What Records Should a Landlord Keep—and for How Long?

Landlords need records for more than the tax return. A useful file must also explain the tenancy, the property’s condition, safety work, repairs, communications and decisions.

The six record groups

1. Ownership and property

Keep purchase and improvement evidence, ownership shares, finance records, permissions, warranties and major works. Capital records may remain relevant until a future disposal and tax calculation.

2. Tenancy and deposit

Keep agreements, variations, notices, deposit protection evidence, prescribed information, inventories, check-in and check-out reports, key records and tenant acknowledgements.

3. Rent and expenses

HMRC says rental records should include letting dates, rent and service income, rent books, receipts, invoices, bank statements and allowable expenses. Keep the transaction, its category and the receipt together.

4. Safety and compliance

Keep certificates, inspection results, remedial work, delivery evidence, licence records and applicability decisions. Do not overwrite an old certificate with its replacement: preserve the history.

5. Repairs and inspections

Keep the original report, acknowledgement, safety triage, access attempts, contractor attendance, quote, approval, photographs, invoices and tenant confirmation.

6. Communications and decisions

Keep important messages with the relevant property or case. A screenshot in a downloads folder is less useful than a dated conversation tied to the repair or tenancy event it concerns.

How long should records be kept?

HMRC’s published retention rules depend on the taxpayer, filing position and record type. Property letting is treated as a business for the relevant record-keeping period, while capital-asset evidence can remain relevant for much longer. Late returns and enquiries can also extend practical retention.

That is why a defensible retention policy uses categories rather than “delete everything after six years”. For each group, record:

• the legal, tax, contractual or operational reason;
• the event that starts the clock;
• the normal review date;
• any hold caused by a complaint, claim, enquiry or dispute;
• the person approving deletion.

Make every file answer five questions

1. What is it?
2. Which property, tenancy, person or transaction does it concern?
3. When was it created or received?
4. Who supplied or approved it?
5. When should its retention be reviewed?

Avoid these common failures

• Keeping only a current certificate and losing the previous history.
• Storing receipts separately from the expense ledger.
• Deleting tenant communications while a repair or deposit issue remains open.
• Using filenames such as “scan123.pdf” with no property context.
• Keeping everything forever without a privacy or deletion policy.

How Tendmere organises the record

Tendmere connects documents, transactions, messages and case events to the property and tenancy they concern. Evidence provenance and audit events help show where a record came from and what happened next. Retention still requires a policy appropriate to your circumstances; software should support that decision, not invent it.

Build the folder structure with the digital property file guide, then review joint-owner MTD records.

This is general information, not legal, tax or data-protection advice. Confirm retention requirements with HMRC and your professional adviser.