Written Statement of Tenancy Terms: What Landlords Must Give Tenants Under the Renters' Rights Act

If you've been a landlord for any length of time, you'll be used to handing a tenant a tenancy agreement, often an assured shorthold tenancy template from a letting agent or a stationery website, getting it signed, and filing it away. That template is now out of date. Assured shorthold tenancies no longer exist: GOV.UK's guide for landlords confirms they all became assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026, the same day section 21 was abolished. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 also added a new statutory duty. Before the tenancy starts, you must give your tenant a written statement of terms whose content is set by regulations, not by you.

What the law requires

Section 16D of the Housing Act 1988, inserted by section 12 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, requires the landlord under an assured tenancy to give the tenant a written statement of:

The regulations are The Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Statement of Terms etc and Information Sheet) (England) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/324), in force since 1 May 2026. Their Schedule lists what the statement must contain. They do not apply to social housing assured tenancies. The duty only covers assured tenancies, so it does not cover a lodger living in your own home.

Three practical points from the GOV.UK guidance on written information for tenants:

• You can include the information in a written tenancy agreement or give it separately. A well-drafted agreement can do both jobs.
• You do not have to copy the wording of the regulations, but every item that applies to your tenancy must be covered.
• The 18 items are a minimum. You can add other lawful terms.

Which document do you owe, and by when?

A separate 28-day rule in s16D(6) covers demoted tenancies that change landlord. That is a social housing situation.

For a new tenancy, "before the tenancy is entered into" means exactly that. Put the statement in the pack the tenant receives before signing. If the tenant signs first and gets the statement afterwards, you have already breached s16D.

The Information Sheet for existing tenancies

If your tenancy started before 1 May 2026 with a written agreement, you did not have to issue a full written statement or re-issue the agreement. Instead you had to give the government's Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 by 31 May 2026. GOV.UK sets these rules for it:

• Use the exact PDF downloaded from the GOV.UK page.
• Post it or hand it over as a printed copy, or send the PDF as an attachment to an email or text. Sending a link to the PDF does not count.
• Give a copy to every tenant named on the tenancy agreement. Lodgers do not need one.
• If a letting agent manages the property, the agent must give it too, even if you have already done so.

There is one later trigger. If you served a valid section 21 or section 8 notice before 1 May 2026, the tenancy becomes an assured periodic tenancy once that notice stops being valid or the court process ends without possession being granted. You then have one month from that point to give the Information Sheet. If you simply missed 31 May, give the sheet now. Late compliance does not undo the breach, but it stops it continuing.

The written statement checklist: all 18 items

These are the 18 paragraphs in Part 1 of the Schedule to SI 2026/324, in the same order. Items marked if applicable only need to be included when the condition applies to your tenancy.

Parties, property and rent

• 1. Landlord's name, and the name of every joint landlord.
• 2. Tenant's name, and the name of every joint tenant.
• 3. An address in England or Wales where the tenant can serve notices on you, including notices in proceedings. GOV.UK says this need not be your home address, but you must be able to receive post there. A phone number or email address is optional.
• 4. The address of the property.
• 5. The date the tenant is first entitled to possession, which is the first day they can move in.
• 6. The rent, and when it is due.
• 7. A statement that any new proposal to increase the rent will be made by a notice under section 13 of the Housing Act 1988. See our guide to section 13 rent increase notices.
• 8. Bills paid to you (if applicable). This covers council tax, utilities (energy, water and sewerage), a TV licence, phone, internet or TV services, and green deal payments. Say whether each is included in the rent or paid on top. If paid on top, give each amount and due date, or explain how and when you will tell the tenant. Bills the tenant pays directly to the supplier do not need to be listed.
• 9. The amount of the tenancy deposit (if you take one).

Ending the tenancy

• 10. The tenant's minimum notice period (if applicable, which covers almost all private assured tenancies). Under section 5(1ZA) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, a tenant's notice cannot be required to exceed two months. If no shorter period is agreed in writing, the notice period is two months. For joint tenants, a shorter period must be agreed with all of them.
• 11. How you can end the tenancy. State that in most cases you can only end it by getting a court order for possession and having it executed. If you seek an order, you (or one joint landlord) must usually first serve a possession notice in the prescribed form stating the ground or grounds. The ground used decides the minimum notice period. Section 21 no longer exists, so possession now depends on the section 8 grounds. See how to end a tenancy after section 21.

Standards and safety

• 12. Fitness for human habitation. State that you must keep the property fit for human habitation to the extent required by section 9A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
• 13. Repairing obligations under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. You must keep in repair the structure and exterior. You must also keep in repair and proper working order the installations for water, gas, electricity and sanitation, and for space heating and hot water. You can leave this out only if section 11 does not apply, a county court order under section 12(2) applies, or a right to manage company has taken over management. See repairs and maintenance responsibilities.
• 14. Electrical safety (if the 2020 Electrical Safety Standards Regulations apply). You must meet the electrical safety standards while the property is occupied. You must have the installations inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years, or sooner if the last report says so. You must also give the tenant a copy of the report. See electrical safety requirements.
• 15. Gas safety (if a relevant gas fitting is installed in or serves the property). Under regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, you must keep gas fittings and flues safe. You must have them safety-checked by an HSE-approved (Gas Safe registered) engineer at the intervals the regulations set. You must also give the tenant a copy of the record. See our gas safety certificate guide.

Tenant rights

• 16. Disability improvements (if the tenant may make improvements with your consent). Explain that under section 190 of the Equality Act 2010 you cannot unreasonably refuse consent to an improvement that helps a disabled occupier enjoy the home. Also explain that section 190 does not apply where the tenancy already makes similar provision.
• 17. Pets. The tenant may keep a pet if they ask under section 16A of the Housing Act 1988 and you consent, and you must not unreasonably refuse. See the pet request rules.
• 18. Supported accommodation (if applicable). State that the tenancy is granted as supported accommodation and explain why. This rarely applies to private landlords, because the definition covers lettings by housing associations, registered providers, charities and voluntary organisations.

The optional statement you may need: prior notice of possession grounds

Section 16D(3) lets you add a statement that you may want to recover possession on Grounds 1B, 2ZA to 2ZD, 4, 5 to 5H, 6A or 18. For private landlords, the grounds most likely to matter are these:

• 2ZA to 2ZD, if you hold the property under a superior lease that may end.
• 4, where the property was let as student accommodation by a specified educational institution in the 12 months before the tenancy.
• 5 to 5H, for ministers of religion, agricultural and other employment-related lets, and supported, homelessness or stepping-stone housing.

If you later rely on one of these grounds without having given the statement, section 16E(1)(f) is breached. The court can still order possession on that ground, but the council can fine you up to £7,000.

Ground 4A, for student HMO lets, works differently. Giving the student statement before the tenancy starts is a condition of the ground itself in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988. Without it, you cannot use Ground 4A at all.

So decide before you let whether any of these grounds could apply, and include the statement at the start.

How to comply in practice

1. Check your tenancy agreement against the 18 items. A template written before the Act cannot reflect rules the Act created, such as the pets statement (item 17), the two-month cap on the tenant's notice (item 10) or the possession statement (item 11). Either update the agreement or prepare a separate statement.
2. Decide on prior-notice grounds. If any s16D(3) ground could apply, or Ground 4A for a student HMO, include the statement in what you give the tenant before the tenancy starts.
3. Give it before the tenancy is entered into. Send it with the pre-signing pack, or before you agree the tenancy orally.
4. Keep dated proof of what you gave, to whom, when and how. That is your evidence if a council investigates.
5. Agree responsibilities with your agent. If your contract makes a letting agent responsible for this, the duty applies to them too (s16D(8)). But if you have complied yourself, the agent cannot be fined just for their own failure (s16I(2)).

The penalty for getting it wrong

Councils enforce the duty. Under section 16I of the Housing Act 1988, a local housing authority that is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that you breached s16D (or, for existing written tenancies, the Information Sheet duty) can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000. If the breach continues more than 28 days after that penalty, the council can impose another one.

Continuing or repeating a breach after a penalty becomes a criminal offence under section 16J. That covers a breach continuing more than 28 days after a penalty has become final, or a new breach within five years of a final penalty or conviction. Instead of prosecuting, a council can impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000 (section 16K). For the wider picture, see landlord fines and civil penalties.

Frequently Asked Questions

Further reading

• Renters' Rights Act 2025: What Landlords Need to Know: the overview of the Act
• Banned tenancy clauses under the Renters' Rights Act: what to remove from your agreement
• The 2026 landlord compliance checklist: every obligation in one place

This article is general guidance for private landlords in England, not legal advice. Check the current legislation and GOV.UK guidance before relying on any detail.