Gas safety checks for landlords: costs, records and tax

acrenvo.com/guides/gas-safety-check-costs-and-records, last reviewed 20 October 2026

Priya is fictional, but her situation is a common one. She lets a two-bedroom terrace with a gas boiler and a gas hob, and every year a Gas Safe registered engineer comes round to check them. She knows the check is a legal duty, but she is less sure about the paperwork that follows. She wants to know how long to keep the record, who needs a copy, and how the engineer’s bill should go into her records under Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax. This guide answers those questions from the official guidance, for landlords in England.

How often a gas safety check is due

The clock for each check runs from the date of the last one. Arrange a check of relevant gas appliances and flues by a Gas Safe registered engineer every 12 months. Existing tenants must receive the record within 28 days of the check, and new tenants must receive it before moving in. The duty comes from the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36.

There is some room to arrange the visit early without losing a month each time. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) explains it this way: “Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 you can have the annual gas safety check on each appliance or flue carried out up to 2 months before the date the check needs to be carried out but still retain the original deadline date as if the check had been carried out exactly 12 months after the previous check.” So Priya can book the engineer a few weeks before the anniversary and her next deadline stays where it was.

What a landlord must do with the record

GOV.UK’s summary of a landlord’s duties says you must “make sure all gas equipment and electrical equipment is safely installed and maintained”. HSE’s guidance for landlords then sets out what happens to the record once the engineer has finished: “You must keep a record of the safety check for 2 years and issue a copy to each existing tenant within 28 days of the check being completed and issue a copy to any new tenants before they move in.”

The record is also where any follow-up work belongs. HSE says: “The record is a ‘living document’ and landlords should supplement it with records of any follow up action taken (if required).” So if the engineer finds a fault and Priya has it fixed, she keeps the invoice for that work with the record. That gives her one place to look if a tenant or the council asks.

If the property is a licensed house in multiple occupation, the council will want a copy as well. GOV.UK’s page on HMO licences lists, among the licence conditions, that you must “send the council an updated gas safety certificate every year”. The guide to property licences covers the rest of those conditions.

What a gas safety check costs

No government source gives a price for a landlord’s gas safety check, so the cost varies and we do not state one. When HSE answers the question of cost for landlords, it says: “Gas Safe Register has no control over engineers' charges.” The price is set by the engineer or firm you use, and we do not recommend or list engineers.

How the cost is treated for tax

GOV.UK’s guidance on working out rental income does not mention gas safety checks by name. What it gives is a general rule: “You can deduct expenses from your rental income when you work out your taxable rental profit as long as they are wholly and exclusively for the purposes of renting out the property.” Among its examples of costs you can deduct is “general maintenance and repairs to the property”.

Repairs that follow a failed check are judged by the same rules as any other repair. GOV.UK says: “Allowable expenses include the costs of maintenance and repairs to the property (but not ‘capital’ improvements).” and “A repair restores an asset to its original condition, sometimes by replacing parts of it.” It treats spending as capital when you “alter, improve or upgrade something that was existing”, and it says: “Capital expenses are not allowable and cannot be claimed against your rental income but you should keep records of them as you might be able to set them against Capital Gains Tax if you sell the property in the future.”

Fines follow a rule of their own. HMRC’s manual says: “A customer can’t deduct the cost of a fine incurred as a result of their breach of the law.” If you are unsure how a particular bill, or a council penalty, fits these rules, HMRC or a tax adviser can tell you. One more point applies to every expense: “If you claim the property allowance you cannot claim a deduction for your expenses.”

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Recording the cost under Making Tax Digital

Under MTD for Income Tax, the engineer’s bill becomes a digital record like any other property cost. GOV.UK says: “When you create records of your income or expenses, you will need to record the:”

• amount
• date when the income was received or expenses incurred
• category (the type of category you use depends on the type of business you have)

It adds: “Making Tax Digital for Income Tax uses the same categories of income and expenses as Self Assessment.” GOV.UK does not say which category a gas safety check belongs in, so use the one you would use on your Self Assessment return. Keep using it each year so the figures can be compared. The guide to MTD digital records explains what each record needs.

Keep the paperwork behind the record as well. GOV.UK says: “The records you should keep could include:”

• rent books
• receipts
• invoices
• bank statements

The two keeping periods are different. Priya keeps the gas safety record for the two years HSE asks for, and the invoice for as long as her tax records need it, which GOV.UK puts this way: “You will need to keep your digital records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline for a tax year. This is the same amount of time you need to keep records for Self Assessment.”

We read HSE’s guidance on 20 October 2026, when it showed a last update of 6 November 2024.

If your property is outside England

This guide covers England. GOV.UK’s guide to renting out your property says there are different rules for landlords in Scotland and for landlords in Northern Ireland. Check the guidance for the country where your property is before relying on the dates here.

The other recurring checks

• Electrical safety reports (EICR) for landlords: costs, records and tax
• Energy Performance Certificates for landlords: costs, records and tax
• Property licences for landlords: costs, records and tax
• Tenancy deposit protection for landlords: costs, records and tax
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms for landlords: records and tax

The compliance tracker keeps the dates for all of these checks together, property by property.

Questions about gas safety checks