Renters’ Rights Act: Information Sheet

On 20 March 2026, the government published The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026, containing the official Information Sheet landlords and their agents must give to tenants, along with guidance.

What is the Information Sheet?

The aim of the Information Sheet is to provide existing assured tenants of private rented sector tenancies, including market rent tenancies for social housing providers, with clear explanation of how their rights and tenancy structures will change from 1 May 2026.

The Information Sheet sets out:

• the transition from fixed-term tenancies to the new single periodic tenancy system
• the end of section 21 no‑fault evictions, and the protections replacing it
• updated rent increase rules, possession grounds and the strengthened rights of tenants to challenge unfair practices, and
• routes for obtaining support or making a complaint.

Requirements for landlords and agents

Landlords will note it is in a prescribed form, with no tailoring required and it must not be altered. It needs to be sent by private rented sector landlords to all assured and assured shorthold tenants, whose tenancies commenced, or will commence, prior to 1 May 2026. It must also be sent by registered providers in respect of any properties they let as market rent properties under assured shorthold or fixed-term assured tenancies.

It must be sent prior to 31 May 2026 and government guidance is to serve it as soon as possible to avoid potential non-compliance and penalties being imposed.

It does not need to be given to lodgers, but a copy must be given to every tenant named on the tenancy agreement.

For houses in multiple occupation or shared households, each tenant must receive the sheet individually unless they share a single written agreement.

If a landlord has a letting agent who manages the property on their behalf, the agent must also provide the Information Sheet to the tenant, even if the landlord has also provided it.

It must be provided to the tenants by either printing a hard copy, which is posted or given to the tenants by hand or by sending the PDF electronically as an attachment, for example, to an email or text message. Landlords need to be careful, as an email or text sent to the tenant containing a link to the PDF will not be valid.

For those tenancies which have yet to be entered into but are due to commence before 1 May 2026, we suggest a copy of the Information Sheet is provided at the point of sign-up for the avoidance of doubt later.

In the event a tenancy is based on a verbal agreement that was made before 1 May 2026, the Information Sheet cannot be used. In these cases, landlords must provide a written Statement of Terms instead – ideally this would be in the form of a written tenancy agreement.

What happens if it is not served?

Failure to serve the Information Sheet is treated as a breach of landlords’ statutory duties under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. Consequences may include:

• Civil penalties starting at around £4,000, potentially rising to £7,000 depending on aggravating factors.
• Continued non‑compliance beyond 28 days after a penalty may escalate to a criminal offence, with fines up to £40,000 or prosecution in serious cases.

New forms published for use after 1 May 2026

Private sector landlords and registered providers with market rent properties should also note that the government has published its draft versions of a number of new forms on tenancy processes to be used after 1 May 2026, following changes brought in by the Renters’ Rights Act. This includes the new notice of seeking possession Form 3A, the new statutory rent increase notice Form 4A and others. We would urge all landlords to review the new forms so they are ready to start using them after 1 May 2026 in relation to private rented sector stock.

You can find the link to these forms here: Assured tenancy forms for privately rented properties from 1 May 2026