Statutes use ordinary words with fixed meanings. 'Within 30 days beginning with' counts the first day, so a deposit's last compliant day is receipt plus 29. 'Of no effect' disables a clause, not the agreement. 'May' gives a council discretion, on top of its duty to enforce. Each word below is quoted from its Act, with the clock it decides.
By Stevie Hayes · Updated 17 October 2026 · Figures checked against legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on 17 October 2026 · How we verify · Report a problem with this page · Statutory penalties are maximums; councils and courts decide the amount.
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| Fact | Position | Since / status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginning with | The first day counts: a deposit received on the 1st must be protected by the 30th | HA 2004 s.213(3) | Housing Act 2004 s.213 (deposit protection: 'within the period of 30 days beginning with') |
| Relevant date | For most grounds the date specified in the Section 8 notice, not the day of service or the hearing; the date of service for Grounds 2ZA, 2ZB and 5F | HA 1988 Sch 2 para 12 | Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2 (grounds for possession; the relevant date; Ground 4A) |
| Of no effect | The clause gives way and the rest stands; a fixed term is replaced by a periodic tenancy (s.4A(2)) | HA 1988 s.4A; TFA 2019 s.4(3) | Housing Act 1988 s.4A ('of no effect so far as') |
| May | Discretion in each case, on top of a duty to enforce; the maximum is set separately, which is why every penalty here is 'up to' | HA 1988 s.7(4), s.16I(1), (6); RRA 2025 s.107(1) | Housing Act 1988 s.16I ('may impose a financial penalty … if satisfied beyond reasonable doubt') |
| Relevant person | In the Housing Act 1988 the landlord and their agent; in the Tenant Fees Act the tenant and their guarantor | HA 1988 s.16M(1); TFA 2019 s.1(9) | Housing Act 1988 s.16M (the restricted period; 'relevant person') |
| Record | The statutory name for the gas safety document trade calls a certificate or CP12 | GSIUR 1998 reg 36(3)(c) | Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 reg 36 ('a record') |
| In force for specified purposes | Switched on only to let regulations be made; not yet a duty on landlords (the PRS Database today) | RRA 2025 s.82 note | Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.82 (commencement note: 'in force at Royal Assent for specified purposes') |
| Fine v financial penalty | Same standard, beyond reasonable doubt; they differ in who decides, the maximum and the appeal route | HA 1988 ss.16I, 16J(10), 16K; Sch 2ZA | Housing Act 1988 s.16J (offences; 'liable on summary conviction to a fine') |
Every figure and date on this site is checked against legislation.gov.uk or GOV.UK, and then checked again in an automated review pass, written from a housing-litigation brief, that re-reads every quotation against the source before publication. Most of what that second pass catches is not a wrong number. It is a word read as ordinary English when the statute gives it a fixed meaning. The fourteen below are the ones that have caught us, each shown with the words of the provision and the clock or penalty that turns on it. The modern Acts are not written to confuse: the Renters' Rights Act 2025 is in plain, short sentences. The difficulty is precision. Parliament needs one rule for counting days and one meaning for "landlord", and the price of that precision is that the same words carry more weight than they do in conversation. This page describes how the words work; it is not advice on your tenancy.
A diary that counts "30 days from receipt" starts the next day; "beginning with" counts the day of receipt itself, so the last compliant day is one day earlier than most people expect. Housing Act 2004 s.213(3): the deposit must be protected "within the period of 30 days beginning with the date on which it is received", so the last compliant day is the day of receipt plus 29, and the prescribed information follows the same period (s.213(6)). The Act sometimes says so outright: for Grounds 1 and 1A, "both the day when the current tenancy began, and the relevant date, must be included in the calculation" (Housing Act 1988 Sch 2). The same construction usually fixes the end of the re-letting restriction, "the last day of the period of twelve months beginning with the date specified in the notice" (s.16M(4), subject to the adjustments in s.16M(5) to (7)), and, in the draft landlord-register regulations, when an unattached landlord entry lapses: no dwelling entry "before the end of the period of 3 months beginning with the day the landlord entry was made" (draft reg 11(1)(a), not yet in force). Our clocks all count this way; most diaries do not.
For most grounds, not the day you serve and not the day of the hearing. Schedule 2 paragraph 12 defines "relevant date": "in Grounds 2ZA, 2ZB and 5F, means the date of service of the notice under section 8; otherwise, means the date specified in the notice under section 8", with a separate rule where the court dispenses with notice under s.8(1)(b). So the student ground works only if "the relevant date falls within the period beginning with 1 June and ending with 30 September", and the sale and move-in grounds need a tenancy that "began at least 1 year before the relevant date". Pick the date in the notice wrongly and the ground is not made out, however long the tenancy has run.
A tenancy is "entered into" when the binding agreement is made, not when the tenant moves in; s.45(2) separates "the day on which the tenancy is entered into" from "the day on which … the tenant is entitled to possession". The written statement of terms is due "before the tenancy is entered into" (s.16D(4)): signing first and handing over the statement at check-in is too late. The student ground measures the gap between the two: the period "beginning with the day on which the tenancy was entered into, and ending with the day on which the tenant was entitled to possession of the dwelling-house, is six months or less" (Sch 2, Ground 4A).
Three ways of saying a clause does not work, none of which cancels the agreement, and they are not interchangeable. A fixed-term clause is "of no effect so far as [it provides] for a tenancy to be a fixed term tenancy" (s.4A(1)) and the statute supplies the replacement: the tenancy "has effect as a periodic tenancy" (s.4A(2)). A clause cutting down the landlord's repairing obligations is "void in so far as it purports to exclude or limit the obligations of the lessor" (Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.12): void for both sides, but only so far as it touches s.11, and the county court can authorise such a clause by consent (s.12(2)). A clause requiring a banned fee "is not binding on a relevant person", which is one-sided (the tenant is released, the landlord is not), and "the agreement continues, so far as practicable, to have effect in every other respect" (Tenant Fees Act 2019 s.4). Two of the three also carry a penalty for writing the clause in at all: purporting to grant a fixed term, up to £7,000 under s.16I; requiring a prohibited payment, up to £5,000 under Tenant Fees Act s.8. The clause falling away does not by itself end the tenancy, and a landlord cannot rely on it.
"Shall" and "must" usually bind; "may" usually gives a choice. The difference is the whole of possession law. On a mandatory ground, "if the court is satisfied" the ground is made out, "the court shall make an order for possession", subject to the exceptions the section lists; on a discretionary ground, "the court may make an order for possession if it considers it reasonable to do so" (Housing Act 1988 s.7(3), (4)). Penalties work the same way: "A local housing authority may impose a financial penalty on a person if satisfied beyond reasonable doubt" (s.16I(1)), and the amount "is to be determined by the authority imposing it, but must not be more than £7,000" (s.16I(6)), which is why every penalty figure on this site says "up to". But "may" here is discretion in the individual case sitting on top of a duty: "It is the duty of every local housing authority to enforce the landlord legislation in its area" (Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.107(1)). Read "may" as discretion in each case, not permission to ignore the rule.
To purport is to attempt or hold out, and the attempt is itself a breach even where the law has already neutralised it. A relevant person "must not … purport to let a dwelling-house on the tenancy for a fixed term" or "purport to bring the tenancy to an end by service of a notice to quit" (s.16E(1)). In a tenancy entered into from 1 May 2026 the fixed term is of no effect under s.4A; writing it in is still a breach, with a council penalty of up to £7,000.
The gas document everyone calls a certificate, or a CP12, is in the regulations a record: the landlord must "ensure that a record in respect of any appliance or flue so checked is made and retained" (Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 reg 36(3)(c)). Nothing turns on the name in practice, except that a landlord searching the regulations for "certificate" will not find the duty.
In the Housing Act 1988 a "relevant person", in relation to a tenancy, "means the landlord, a person acting on behalf of the landlord otherwise than as a legal representative, or a person purporting to act on behalf of the landlord" (s.16M(1)): the fixed-term and notice-to-quit prohibitions bind your letting agent as well as you. In the Tenant Fees Act 2019 the same phrase "means a tenant, or … a person acting on behalf of" a tenant, or a guarantor of the tenant's rent, other than a council, the Greater London Authority or someone acting for them (s.1(9), (10)): a guarantor is protected from banned fees just as the tenant is. Same words, opposite sides of the table; and in the 1988 Act the definition stops short of a legal representative.
Not a house. In Part 1 of the Housing Act 1988 a "dwelling-house" "may be a house or part of a house" (s.45(1)): a flat, a converted floor, a single room, provided it is "let as a separate dwelling" (s.1(1)). Every duty and every ground in that Part that speaks of the dwelling-house reaches all of them.
After relying on Ground 1 or 1A, and subject to the exceptions in s.16F, the landlord must not, within the restricted period, "let the dwelling-house on a tenancy for a term of 21 years or less" or permit occupation "under a licence to occupy, and for monetary consideration", and a relevant person, which includes the agent, must not "market the dwelling-house to let on a tenancy for a term of 21 years or less" (s.16E(2), (3)). Marketing it for sale is not in the list, so s.16E does not prohibit it. And "licence" there means any licence to occupy for payment, which takes in short-term, serviced and holiday lets, not only a lodger; it has nothing to do with the HMO or selective "licence" a council grants under the Housing Act 2004. Both words appear on the same page of a landlord's life and mean different things.
A tenant ends a tenancy with a "notice to quit", which must be "in writing" and give at least two months unless a shorter period was agreed in writing (Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.5). A landlord's notice to quit "is of no effect in relation to an assured tenancy" (Housing Act 1988 s.5(1)), and serving one is a breach under s.16E(1)(b). A landlord starts possession with a notice under section 8, "in the prescribed form", "informing the tenant that the landlord intends to begin proceedings", not a notice that ends anything. The trap is the third kind: a "purported notice of possession" is "any written document which is not in accordance with section 8 but which (however expressed) purports to be a notice under section 8, or purports to bring an assured tenancy to an end" (s.16M(1)), so a defective Section 8 notice can itself be a breach under s.16E(1)(d). Calling a Section 8 notice an eviction notice is harmless shorthand; serving a notice to quit, or a Section 8 notice that is not in accordance with section 8, is not.
"Assured" is a defined status with conditions under Housing Act 1988 s.1, not a general description; "shorthold" was a sub-type that, for private lettings, no longer exists: as GOV.UK's guide for landlords puts it, "You cannot create an assured shorthold tenancy (AST)"; and "periodic" is now imposed by s.4A whatever the agreement says. An agreement headed "assured shorthold tenancy" tells you only that the template was written for the old law; the heading does not decide the tenancy's status.
A regulation goes through stages, and each has a word. The Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 are, as legislation.gov.uk labels them, "a draft item of legislation" that "has not yet been made" (draft regulations); if made in this form they will "come into force" region by region on the dates in regulation 1(3). The duty to register in the Act carries the note "in force at Royal Assent for specified purposes, see s. 145(2)" (Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.82): s.145(2) brings provisions into force only for the purpose of making regulations, so the duty is not in force for landlords until commencement regulations are made under s.145(1). The government's Housing Hub (a campaign site rather than GOV.UK proper) writes "Deadline to register" and "you risk being fined"; neither word is in the draft, which has only commencement dates. Read it carefully the other way too: the Hub says "This rollout covers the date from which you are legally required to register", so once the duty is in force it runs from the commencement date, and the three-month window after it is enforcement policy, not extra time. Government guidance is a reliable source for what the government will do, and not a source for what the statute says. The database is not yet a legal duty for anyone.
The Housing Hub says "you risk being fined". The statute keeps three things apart. A "financial penalty" is imposed by the council itself, without a court, to a stated maximum (s.16I, up to £7,000); a "fine" is what the magistrates' court imposes on conviction, "liable on summary conviction to a fine" (s.16J(10)); and for a s.16J offence the council may instead impose a penalty of up to £40,000 under s.16K, headed "Financial penalties as an alternative to prosecution", which is barred once the person has been convicted or proceedings are pending (s.16K(2)). The standard is the same in all three, "satisfied beyond reasonable doubt"; what differs is who decides, how much it can be and where you appeal, a council penalty going to the First-tier Tribunal (Schedule 2ZA).
Some words are left open on purpose, and no amount of reading the Act closes them. Whether refusing a family is "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim" (Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.33(2)); whether a pet refusal was "unreasonably refused" (s.16A(1)(b)); whether a landlord "does not reasonably believe" a ground will succeed (s.16E(1)(e)); whether it is "reasonable" to make a discretionary order (s.7(4)). These are decided by a court or a council on the facts of one case: your tenancy, your tenant, your paperwork.
That is the honest boundary of this site. The pages tell you what the words are, where they come from and which clock they start. They cannot tell you how a judge will apply them to you. Use them to know the rule, the date and the source, and to walk into a solicitor's office with the right question and the documents in order. Then take a solicitor's advice on your case before you serve a notice, refuse a request or start a claim.
Government changes that bear on this duty. Where the status says in force the rule already applies; everything else is not yet law for private landlords. Dates are quoted as the government has published them, checked on 15 October 2026.
| Change | Status today | Published timing | Sensible preparation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory landlord and property registration on the Private Rented Sector Database (the landlord register), with an annual fee | regulations in draft | Regional rollout from 15 December 2026 (West Midlands first) to 15 September 2027 for all other purposes, per the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 | Keep copies, not just dates, of the gas safety record, EICR and EPC for each property, and know whether a licence applies; those are what the draft regulations say the entry needs. Source |
The first day counts. Housing Act 2004 s.213(3) requires a deposit to be protected "within the period of 30 days beginning with the date on which it is received", so if the money arrives on the 1st the last compliant day is the 30th, receipt plus 29. The prescribed information must be given within the same period (s.213(6)).
No. "Of no effect" (Housing Act 1988 s.4A), "void in so far as" (Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.12) and "not binding" (Tenant Fees Act 2019 s.4) each disable one clause. The rest of the agreement stands; the Tenant Fees Act says so in terms: "the agreement continues, so far as practicable, to have effect in every other respect".
Do not read it that way. "May" gives the council discretion in each case, on top of a duty: "It is the duty of every local housing authority to enforce the landlord legislation in its area" (Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.107(1)), and the council must have regard to statutory guidance. Housing Act 1988 s.16I(1) says a council "may impose a financial penalty on a person if satisfied beyond reasonable doubt", and s.16I(6) sets the maximum, which is why every penalty figure on this site is "up to".
Not necessarily, and it can cut the other way. For the landlord register, the government's Housing Hub publishes a "Deadline to register" for each region and says that "After this deadline, councils in this region will be able to initiate enforcement activity"; the draft regulations contain only the dates on which they come into force, and the Hub itself says "This rollout covers the date from which you are legally required to register". The regulations are a draft and the duty is not in force. Guidance tells you what the government will do; the statute tells you what the law is.
That the section is switched on only for the limited purposes named, usually so that regulations can be made under it, and not for the people it will eventually bind. Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.82, the duty to register, carries that note; it is not yet a duty on any landlord.
Because some words in the Act are open on purpose, such as "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim" or "unreasonably refused", and a court decides them on the facts of one case. The guides give you the words, the source and the clocks; applying them to your tenancy is a judgement about your facts, which is what a solicitor is for.
The method behind the guides: every date and penalty traced to legislation.gov.uk or GOV.UK, a deterministic gate that refuses unsourced figures, and a separate review pass that re-checks every quotation on every page. The app applies the same counting rules to your own deadlines.
How we verify every figureFrom the ComplyWithMe news feed: enforcement decisions and legislation changes, each linked to its official source.
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