Somewhere in most UK homes there is a drawer, a shoebox, or a suspiciously heavy folder marked “house stuff”. It holds the boiler manual, a FENSA certificate you can't find when the buyer's solicitor asks, and an EPC that expired in 2023. When you come to remortgage, insure, or sell in 2026, that drawer is the difference between a smooth week and a stressful one — and, in a market where buyers pull out over missing certificates, potentially the difference between a completed sale and a collapsed one.
A proper home logbook — the set of home logbook documents that prove what your property is, who owns it, and what's been done to it — is the cheapest insurance you'll ever hold. It costs nothing but an afternoon, and it can knock weeks off a sale or save you a five-figure argument over unpermitted work. Below are the 12 documents every UK home should have on file, grouped into four buckets.
Ownership and the legal basics
These are the papers that answer the first question any solicitor, lender, or buyer asks: is this house really yours, and is it legally what it claims to be?
- Title deeds and your Land Registry title
Since almost all property in England and Wales is now registered, your “deeds” are really the official copy of your title held by HM Land Registry — the title register and title plan. You can download these from gov.uk for a few pounds. Keep a copy; it shows the boundaries, your name as registered proprietor, and any restrictions or charges.
- Planning permission decisions
Any extension, loft conversion, outbuilding, or change of use should have a written planning decision notice from your local authority — or clear confirmation it fell under permitted development rights. If you can't prove permission, a buyer's solicitor may demand indemnity insurance, hold back the sale, or in the worst case pull out entirely. Councils keep planning records online, so a missing notice can often be re-downloaded — do it now rather than under deadline pressure.
- Building Regulations completion certificates
Separate from planning, Building Regs cover whether the work is structurally and safely built. A completion certificate from Building Control (or an approved inspector) is the proof. Missing certificates for a knocked-through wall or a rewire are one of the most common reasons sales stall in 2026.
- Party wall agreements
If you or a neighbour built near or on a shared boundary, there should be a signed party wall award. Lost paperwork here can turn a friendly boundary into a dispute you have to declare to buyers.
Safety and compliance
These prove the house won't hurt anyone. Insurers, mortgage lenders, and buyers increasingly ask for all three.
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
Your EPC is valid for 10 years and legally required to sell or let. With EPC rebanding under discussion for 2026, a current certificate and any improvement recommendations are worth keeping to hand. You can check yours free on the gov.uk EPC register.
- Gas safety and boiler service history
Keep every annual boiler service record and, if you've let the property, the CP12 Gas Safety Record. Most manufacturer warranties are void the moment you miss a service, so this file is protecting a real asset — a new boiler runs well over £3,000 fitted in 2026. A full service history from a Gas Safe registered engineer also reassures a buyer that the heating won't fail in their first winter, which is exactly the reassurance that keeps a sale on track.
- Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) and Part P certificates
An EICR grades the safety of your wiring; any notifiable electrical work should carry a Part P building regulations certificate. Landlords must hold a valid EICR, and owner-occupiers selling a recently rewired home should have the paperwork ready.
Proof of work done to the house
Every improvement you've paid for should leave a paper trail. This is the bucket homeowners most often neglect — and most often regret.
- FENSA or CERTASS certificates for windows and doors
Replacement windows and external doors fitted since 2002 need a FENSA or CERTASS certificate, or a Building Regs completion certificate. It's a small sheet of paper that buyers' solicitors ask for by name — and if the installer has since gone out of business, a replacement can cost time, money, and an awkward indemnity policy. If you've had windows done and never saw a certificate, chase the installer today while you still can.
- Structural warranties (NHBC Buildmark and similar)
Newer homes and major structural work often carry a 10-year warranty such as NHBC Buildmark. If you're within the warranty period, the certificate is worth real money — don't let it vanish.
- Damp-proofing and timber treatment guarantees
Specialist damp, timber, or waterproofing work usually comes with a long guarantee, sometimes insurance-backed. These transfer to new owners and can settle a survey query in one email if you've kept them.
- Home improvement receipts and invoices
Keep receipts for anything that changed the fabric of the house — a new kitchen, rewiring, a roof. They prove the work was done, support warranty claims, and, if your home isn't your main residence, form part of your Capital Gains Tax calculation.
Protection
- Buildings and contents insurance schedule
Your policy schedule is the document that actually matters at claim time: sum insured, excess, and exclusions. Keep the current schedule and the last renewal, and check the rebuild value — not the market value — is realistic for 2026 construction costs.
Here's the blunt view: the single most expensive mistake UK homeowners make with paperwork isn't losing a document — it's never getting one in the first place. Every time you let a tradesperson leave without the FENSA certificate, the Building Regs sign-off, or the guarantee, you are quietly knocking money off your own sale price and handing it to an indemnity insurer years from now. Ask for the paperwork before you pay the final invoice, every single time.
Why keep it all in one place
A shoebox works right up until the moment you need it — which is always a moment of pressure, like a sale falling through a mortgage valuation or an insurer questioning a claim. A digital home logbook keeps every certificate, receipt, and service date in one place, backed up, and searchable by the buyer's solicitor with a single link. It also nudges you when the EPC or gas service is due, so the file stays current rather than curling up in a drawer.
How long should you keep each one?
As a rule of thumb: keep ownership documents (title, planning, party wall) for as long as you own the home and hand them to the next owner. Keep compliance and work certificates — EPC, EICR, FENSA, Building Regs, warranties, guarantees — for the life of the work or the warranty, whichever is longer. Keep insurance schedules for the current year plus the previous one. Improvement receipts are worth holding for the whole time you own the property, especially if it isn't your main home and Capital Gains Tax could apply on sale.
What to do in the next 30 minutes
• Empty the “house stuff” drawer onto the table and sort it into the four buckets above.
• List which of the 12 documents you actually have — and which are missing.
• Download your title register and EPC from gov.uk while you're at it (a few pounds, five minutes).
• Photograph or scan everything you found; a phone photo of a certificate beats a lost original.
• Put the whole set in one dated folder so future-you knows nothing's missing.
Once it's scanned, you need somewhere it won't get lost again. Build the logbook in Home+ — our free digital home logbook stores every certificate, receipt, and service date, reminds you when the EPC or boiler service is due, and lets you share a tidy pack with a solicitor or buyer in one click.
Not sure a certificate is still valid? The gov.uk EPC register and Building Control records are the definitive sources, and a quick check now saves a scramble later.
