TradedocRenters' Rights Information Sheet pack
A blank cover letter, tenant acknowledgement form and service log you can print and fill by hand. Or the faster option — generate the pack on the phone, attach the unaltered GOV.UK Information Sheet PDF, served and logged before the 31 May deadline. Tracks the Renters' Rights Act 2025 information duty.
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What it is
From 1 May 2026 every existing assured (or assured shorthold) tenancy converts to the new periodic system under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. By 31 May 2026 every landlord must have served on every tenant the government's Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet — an unaltered PDF published by GOV.UK. The 'pack' is the cover letter, the tenant acknowledgement, and the service log that prove the duty was met. You attach the government PDF unchanged; the pack is the wrapper around it.
UK legal requirement
Renters' Rights Act 2025, transition provisions for existing assured tenancies. The Information Sheet must be served by 31 May 2026, must be the GOV.UK PDF served unaltered (a hyperlink alone does not satisfy the duty), and applies to every assured shorthold tenancy in England that existed before 1 May 2026. Letting agents have a parallel duty even where the landlord has also served. Civil penalty for non-compliance up to £7,000.
Compliance status
This template tracks Renters' Rights Act 2025 — Information Sheet duty (by 31 May 2026) and mandatory written tenancy information (from 1 May 2026). Our compliance radar crawls the publishing bodies every six hours — see the standards we build to today or the radar of what's coming next.
Engineer remains responsible for verifying compliance with the version applicable to their work. TradeDoc is a tool, not a regulator.
Who needs it
- ·Every private landlord with one or more existing assured shorthold tenancies in England as at 1 May 2026
- ·Letting agents managing tenanted property — duty applies to the agent in addition to the landlord
- ·Build-to-rent and student-let operators with any qualifying AST in the portfolio
- ·Council and registered-provider sub-let arrangements falling within the AST regime
What goes on it
Every mandatory field, in the order the inspector or auditor will check them.
Landlord and property details
Landlord legal name, service address (must be in England, Wales or Scotland), property address served, tenancy reference if used, names of every tenant on the agreement.
Tenancy details
Date the tenancy commenced, current monthly rent, deposit holder and DPS reference, rent payment date, agent name where managed by an agent.
Information Sheet attachment confirmation
Express statement that the GOV.UK Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 is attached to this letter as an unaltered PDF. Recording the filename and (optionally) the SHA-256 hash of the file is the audit-trail belt-and-braces — not statutory but recommended.
Service method
How the pack was served — email (and to which address), hand-delivered (with date), first-class post (with date posted and presumed-receipt date under Section 196 LPA 1925), recorded delivery (with reference).
Tenant acknowledgement
Detachable form for the tenant to sign confirming receipt. Signature, date, printed name. Where served by email, a reply email confirming receipt is acceptable evidence — keep both.
Service log entry
Date served, served by, method, any tenant response, copies retained by landlord/agent. Build the log so a tribunal could read it cold.
Common mistakes on a hand-filled one
The small things that get picked up on audit, insurance review, or when the next engineer reads it.
- ✗Sending a hyperlink to the GOV.UK page instead of attaching the PDF — the statute requires the document served unaltered, which means the file itself, not a link to it
- ✗Editing the PDF (adding a header, watermark or letterhead) — any alteration breaks compliance, no matter how cosmetic
- ✗Serving by SMS or WhatsApp without keeping a copy of the file as sent — a 'sent' log without the attachment is not sufficient evidence
- ✗Forgetting that letting agents must also serve where they manage the tenancy, even if the landlord has served — both duties are independent
- ✗Using the Information Sheet alone for a tenancy that was wholly verbal pre-1 May 2026 — for purely oral tenancies, written terms must be supplied separately, the Sheet is not enough
- ✗Missing tenants on a joint tenancy — every tenant on the agreement must receive a copy individually, not one copy 'for the household'
- ✗Relying on first-class post served after 25 May without recorded delivery — Section 196 deemed-receipt is two working days, leaving no margin for the 31 May deadline
The faster option
Fill one on your phone in 2 minutes
Pick the template. Answer the fields. Customer signs from their inbox. PDF saved in the vault with a unique number. Free forever on your first 100 docs a month. Pro £15/month adds custom branding and one-tap customer email. No card at sign-up.
Frequently asked questions
What's the deadline for serving the Renters' Rights Information Sheet?+
31 May 2026. By that date every tenant on every existing assured shorthold tenancy in England must have received the GOV.UK Information Sheet, served unaltered. After 31 May the local authority can issue civil penalties up to £7,000 per breach.
Does a hyperlink to the GOV.UK page count?+
No. The statute requires the document to be served unaltered, which the courts will read as the file itself. A hyperlink is service of a route, not the document. Attach the PDF to the email, hand-deliver a printed copy, or post a printed copy. Keep proof.
Do I have to send it again every year?+
No. The Information Sheet duty is a one-off transition obligation for tenancies that existed before 1 May 2026. New tenancies signed on or after 1 May 2026 follow a different rule — the mandatory written tenancy information must be supplied with the agreement before signature.
What if my tenant is on a verbal tenancy?+
The Information Sheet is not sufficient on its own for purely oral pre-existing tenancies. You must instead provide written information setting out the key terms (parties, address, rent, payment date, deposit if any, term/period). The Information Sheet can be served on top, but the written terms come first.
Can I serve the pack by email?+
Yes, provided the tenant has consented to electronic service (most modern AST clauses include this). Attach the unaltered PDF, keep the sent email and the delivery/receipt confirmation. If the email bounces or the tenant has not given electronic consent, fall back to first-class post or hand delivery.
What's the penalty for missing the 31 May deadline?+
Local authorities may serve a civil penalty notice of up to £7,000 per qualifying tenancy. Repeated breaches and breaches by larger portfolios attract higher penalties. Tenants may also be able to defend possession proceedings on grounds of non-compliance.