turns into a dispute.
What is the Private Rented Sector Database?
A coming register of landlords and properties, expected from late 2026, that is expected to hold property and safety information. Exactly what must be uploaded will be set out in later regulations, so it's one to watch rather than act on yet. The practical read: if your gas records are already digital, dated and findable, whatever the database ends up requiring will be an afternoon's job. If they're spread across a drawer, a glovebox and an old email account, it won't be.
What should landlords do now?
Check every renewal date
Look at the next-due date for each property, not the date of the last check. Anything due in the next couple of months, book it now, while the diary is on your side.
Get tenant copies out, with proof
Existing tenants are owed a copy of the record within 28 days of each check, and a new tenant must have it before they move in. Keep evidence that it was delivered, not just that the check happened.
Put records where you can produce them
You must keep gas safety records for at least two years. Store them so you can pull any record in seconds; that's what a penalty notice or a possession hearing will test.
Watch the database phase, don't guess it
No uploading duty exists yet. Skip anyone selling certainty about what the database will require, and check gov.uk when the regulations actually land.
This is general guidance, not legal advice, and parts of the Act are still being brought in. The penalty figures and dates are the government's as published; check gov.uk for the current position. The gas safety check itself must still be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer, who is the only person who can issue a valid record.