Guide · England only
Written Statement of Terms, and who gets the Information Sheet instead
Two different documents, two different groups of tenants, one deadline that has already passed for some landlords. Here is which one applies to you, and what to do if you have missed it.
Who gets what
Three situations
- New tenancy agreed on or after 1 May 2026
- The tenant must be given a Written Statement of Terms before the tenancy is agreed — not on the day, not afterwards. Generating it late is still worth doing, but the timing requirement is the part people miss.
- Existing tenancy with a written agreement
- These tenants do not need a new statement. They need the official Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet. The deadline for giving it was 31 May 2026.
- Existing tenancy that is wholly oral
- Nothing in writing means there is nothing for an Information Sheet to sit alongside. These tenants need a Written Statement of Terms.
If you missed 31 May 2026
Serve it now and log it now
A missed deadline is not improved by leaving it missed. Give the Information Sheet to those tenants, and keep a record of the date you did it and what you attached. That record is the thing you will be asked for, and it is the thing most landlords do not have.
For context on why it is taken seriously: failing to give the Information Sheet can carry a financial penalty of up to £7,000. It is a document you can obtain in a minute — the enforcement risk sits almost entirely in not being able to show you handed it over.
The prescribed fields
What a Written Statement has to cover
The statement sets out 18 prescribed matters. Grouped in plain English, they are:
- Who and where
- The landlord’s name, an address in England and Wales for serving notices, contact details, the tenants’ names, and the address of the property being let.
- When it starts and how it runs
- The date the tenancy begins, that it is a periodic assured tenancy, and the length of each rental period.
- Money
- The rent, how often it is paid, when it falls due, and which bills (if any) are included in it.
- Deposit
- The amount held, the protection scheme it sits in, and the scheme reference.
- How the rent can change
- That rent increases happen by Section 13 notice on Form 4A, with at least two months’ notice and no more than one increase in any 52 weeks. Rent-review clauses have been void since 1 May 2026.
- How the tenancy can end
- The notice the tenant can give, and the grounds on which the landlord can seek possession.
- Living there
- Whether pets, lodgers or subletting are permitted, and how a request about them is handled.
- Repairs and standards
- Who repairs what, access arrangements, and the landlord’s obligations on the condition of the property.
- Support and complaints
- Whether the tenancy is supported housing, and how a tenant raises a complaint or escalates it.
TenancyPack fills these from the tenancy you enter. A Written Statement of Terms is a statutory statement, not a tenancy agreement, and it does not replace one.
Scope
England only
This guide, and everything TenancyPack generates, applies to tenancies in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate regimes with different documents and different deadlines, and are out of scope here.
Where to go next
Generate the statement and keep the proof, or start with the free rent-increase form.
This is not legal advice and not a substitute for a solicitor.