A tenancy agreement in England may be written or oral, but since 1 May 2026 the tenant must receive the prescribed written statement of terms before the tenancy is entered into, and clauses fixing a term, demanding rent in advance, banning children or benefits, or setting a rent review are of no effect. GOV.UK has withdrawn its model agreement.
By Stevie Hayes · Updated 17 October 2026 · Figures checked against legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on 17 October 2026 · How we verify · Report a problem with this page · Statutory penalties are maximums; councils and courts decide the amount.
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| Fact | Position | Since / status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written statement | Prescribed terms in writing before the tenancy is entered into, whether or not the agreement is written; penalty up to £7,000 | 1 May 2026, s.16D | Housing Act 1988 s.16D (written statement of terms; s.16D(3) prior-notice grounds) |
| Fixed terms | Of no effect; purporting to grant one is a contravention | s.4A, s.16E(1)(a) | Housing Act 1988 s.4A (no fixed terms; rent periods) |
| Rent clauses | No rent in advance beyond the initial rent (new tenancies); no rent review clauses; increases by section 13 notice or tribunal only | s.4B, s.13(4A) | Housing Act 1988 s.4B (rent in advance) |
| Discriminatory terms | Terms restricting children or benefits status are of no effect, with narrow exceptions | RRA 2025 s.35 | Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.35 (discriminatory tenancy terms of no effect) |
| Fees | A term requiring a prohibited payment is not binding; deposit capped at five weeks' rent, six where annual rent is £50,000 or more | TFA 2019 ss.1, 4; Sch 1 para 2 | Tenant Fees Act 2019 s.4 (terms requiring prohibited payments not binding) |
| Repairs | The landlord's s.11 repairing covenant cannot be excluded or limited by the agreement | LTA 1985 s.12 | Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.12 (no contracting out of s.11) |
| GOV.UK model agreement | Removed; we could find no replacement template, only the list of written information to give | 5 August 2026 | GOV.UK: Model agreement for a shorthold assured tenancy (no longer available) |
A periodic tenancy has never needed to be in writing: Law of Property Act 1925 s.54(2) allows "the creation by parol of leases taking effect in possession for a term not exceeding three years", and GOV.UK's guide for landlords says the agreement "can be written down or oral (a spoken agreement)". What changed on 1 May 2026 is that every new tenant must be given a written statement of the prescribed terms "before the tenancy is entered into" (Housing Act 1988 s.16D(2), (4)), so the paperwork is now compulsory even where the agreement itself is spoken. The statement can be the tenancy agreement, provided it covers every prescribed item, or a separate document.
Missing it carries a council penalty of up to £7,000 (s.16I); a failure that continues more than 28 days after a final penalty, or repeats within five years, is an offence under s.16J, with a penalty of up to £40,000 under s.16K as the alternative to prosecution. Where a letting agent's contract makes them responsible for compliance the duty sits on the agent too (s.16D(8)). This page describes the law for England; it is not advice on your agreement.
The Schedule to SI 2026/324 runs to eighteen paragraphs; they are grouped here under twelve headings. GOV.UK's landlord guidance, published as draft guidance, says "You do not need to use the exact wording in the legislation or in the guidance" as long as every item is covered.
Two optional statements belong in the same document. Under s.16D(3) the landlord may state a wish to be able to recover possession on the prior-notice grounds, "Grounds 1B, 2ZA to 2ZD, 4, 5 to 5H, 6A or 18"; relying on one of them later without having said so is a contravention under s.16E(1)(f), though it "does not prevent a court from making an order for possession" (s.16E(5)), and the rule does not apply to written tenancies that already existed on 1 May 2026 (Renters' Rights Act 2025 Schedule 6 paragraph 7(1)). For a student HMO, a written statement before the tenancy that Ground 4A may be used is a condition of that ground. Our information sheet guide covers the timing for tenancies that already existed.
An agreement can still contain these words; the law ignores them, and some attract a penalty for the landlord who relies on them.
| Clause | What the law does with it | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A fixed term or end date ("12 months from 1 November") | "Of no effect so far as they provide for a tenancy to be a fixed term tenancy"; the tenancy is periodic from day one. Purporting to grant a fixed term is a contravention with a penalty of up to £7,000 | HA 1988 s.4A(1); s.16E(1)(a), s.16I |
| Rent periods longer than a month (quarterly, six-monthly) | Of no effect; treated as monthly from the first day of a new tenancy | s.4A(3), (5) |
| Rent payable in advance of its period | "Of no effect so far as they provide for rent to be due in advance", except the initial rent collected after signing and before the start date; applies to tenancies entered into from 1 May 2026 | s.4B |
| Rent review, index-linked or "higher rent on renewal" clauses | Do nothing: the rent "may not be greater than the rent for the previous period except by virtue of" a section 13 notice or a tribunal determination under section 14 | s.13(4A); s.14 |
| Landlord's notice to quit or break clause | Cannot be used: an assured tenancy "cannot be brought to an end by the landlord except by" a court order, and purporting to end it by notice to quit is a contravention | s.5(1); s.16E(1)(b) |
| Tenant must give more than two months' notice | Not enforceable beyond two months | PEA 1977 s.5(1ZA) |
| "No children", or restrictions on children living or visiting | "Of no effect so far as the term makes provision (however expressed) prohibiting the tenant from having a child live with or visit them", unless it is "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim" or required by an insurance policy taken out before 1 May 2026 and not renewed or extended since; refusing applicants on that basis is a separate breach | RRA 2025 s.35(1), (2); s.38; s.33 |
| "No DSS" or terms about benefits | "Of no effect so far as the term makes provision (however expressed) prohibiting the tenant from being a benefits claimant", with the same exception for a policy taken out before 1 May 2026 and not renewed or extended since; refusing applicants is a separate breach | s.35(3), (4); s.34 |
| A blanket ban on pets | Cannot remove the tenant's statutory right to ask: "It is an implied term of every assured tenancy" that the tenant may keep a pet with consent, which "is not to be unreasonably refused", and the court "may order specific performance" | s.16A; s.16B(5) |
| Fees: referencing, admin, inventory, check-out, renewal, or a deposit above five weeks' rent (six where the annual rent is £50,000 or more) | "A term of a tenancy agreement which breaches section 1 is not binding on a relevant person"; the council can impose a penalty of up to £5,000 | TFA 2019 s.1, s.4, s.8, Sch 1 para 2 |
| Making the tenant responsible for structural or installation repairs | "Void in so far as it purports to exclude or limit the obligations of the lessor" under s.11, unless the county court authorised the clause | LTA 1985 s.12 |
Refusing or discouraging an applicant because of children or benefits carries a council penalty of up to £7,000, decided on the balance of probabilities (RRA 2025 s.40). An agreement signed before 1 May 2026 is not invalid for containing any of the clauses above; the offending terms stopped operating when the tenancy converted, and GOV.UK confirms: "You did not need to do anything for this change to take effect."
GOV.UK's Model agreement for a shorthold assured tenancy now returns "The page you're looking for is no longer available"; GOV.UK's record of the page dates the change to 5 August 2026, and the shorthold tenancy it documented no longer exists. The old document survives only in the UK Government Web Archive. We could find no replacement government template; what GOV.UK publishes instead is the list of written information a landlord must give.
So a template has to come from a landlord association, a letting agent, a solicitor or a stationer, and the test for any of them is simple: does it cover every paragraph of the Schedule, and has every clause in the table above been removed or rewritten? A document still headed "assured shorthold tenancy", or still carrying a term, a break clause or a rent review, has not been updated for 1 May 2026. Before you sign, lay it against the list; the written statement duty is yours whichever template you use.
The assured periodic tenancy guide explains the tenancy the agreement now documents, and the first-time landlord guide puts the agreement in the order of a first let.
Government changes that bear on this duty. Where the status says in force the rule already applies; everything else is not yet law for private landlords. Dates are quoted as the government has published them, checked on 15 October 2026.
| Change | Status today | Published timing | Sensible preparation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory membership of a Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman scheme | announced, dates to be confirmed | Government roadmap: landlords required to join "in 2028", after the Database launches; scheme conditions set during Phase 2 from 2026 | Keep a written complaints process and records of how tenant complaints were handled; the scheme will expect both. Source |
Whatever else it says, the tenant must receive the prescribed items in writing before the tenancy is entered into: the parties and an England and Wales address for notices, the property, the start date, the rent and how it can rise (section 13 only), any bills paid to the landlord, the deposit, the tenant's notice period, how the landlord can end the tenancy, the landlord's repair and safety duties, a disabled tenant's improvement rights, the pets term and any supported-accommodation statement (the Schedule to SI 2026/324, eighteen paragraphs). Penalty for not giving them: up to £7,000.
No. Tenancies that existed on 1 May 2026 converted to assured periodic tenancies by statute (unless a pre-May Section 21 or Section 8 notice was still running: Renters' Rights Act 2025 Schedule 6 paragraphs 3, 4, 16 and 17), and GOV.UK confirms nothing needed re-signing. Clauses the Act makes void simply stopped operating. What those tenants needed was the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet by 31 May 2026, or the written statement if the tenancy was wholly oral.
Only after rewriting it. Remove the fixed term, any break clause, any rent review or index clause and any rent-in-advance wording; add the section 13 statement, the pets statement, the tenant's notice period and your address for service; retitle it as an assured periodic tenancy. A template still headed "assured shorthold tenancy" has not been updated for 1 May 2026.
Yes. A periodic tenancy can be agreed orally (Law of Property Act 1925 s.54(2) allows leases of up to three years, taking effect in possession at a full market rent, to be made by parol), but the landlord must still give the written statement of terms before the tenancy is entered into (Housing Act 1988 s.16D). An oral agreement with no written statement is a contravention carrying a penalty of up to £7,000.
Not with any effect. A term providing for a fixed term is of no effect under s.4A, so a minimum term does not bind the tenant, who can give two months' notice at any time; and a landlord's break clause cannot be used, because an assured tenancy can in practice be ended by the landlord only through a court order on a Schedule 2 ground (s.5(1)). Purporting to grant a fixed term carries a penalty of up to £7,000.
Not from GOV.UK: its model agreement was removed in August 2026 and we could find no replacement. Landlord associations, letting agents and solicitors publish updated agreements; test any of them against the Schedule to SI 2026/324 and the list of void clauses before you use it.
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