Is Your Property Let? Residential

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If the property being used as security is let to residential tenants, the lender will need to see that the tenancies are properly documented and that the property meets your legal obligations as a landlord. Missing paperwork is the most common reason a tenanted loan is delayed, so please gather the following as early as possible.

Tenancies and rent

The lender will need a signed copy of every tenancy agreement or occupation contract, with any renewals, variations and guarantor agreements. It will also need a schedule listing each tenant, the type of agreement, the start date, the rent, the deposit and where it is protected, any arrears, and any notice served. It will usually ask for three months of bank or agent statements showing the rent being received. If anyone lives there without a written agreement, please tell us at the outset.

Occupancy

The lender will need written confirmation that no borrower, director, shareholder or partner of the borrower, or member of their close family, lives at the property or intends to. This is what keeps the loan unregulated. Please see our Occupancy guide.

Safety certificates

Please have the following ready:

• a Gas Safety Record dated within the last 12 months, for every unit with a gas appliance;
• an Electrical Installation Condition Report dated within the last five years with a satisfactory result, together with evidence of any remedial work;
• an Energy Performance Certificate rated E or above for every unit, or a registered exemption; and
• confirmation that smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are fitted as the regulations require (in Wales, smoke alarms must be mains-powered and interlinked).

Deposits, Right to Rent and prescribed information

For every deposit, the lender will need the protection scheme certificate and evidence that the prescribed information was given to the tenant. In England, deposits are capped at five weeks’ rent, or six weeks where the annual rent is £50,000 or more, and landlords must carry out Right to Rent checks on every adult occupier.

In England, since 1 May 2026, assured shorthold tenancies have become assured periodic tenancies under the Renters’ Rights Act, and new tenancies need a written statement of terms. Tenants must also have received the How to Rent guide, the EPC and the gas safety record. In Wales, each contract-holder must have received a written statement of their occupation contract.

Licensing and registration

Please check whether the property is in a selective licensing area, as many councils now license single lets, and an unlicensed property cannot be lent against. In Wales, landlords must be registered with Rent Smart Wales. In England, landlords will need to register on the Private Rented Sector Database as it opens in their area. If the property is shared by more than one household, please see our HMO guide.

Leasehold, insurance and the valuation

If the property is leasehold, the lender will need the lease, confirmation that subletting is allowed (with the freeholder’s consent where required), and up-to-date ground rent and service charge statements. Please contact the freeholder or managing agent early, as they are often slow to respond.

Buildings insurance must be on a landlord’s policy for the full rebuild value, with the lender’s interest noted (see our Insurance guide). Please also give your tenants written notice so that the valuer can inspect every unit.

Please tell us early if any of these apply

These affect value, and they affect whether some lenders can lend at all:

• tenancies granted before 15 January 1989;
• lets to a company, or at below market rent;
• holiday, short-term or serviced accommodation lets; or
• any notice, court proceedings or council enforcement relating to the property.

After completion

The loan agreement will usually require the lender’s consent before you grant, vary or end a tenancy or reduce the rent, and will require you to keep every certificate in date for the whole term.