Tenant Information Sheet: What You Actually Need to Do Before 31 May

If you’re a self-managing landlord with an assured or assured shorthold tenancy, there’s something you need to do in the next few weeks that you probably haven’t heard about. It’s not complicated, but the fine for not doing it is up to £7,000, so it’s worth ten minutes of your time.

What is it

The government has published a document called the Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026. It’s a PDF that summarises the key changes coming in under the Act: the end of Section 21, the move to periodic tenancies, how rent increases work now, tenant rights around pets and property standards.

You are required by law to give a copy of this document to every tenant on an assured or assured shorthold tenancy by 31 May 2026.

Who needs to receive it

Every named tenant on the tenancy agreement. Not per property, per tenant. If you have a couple on a joint tenancy, that’s two copies served. If you have a three-bed HMO with individual tenancies, that’s three.

If you have a letting agent managing the property, they are also legally required to serve it, even if you’ve already done it yourself. Self-managing landlords don’t have this problem, but worth knowing if you’re considering going back to an agent.

One group that’s excluded: lodgers. If someone rents a room in a property where you also live, the Information Sheet doesn’t apply to them.

What counts as a valid copy

This is where it gets specific:

• You must download the PDF from the official GOV.UK page: gov.uk/government/publications/the-renters-rights-act-information-sheet-2026
• You must send the actual PDF: attached to an email, posted, or hand-delivered
• You cannot send a link to the PDF. An email saying “here’s the link, download it yourself” does not count
• You cannot alter the document in any way
• Third-party versions of the same content do not count. It has to be the exact GOV.UK PDF

What about verbal tenancies

If your tenancy is based entirely on a verbal agreement (no written tenancy agreement, no written record of terms at all) that was made before 1 May 2026, then you cannot use the Information Sheet. Instead, you’re required to provide a Written Statement of Terms, which is a different document with different requirements. That also has to be done by 31 May.

If you have a tenancy that’s partly written (even an informal email exchange confirming rent and move-in date), the Information Sheet applies.

Note for new tenancies: if you’re entering into a new tenancy on or after 1 May 2026, the Information Sheet isn’t relevant to you. Instead, you’re required to provide mandatory written tenancy information before the tenancy is agreed. That’s a separate obligation with its own requirements.

What happens if you don’t do it

A fine of up to £7,000 per offence. Each tenant you fail to serve is a separate offence. Local authorities have the power to impose these civil penalties under the new enforcement regime.

It gets worse if you ignore the first fine. If you still haven’t served the document 28 days after a penalty is imposed, it becomes a criminal offence, and the maximum penalty rises to £40,000. A repeat breach within five years of a previous penalty can also attract the £40,000 ceiling.

The starting point for a first breach, per the government’s statutory guidance, is £4,000, adjusted upwards or downwards depending on the circumstances.

How to prove you did it

This is the part nobody’s talking about. You need to serve the document, but you also need to be able to prove you served it, potentially months or years later, if there’s ever a dispute about whether the tenant was properly informed of their rights.

If you email it: keep the sent email with the attachment. If you post it: consider recorded delivery. If you hand it over: get a signature or at least a text confirming receipt.

The landlords who’ll have a problem aren’t the ones who don’t serve it (most will, once they know about it). The problem will be the ones who served it but can’t prove it six months later when it matters.

What to do right now

1. Download the PDF from gov.uk (link above)
2. Work out which tenants need it: every named tenant on every written assured/AST tenancy
3. Send it, and keep proof that you sent it
4. Do it before 31 May

It takes ten minutes. The fine is up to £7,000. The maths is straightforward.