Tenancy agreement template for UK landlords: what you need in 2026

A tenancy agreement template is a reusable contract a landlord adapts for each new letting. From 1 May 2026 the template most landlords were using is out of date, because the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 abolished assured shorthold tenancies and fixed terms for new lettings in England. Every new tenancy is now an open-ended assured periodic tenancy, and landlords must give the tenant a Written Statement of Terms before the tenancy begins under section 16D of the Housing Act 1988, inserted by the 2025 Act. This guide explains what a compliant template must now contain, how it differs from the Written Statement of Terms, and where to get one.

The practical effect is that a fixed-term AST template downloaded before May 2026 is no longer safe to use for a new tenancy. The rest of this guide sets out what changed, what your agreement must include, and where August fits in helping you manage the documentation.

What has changed for tenancy agreements from 1 May 2026?

From 1 May 2026, assured shorthold tenancies no longer exist for new lettings in England. All new private residential tenancies are assured periodic tenancies. Which means open-ended, rolling agreements with no fixed end date. This is not a matter of drafting. It is the law, regardless of what any template says. A clause purporting to set a fixed term is void from 1 May 2026, and getting the new duties wrong carries a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for a first offence.

This has three immediate consequences for any template you use. First, the template must not contain a fixed end date. Second, it must not contain a contractual rent review clause, because all rent increases now follow the statutory Section 13 process, once per year, using Form 4A. Third, for new tenancies you must provide a Written Statement of Terms before the tenancy is entered into, which can be built into the tenancy agreement itself or given as a separate document. Failing to do so is a civil penalty offence. One legacy step has also fallen away: serving the How to Rent guide used to be a precondition of a valid Section 21 notice, so now that Section 21 has been abolished, the guide is no longer a document you are required to serve for an assured periodic tenancy.

For existing tenancies that converted to assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026, you do not need to rewrite your agreement. The legislation converted all ASTs automatically. You must, however, serve the government’s official Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 on every tenant whose tenancy is in writing by 31 May 2026, or face a fine of up to £7,000. The sheet must be the GOV.UK PDF; you cannot send a link or paraphrase it.

Why a generic downloadable template now carries more risk

Before May 2026, a broadly compliant AST template from a reputable source such as Lawpack or a solicitor was a reasonable starting point for a straightforward letting. Post-May 2026 the picture is more complicated. The 2026 regulations made under section 16D set out mandatory terms that every new assured periodic tenancy agreement must contain, covering possession grounds, the rent increase procedure, pet requests and the new rights framework. A template that predates May 2026, or that has not been updated for the new regime, is non-compliant by default. A landlord using an outdated AST template for a new tenancy risks both the unenforceability of certain clauses and a civil penalty.

The safer approach is to use a template explicitly updated for the post-Renters’ Rights Act regime and checked by a solicitor or specialist landlord organisation. The next section sets out where to find one, and why the obvious government sources do not yet supply it.

Free tenancy agreement templates in Word: what is available in 2026

Most landlords looking for a free tenancy agreement template in Word want something they can edit and reuse for each letting, and plenty are available. The difficulty is that, as at October 2026, the government has not published a model agreement for the assured periodic tenancies that replaced ASTs on 1 May 2026. The model shorthold assured tenancy agreement still on GOV.UK was last updated in January 2021 and is built around a fixed term, so it cannot be used as it stands for a new letting. The assured tenancy forms page is sometimes mistaken for a template source, but it holds prescribed notices, such as Form 3A for possession and Form 4A for a rent increase, not a tenancy agreement.

That leaves three routes. Landlord associations, including the NRLA, give members assured periodic agreements updated for May 2026. A solicitor can draft or check one, usually for a fixed fee. Or you can adapt a free Word template yourself, provided you check it against the government’s written information landlords must give tenants: remove any fixed end date and contractual rent review clause, and include the possession grounds, the Section 13 rent increase procedure and the pet request terms. The quickest test of any free download is to search it for “assured shorthold tenancy”. If the phrase appears, it is a legacy document.

August is looking to provide tenancy agreement templates in specific paid subscription later in Q4 2026.

What a compliant tenancy agreement must contain from May 2026

The Written Statement of Terms for a new assured periodic tenancy must include all of the following before the tenancy is agreed, and these can sit within a full tenancy agreement document.

Landlord and property details: the full name, address and contact details for the landlord or managing agent, and the full address of the property.

Tenancy start date and type: the start date and confirmation that it is an assured periodic tenancy with no fixed end date, and the rental period, typically monthly in line with the rent.

Rent and payment terms: the amount, frequency, payment date and method. Landlords cannot require more than one month’s rent in advance for a tenancy starting from 1 May 2026, and rent periods cannot exceed one calendar month. Our rent payment term calculator converts between payment frequencies.

Deposit details: the deposit amount, capped at five weeks’ rent where annual rent is under £50,000 or six weeks above that, and the tenancy deposit scheme in which it will be protected within 30 days of receipt.

Rent increase procedure: confirmation that rent can only rise through the Section 13 procedure using Form 4A, once per year, with at least two months’ notice. Contractual rent review clauses are void, so do not include them. Our rent increase calculator works out the new amount before you serve notice.

Possession grounds: a statement that possession can only be obtained under the statutory grounds, and that Section 21 no-fault eviction is no longer available.

Notice periods: tenants must give at least two months’ notice to end the tenancy, and landlords must use the appropriate Section 8 ground and notice period, which ranges from two weeks to four months depending on the ground. Our Section 8 notices guide sets out the full breakdown.

Obligations of both parties: the landlord’s repairing obligations for structure, installations, heating and hot water under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and the tenant’s obligations to care for the property, report repairs promptly and use the property reasonably.

Permitted payments: a statement of which payments are permitted under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, namely the deposit, rent, a holding deposit capped at one week’s rent, and any default payments the Act allows.

Pet requests: acknowledgement of the tenant’s statutory right to make a written pet request, which the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse and must respond to within 28 days.

Periodic, rolling and assured periodic: what these terms mean in 2026

Before May 2026, landlords distinguished between a contractual periodic tenancy, a statutory periodic tenancy that arose when a fixed term expired, and a fixed-term tenancy, each with different notice rules. From 1 May 2026 that distinction has largely collapsed for private lettings. All new tenancies are assured periodic tenancies from the outset, and all existing ASTs have converted to them. So a “periodic tenancy agreement template”, a “rolling tenancy agreement” and an “assured periodic tenancy agreement” now all describe the same arrangement. Tenant notice is a statutory minimum of two months whatever a contract says, and landlord notice is set by the Section 8 ground relied upon.

What about Wales?

If your property is in Wales, the Renters’ Rights Act does not apply. Wales operates under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which introduced occupation contracts in December 2022. Welsh landlords use standard occupation contracts rather than ASTs or assured periodic tenancies, and the documentation differs. This article covers England only, so always confirm which framework applies to your property.

How August helps you manage tenancy documentation

August does not draft tenancy agreements or supply templates, so for the agreement itself use a solicitor-verified, post-Renters’ Rights Act template from a landlord association or a solicitor. You can also find August’s own checklists and forms on the free landlord resources page.

What August does is manage the documentation around the agreement. The document storage feature lets you upload the tenancy agreement and everything that sits alongside it, the Information Sheet, prescribed information, gas safety certificate, EICR and EPC, against the right property and tenancy. August’s AI scanning reads an uploaded agreement and auto-fills key details such as the start date, rent and tenant names, and the compliance checklist tracks whether each required document has been served and prompts you before deadlines.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still use my old AST template after 1 May 2026?

Not for a new tenancy. Assured shorthold tenancies and fixed terms no longer exist for new lettings in England, so a fixed-term AST template is non-compliant: any fixed-term clause is void, and missing the new mandatory terms or the Written Statement of Terms exposes you to a civil penalty of up to £7,000. Use a template updated for the assured periodic tenancy regime.

Do I need to reissue tenancy agreements for existing tenants?

No. Existing assured shorthold tenancies converted automatically to assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026, so you do not repaper the agreement. If the existing tenancy is wholly or partly in writing, you must serve the GOV.UK Information Sheet by 31 May 2026. If it is a wholly oral tenancy, you must instead provide a written statement of the key terms by that date.

What is the difference between a tenancy agreement and the Written Statement of Terms?

The tenancy agreement is the full contract between you and the tenant. The Written Statement of Terms is the set of key terms that section 16D of the Housing Act 1988 now requires you to give a new tenant before the tenancy begins. You can satisfy the duty by building the statement into a compliant tenancy agreement, or by providing it as a separate document.

Where can I get a compliant tenancy agreement template for 2026?

There is no official government model for the new assured periodic tenancy yet. The model agreement on GOV.UK dates from 2021 and is built around a fixed term. Use an agreement from a landlord association such as the NRLA, a solicitor-drafted agreement, or a free Word template you have checked against the government’s written information requirements. Many free templates online are still legacy AST documents, so check before you use one.

Does a tenancy agreement have to be in writing?

An assured tenancy can exist without a written contract, but from 1 May 2026 you must give a new tenant a Written Statement of Terms, so in practice every new tenancy needs key terms recorded in writing. A written agreement also makes your position far easier to evidence if a dispute arises. For more on the clauses a strong agreement should contain, see our guide to tenancy agreements in the UK.

This article is a guide only and is not legal advice. Tenancy law changed significantly on 1 May 2026 and continues to evolve. Always have your tenancy agreement reviewed by a qualified solicitor or specialist landlord legal service before use. August does not provide legal advice and accepts no liability for decisions made on the basis of this content.