UK compliance landscape

UK property management sits on top of a stack of statutes, codes of conduct and professional bodies. PropLink does not replace your legal duties, but it gives you the tools to discharge most of them without juggling spreadsheets. This page is a property manager's map of what applies.

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

The foundational statute for leasehold service charges. Two sections you will live with:

• Section 20: consultation requirements when a building's leaseholders will jointly contribute more than £250 for qualifying works, or £100 a year per leaseholder for a qualifying long-term agreement. PropLink models the Section 20 stages: Notice of Intention, Statement of Estimates, Award of Contract. See Section 20 consultations.
• Section 21: the right of any leaseholder to request a summary of relevant costs. PropLink generates this on demand from the service charge ledger.

The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002

Adds the right to manage (RTM), the right to a Recognised Tenants Association and various restrictions on forfeiture. PropLink supports RTM by allowing RMC directors to be users in the platform without giving them access to other managing-agent clients.

The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022

For most residential leases granted on or after 30 June 2022, ground rent is restricted to one peppercorn, effectively zero. PropLink lets you record a peppercorn ground rent on a lease so it shows on documents but does not generate a demand.

The Building Safety Act 2022

Establishes a new regulatory regime for high-risk residential buildings (HRBs), buildings of at least 18 metres in height or seven storeys, containing at least two residential units. Duties include:

• Registration with the Building Safety Regulator.
• Identifying a Principal Accountable Person (PAP).
• Maintaining a Golden Thread of building information.
• Preparing and reviewing a Safety Case Report.
• Operating a resident engagement strategy.
• Reporting mandatory occurrences.

PropLink covers HRB registration today. The deeper workflows, golden thread, safety case, engagement strategy, mandatory occurrence reporting, are documented in Building Safety as Coming soon.

The Renters Rights Act

The most significant change to private rented sector legislation in a generation, including the abolition of Section 21 no-fault evictions, a new periodic tenancy regime and changes to grounds for possession. PropLink Lettings is Coming soon and is being designed against the Act. See The Renters Rights Act.

GDPR (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018)

PropLink is built with data-protection-by-design principles. The platform supports:

• Data-subject access requests.
• Right-to-erasure for contacts where there is no overriding legal basis to retain.
• Records of processing activity.
• Audit trail of access to personal data on request.

See GDPR and data subject requests.

RICS and Propertymark codes

Members of RICS or Propertymark operate under codes of conduct that include:

• Segregation of client money in dedicated bank accounts.
• Monthly reconciliation of client accounts.
• Client account audits.
• Disclosure of interest and conflicts.

PropLink supports each of these. It does not enforce them, because each firm interprets their requirements in their own way and not all firms are RICS or Propertymark members.

Fire safety regulations (RRO and FRA)

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Fire Safety Act 2021 require a Responsible Person to maintain a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) and act on its findings. PropLink stores FRAs as documents, schedules FRA reviews as maintenance events, and tracks remedial work as work orders.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)

Required at the point of sale or letting, valid for ten years. PropLink stores EPCs against units and reminds you 90 days before expiry.

Right to Rent

Lettings landlords and agents must check the immigration status of every tenant before granting a tenancy. PropLink Lettings will store the verification record and prompt for renewals where the tenant's status is time-limited. Coming soon.

Anti-money laundering (AML)

Lettings agents and managing agents above certain thresholds are subject to AML duties under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. PropLink does not perform AML checks itself but stores the third-party verification record against the relevant contact or company.

Tribunal and ombudsman exposure

A property manager faces:

• The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) on most leasehold disputes.
• The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme on consumer complaints.
• The Information Commissioner's Office on data protection complaints.

PropLink's audit trail and document store are designed with these forums in mind. Every meaningful action is dated, attributed and exportable.

What this page does not do

This is a property manager's reference, not legal advice. Consult your solicitor, your VAT advisor and your professional body for definitive interpretations.