The New Landlord Legal Duty Arriving 19 June That Almost Nobody Is Talking About

There's a compliance deadline this month that has nothing to do with gas certificates, EICRs, or licensing — and most landlords have never heard of it.

From 19 June 2026, under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, every landlord in the UK must operate a formal data-protection complaints process. Not just letting agents. Not just portfolio landlords. If you rent out a single flat, this applies to you.

Why landlords are caught by a data law

Think about what you hold on your tenants: referencing reports, bank details, copies of passports, deposit records, contact details, sometimes guarantor information. In data-protection terms, that makes you a data controller — and from 19 June, your tenants have the right to complain directly to you about how you handle their data, and you have a legal duty to deal with that complaint properly.

What the duty actually requires

The process has four parts:

1. A clear complaints mechanism — tenants need to know how to raise a data complaint with you (a named contact and a short written process is enough)
2. Acknowledgment within 30 days of receiving the complaint
3. An investigation into what happened
4. A response telling the tenant the outcome

This is a duty, not a new fine — there's no headline penalty figure attached. But if a tenant complains and gets ignored, their escalation route is the Information Commissioner's Office. A one-page process and a timely acknowledgment letter is a far better outcome than explaining yourself to the data regulator.

What to do before 19 June

• Write your complaints process down — one page is genuinely enough
• Tell your tenants how to raise a data complaint (a line in your next routine email works)
• Diarise the 30-day acknowledgment window so nothing slips
• Keep a record of any complaint you receive and how you responded

Get the template (free)

We've built a free, printable one-page pack: a DUAA-compliant acknowledgment letter plus an 8-point complaints-process checklist. Download it, fill in your details, file it — done before the deadline.

Download the free Landlord Data-Complaints Template →

And while you're checking compliance: licensing deadlines are stacking up across London this summer. See what your borough requires at boroughready.com.