The written statement of terms and the information sheet. Which one you owe and when.
Two new documents came in on 1 May 2026. Which one you owe depends on when the tenancy started and whether it was in writing. Missing the one that applies is a breach of up to £7,000 per tenancy.
Guide by Damion Robinson MCIOB MCIEH. Law and figures checked 01/10/2026. This is general information, not legal advice about your case.
The written statement of terms
Section 16D of the Housing Act 1988 requires the landlord to give the tenant a written statement of the terms of the tenancy before it’s entered into. The content is prescribed by the Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Statement of Terms etc and Information Sheet) (England) Regulations 2026 and it’s a long list: the parties, the property, the rent and how it’s paid, the rent period, the deposit and where it’s protected, the landlord’s address for service, the grounds for possession the landlord may rely on, which of the special grounds apply, and a set of statements about the tenant’s rights. A tenancy agreement that covers all of it counts, but most agreement templates from before 2026 don’t.
It applies to tenancies granted on or after 1 May 2026. If a tenancy already existed on that date and was wholly or partly in writing, you didn’t have to issue a new statement or a new agreement. The exception is an existing tenancy that was wholly oral, where a written statement had to be given by 31 May 2026. If you missed it, giving it now is still the right thing to do, and it’s the first item in any mitigation if the council comes calling.
Some possession grounds only work if the tenant was told in writing beforehand that the ground might be used, the student ground 4A among them. If you expect to rely on one of those for a tenancy that started before 1 May 2026, check the GOV.UK guidance on the notice existing tenants had to be given.
The information sheet
A government document, the Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026, that explains the new rules to tenants who were already renting. It had to be given by 31 May 2026 to every tenant on a tenancy that existed on 1 May 2026 and was wholly or partly in writing. It’s a one-off. New tenancies don’t get it, because the written statement does that job.
It has to be the PDF itself as published on GOV.UK, unedited. A link doesn’t count and nor does your own summary, and every named tenant gets a copy. Where an agent manages the property, the government guidance says the agent should give it too.
Serving them properly
Email is fine if the tenancy allows service by email and you have the tenant’s address. Otherwise it’s post or by hand. Keep a dated copy of what you sent and proof of how you sent it, for every tenancy. If the council asks, “I gave it to them” without a record carries very little weight.
What the penalty looks like
Failing to give the document that applied is a breach with a civil penalty of up to £7,000. If the failure continues after a penalty has been imposed, the next one can be up to £40,000. It’s per tenancy, not per landlord. A landlord with ten tenancies and no records is looking at a very large number, and councils now have a duty to enforce.
What a compliance pack does
It audits every tenancy and works out which document applied. It produces the written statement for new lets and for any oral tenancies, records how and when the information sheet went to everyone else, gives you the service method and the record to keep, and sets the diary dates for the section 13 rent increase cycle and anything else the tenancy needs. Once it’s done, the file exists, and that’s the thing that matters when a council officer writes.
LS-04 Renters’ Rights Act compliance pack, £120 per landlord, plus LS-04A £25 per property
Fixed price, confirmed in writing before you commit. Council and tribunal fees at cost on top.
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