What is buy-to-let?
Buy-to-let is when someone purchases a property with the specific intention of letting it out to tenants, rather than living in it themselves. Done well, it can provide a steady rental income alongside long-term capital growth — but it comes with real financial commitments and legal responsibilities that any prospective landlord should understand before buying.
What are the costs involved?
As a landlord, your rental income needs to comfortably cover your mortgage payments plus ongoing costs, including:
Annual gas safety checks
A Gas Safety Certificate is a legal requirement, renewed every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Electrical safety inspections
An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is required at least once every 5 years.
Energy Performance Certificate
An EPC is required for every let property and needs renewing every 10 years.
Smoke & carbon monoxide alarms
Alarms must be fitted and maintained on every floor and in rooms with a fixed combustion appliance.
Insurance and licensing costs
Beyond the routine safety-compliance costs above, most landlords also need to budget for insurance and — depending on the property type and where it is — a council licence. None of the insurance below is a legal requirement in itself, but a mortgage lender will usually insist on buildings cover, and a licence can be a legal requirement enforced by the council.
Insurance
Landlord buildings insurance
Not a statutory legal requirement, but if you have a buy-to-let mortgage your lender will almost always make it a condition of the loan. It covers the structure of the property — walls, roof, fixtures — against risks like fire, flood, storm and subsidence. Ordinary home insurance policies typically exclude tenanted properties, so a specific landlord policy is needed.
Optional contents insurance
Covers items you as the landlord own within the property — carpets, curtains, white goods, and any furniture in a furnished let — against damage or theft. It's entirely optional and bought separately from buildings cover, and doesn't cover your tenant's own belongings (they'd need their own contents policy for those).
Rent guarantee & legal expenses insurance
An optional add-on, not a legal requirement. It typically covers unpaid rent if a tenant stops paying (commonly up to around £2,500 a month, capped near £25,000, for a fixed period such as 12 months) plus the legal costs of pursuing possession through the courts (commonly £50,000–£100,000 of legal expense cover). Cover levels and exclusions vary significantly by provider, so always check the policy wording.
Licensing costs (Peterborough)
Certain rented properties in Peterborough need a licence from the council before they can lawfully be let — which scheme applies depends on the property type and its location. All three schemes are administered on the council's behalf by Home Safe (home-safe.org.uk), and ATLAS checks licensing requirements as part of onboarding every property we manage.
Selective Licensing
Covers most privately rented properties (not just HMOs) within 10 designated electoral wards across Peterborough, running 11 March 2024 to 10 March 2029. A 5-year licence costs £908 in total (£538 Part A + £370 Part B).
Mandatory HMO Licensing
A national scheme required for HMOs occupied by 5 or more unrelated people forming 2 or more households. A 5-year licence costs £1,100 in total (£367 Part A + £733 Part B); a £200 late-application fee applies if the property should have been licensed before you applied.
Additional HMO Licensing
Covers smaller HMOs (3–4 unrelated people forming 2 or more households) city-wide across Peterborough, from 26 January 2026 to 25 January 2031. A 5-year licence also costs £1,100 in total (£588 Part A + £512 Part B).
Letting an HMO or a property in a designated area without the correct licence is a criminal offence. Councils can issue civil penalties of up to £40,000 per breach (or prosecute, with an unlimited fine on conviction), and tenants or the council can separately apply to recover up to 24 months' rent paid during the unlicensed period.
Licensing fees and dates above are Peterborough City Council's own published figures as of August 2026, correct to the best of our knowledge — schemes, boundaries and fees can change, and properties outside Peterborough will fall under a different local authority's own rules. Insurance figures are typical UK market ranges for illustration, not quotes from any specific insurer. Always confirm current licensing requirements directly with Peterborough City Council or Home Safe (home-safe.org.uk), and get your own insurance quotes — this is general guidance only, not legal or financial advice.
Buy-to-let mortgages
A buy-to-let mortgage works differently to a standard residential mortgage. Rather than assessing affordability mainly against your salary, lenders focus on the property's likely rental income — usually wanting the rent to cover your mortgage payment plus a margin, to protect against void periods.
Most buy-to-let mortgages are interest-only, meaning your monthly payment only covers the interest, with the loan itself repaid in full at the end of the term. Deposit requirements are typically higher than for residential mortgages — commonly 25% or more.
Choosing the right tenant
Think about who your property will suit — young professionals, families, or students — as this will shape both the type of property you buy and how you market it.
Proper referencing (credit checks, employer and previous-landlord references, and a Right to Rent check) is essential to protect your investment and reduce the risk of rent arrears. This is exactly the kind of process ATLAS manages on your behalf as part of our lettings service.
The Renters' Rights Act 2025
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is the biggest shake-up of private renting in England for a generation. Its major reforms took effect from 1 May 2026, and every landlord needs to understand how they apply to existing and new tenancies alike.
End of Section 21 evictions
"No-fault" Section 21 evictions are abolished. Landlords needing possession must now rely on the strengthened Section 8 grounds (such as selling the property, moving in themselves, or persistent arrears/anti-social behaviour) — making accurate documentation more important than ever.
Assured periodic tenancies
Fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) have ended. All private tenancies are now open-ended assured periodic tenancies, giving tenants more flexibility to leave and landlords a different set of planning considerations around notice and turnover.
Rent increases, once a year
Rent can now only be increased once every 12 months, via a formal Section 13 notice — no more informal rent review clauses written into a contract.
Stronger property standards
Minimum standards are being enforced more strictly, including "Awaab's Law"-style requirements to investigate and fix serious hazards like damp and mould within fixed timescales.
Ombudsman & PRS database
Landlords will need to join a mandatory ombudsman redress scheme and a new Private Rented Sector database, with expanded regulatory oversight.
A stronger right to request a pet
Tenants have a strengthened right to request permission to keep a pet, and landlords can't unreasonably refuse — a written decision is required within 28 days, and reasonable conditions (such as pet insurance) can still be attached. There's no blanket policy either way: for flats, the freeholder or head lease's permission is needed too, and a superior lease that prohibits pets is valid grounds to refuse.
At ATLAS, we're aligning our own tenancy agreements, rent review processes and possession guidance with the Act, so our landlords stay compliant without having to track every change themselves.
Phase 2: what's coming next
1 May 2026 was only Phase 1 — the tenancy reforms above. The Act is being rolled out in three phases overall, and Phase 2 is about building the infrastructure that sits behind those reforms, rather than changing the tenancy rules again.
The PRS Database — confirmed regional deadlines
The government confirmed the rollout timetable on 9 September 2026, launching via a new 'Register your rental property' service. Every landlord of an assured or regulated tenancy must register themselves and each property, by a deadline set by the property's region, not by when you choose to sign up.
The PRS Landlord Ombudsman
A new ombudsman service is being built to resolve landlord-tenant disputes without going to court, with legally binding decisions — it can compel a landlord to apologise, provide information, take remedial action, or pay compensation. Development begins in Phase 2, but the government doesn't expect the service to be ready for mandatory sign-up until 2028.
Also during Phase 2
The Act's tenancy reforms are due to extend to the social rented sector during 2027, and the government is targeting April/May 2027 for full digitisation of the court possession process. A further Phase 3, covering property condition standards (including a Decent Homes Standard and an EPC C requirement by 2030), is expected later still.
Registration deadline for ATLAS landlords
| Region | Registration deadline |
|---|---|
| East of England (Peterborough & Cambridgeshire) | 14 April 2027 |
Peterborough and the surrounding area falls under East of England, so 14 April 2027 is the deadline that applies to ATLAS landlords. To register, you'll need personal details, property specifications, tenancy and rental information, and health & safety evidence — gas and electrical safety certificates, and EPC data showing you meet minimum energy efficiency standards. Registration costs £65 per property, renewed annually, and landlords who don't register may face financial penalties. As your agent, we'll be able to signpost you to the service and, where you agree, upload your health and safety documents on your behalf.
This is a general summary for guidance only, correct to the best of our knowledge as of 10 September 2026 (source: Letting Agent Today, 9 September 2026), and does not constitute legal advice. These are the government's currently confirmed regional deadlines and may still change — renting law changes over time and can affect individual circumstances differently, so always seek independent legal advice for your specific situation.
What are my responsibilities as a landlord?
As a landlord, you're legally required to:
- Arrange annual gas safety checks
- Provide an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
- Protect any cash deposit in a government-backed scheme
- Have wiring and electrical appliances safety checked (EICR)
- Install and maintain smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
- Carry out repairs and maintenance when required
- Only enter the property with the tenant's permission (except genuine emergencies)
- Follow the correct legal process — via Section 8 grounds — if eviction ever becomes necessary
If you'd rather hand all of this to specialists, that's exactly what our Fully Managed and Part Managed services are built for.
ATLAS Landlord Brochure
Our full ATLAS Landlord Marketing Brochure covers Let Only, Part Managed and Fully Managed compared side by side, our fee schedule, the compliance we track for you, and the Renters' Rights Act changes in more detail than this page — worth a read before you decide how to let.
Download ATLAS Landlord BrochureBook your free valuation with ATLAS
Get a free, no-obligation valuation and find out what your property could achieve.
Book Your Free Valuation