Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet 2026: who, when | August

Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet 2026: what landlords need to know

The Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 is an official government document that landlords and letting agents must give to existing tenants to explain how the Renters' Rights Act 2025 changes their tenancy. The duty applied to assured and assured shorthold tenancies created before 1 May 2026 that have a written record of terms, and the sheet had to be served by 31 May 2026. Landlords who have not yet served it remain exposed to a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for a single breach, so if you have not acted, the priority is to serve the correct document and record that you have done so.

What the Information Sheet is

The Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet is a standard document produced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, not something a landlord writes. It summarises the headline changes brought in by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. The move to assured periodic tenancies, the abolition of fixed terms and Section 21 no-fault evictions, the new rules on rent increases, and tenants' new right to request a pet. Its legal basis sits in Schedule 6, paragraph 7 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, and the official version is published on GOV.UK.

The purpose is narrow. The sheet tells existing tenants what is changing and how it affects the tenancy they already have. It is a transitional measure, which is why it targets tenancies that began before the Act commenced rather than new ones signed afterwards.

Which tenancies need it

You had to serve the Information Sheet to every named tenant where the tenancy met all of the following conditions:

• it is an assured or assured shorthold tenancy

• it was created before 1 May 2026

• it has a wholly or partly written record of terms, including a written tenancy agreement

A copy goes to each tenant named on the agreement, not one copy per household. You do not serve it to lodgers, and you do not serve it for a tenancy based entirely on a verbal agreement, which follows a different route covered below. Social landlords letting a non-social tenancy may also need to provide it.

The deadline, and where this leaves you now

The serving deadline was 31 May 2026. That date has passed, which changes the practical position rather than removing the obligation. A landlord who served the correct document on time and kept evidence has nothing further to do. A landlord who has not served it is now late, and the sensible course is to serve it without further delay and to keep a clear record of when and how, because the penalty exposure does not lapse simply because the deadline has gone by.

The risk also escalates with time. A single failure can attract a civil penalty of up to £7,000, but where a breach continues for more than 28 days after a penalty has been issued, it can be treated as a continuing offence and draw further penalties of up to £40,000. Acting now is materially cheaper than leaving the gap open.

How to serve it correctly

The method matters as much as the timing, and this is where avoidable mistakes happen. You must use the exact PDF published on GOV.UK, with no edits, no branding, and no alterations of any kind. The document is only valid in its official form.

You can serve it in one of two ways. You can print a hard copy and post it or hand it to the tenant, or you can send the PDF itself as an attachment to an email or a text message. What you cannot do is send a link to the PDF, because a link does not count as valid service. The government has also published accessible versions, including large print, braille and easy read, but if you serve one of those you must serve the standard PDF alongside it.

Supporting self-managing landlords through commencement, the most common error we have seen is not lateness but invalid service: a friendly covering email with a link to the GOV.UK page, rather than the PDF attached. The covering note is fine and arguably courteous; the document still has to travel as an attachment or on paper.

Penalties for getting it wrong

Failing to provide the Information Sheet is a breach of your legal duties, and tenants can report non-compliance to their local authority. The local authority can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for a single breach. Where the failure is not put right and continues beyond 28 days after a penalty is issued, the exposure rises to as much as £40,000. These are civil penalties handed down by the local authority rather than court fines, which means they can be issued without a prosecution. The defensible position is simple: serve the correct document and be able to prove it.

The letting agent's separate duty

If a letting agent manages the property on your behalf, the agent has their own duty to serve the Information Sheet, and that duty stands even if you have already served it yourself. This is one of the few areas where deliberate duplication is the safe outcome rather than a problem. If you use an agent, confirm in writing that they have served the sheet and have kept their own record, because the obligation rests on both of you independently.

Verbal tenancies: the written statement instead

A tenancy based entirely on a verbal agreement made before 1 May 2026 falls outside the Information Sheet regime. For those tenancies you cannot use the sheet at all. Instead you must give the tenant a written statement setting out the key terms of the tenancy and other prescribed information, also by 31 May 2026. The written statement is closer in substance to a short-form tenancy agreement than to the government sheet, and the same lateness considerations apply if it has not yet been provided. Guidance on what the statement must contain is published on GOV.UK under tenancy agreements and written information for tenants.

New tenancies from 1 May 2026

The Information Sheet is a transitional document for tenancies that already existed when the Act commenced. It does not apply to a tenancy you grant on or after 1 May 2026, because those start life on the new assured periodic tenancy regime and the relevant information is built into the new-style agreement rather than served separately. If most of your portfolio turns over onto new agreements, your obligation to serve the sheet falls away for those properties. The broader picture of how the regime changed on commencement is set out in our Renters' Rights Act implementation and enforcement guide.

Keeping a record of service

The obligation does not end at sending the document; it ends at being able to prove you sent the right one, to the right people, in a valid way. A defensible record notes which tenants received it, the date, and the method, with the sent email or proof of postage retained against the tenancy. For landlords managing several tenancies, this is where a single store of compliance documents earns its place: keeping the served Information Sheet, and your evidence of service, filed against each tenancy in August means the proof is there if a local authority ever asks, rather than scattered across an inbox. Landlords who set a reminder for each obligation as the rules changed found the transition far less fraught than those working from memory.

Frequently asked questions

Do I still need to serve the Information Sheet now the 31 May deadline has passed? 

Yes. The deadline has gone but the duty and the penalty exposure have not. If you have not served the correct document to your eligible existing tenants, serve it now and record that you have done so, because a continuing failure can escalate from a £7,000 penalty toward £40,000.

Can I add my own logo or a covering note to the Information Sheet? 

No. The sheet must be the exact GOV.UK PDF with no edits or branding. You can send a separate covering note, but the official document itself must be unaltered, and it must be sent as an attachment or on paper rather than as a link.

Does my letting agent serving it cover me? 

Both you and your agent hold the duty independently, so an agent serving the sheet does not remove your own obligation. In practice the safe position is for the agent to serve it and for you to confirm in writing that they have, keeping a copy of their record.

What if the tenancy was only ever verbal? 

You do not serve the Information Sheet for a wholly verbal tenancy created before 1 May 2026. You provide a written statement of the key tenancy terms instead, following the GOV.UK guidance on written information for tenants.

If you are working through several tenancies and want one place to hold each served sheet and its proof of service, you can start with August for free.