Every landlord in England must give every named tenant the official Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet by 31 May 2026. The document explains your new legal rights. Failure to comply is a civil offence carrying a fine of up to £7,000. Most tenants have never heard of it.
Something happened on 1 May 2026 that changed private renting in England forever: the Renters' Rights Act came into full force. Section 21 "no-fault" evictions were abolished. Rent increases were capped to once a year. Repair deadlines became legally enforceable.
With those changes, the government also published an official document that every landlord in England is now legally required to hand to every named tenant. It's called the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet. And most renters have no idea it exists — or that they are legally entitled to receive it.
The deadline for landlords to send it is 31 May 2026. That's 11 days away from the date of this article. If your inbox is empty, here's everything you need to know.
Maximum civil penalty for landlords who fail to provide the Information Sheet to tenants on time.
The Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet is an official government document published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) on 1 May 2026. It summarises the key rights that tenants in England now have under the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
The sheet covers the abolition of Section 21 evictions, the new annual-only rent increase rules, the updated grounds for eviction under Section 8, the right to request a pet, and the new protections against rental discrimination. It is designed to be accessible to tenants who are not legal experts.
Critically, it is not optional reading material. It is a legally required document. The legislation places a positive obligation on landlords to provide it — not to make it available on request, but to actively send it.
Every named tenant on an assured or assured shorthold tenancy in England must receive a copy. "Named tenant" means every adult whose name appears on the tenancy agreement — not just the lead tenant.
For existing tenancies (started before 1 May 2026), landlords have until 31 May 2026 to deliver it. For new tenancies starting after 1 May 2026, landlords must provide it at the point the tenancy begins.
Delivery must be in writing. Printed and handed over, sent as an email attachment, or hand-delivered — all count. A link in a text message or WhatsApp does not count as valid delivery under the legislation.
The Renters' Rights Act received significant media coverage, but most of that coverage was aimed at landlords and letting agents — not tenants. The specific obligation to send the Information Sheet was buried in secondary legislation and trade press. Consumer-facing coverage has been sparse.
The result: most renters in England are sitting unaware that they have the right to receive this document and that their landlord is on the clock to send it. If the 31 May deadline passes without action, it is the landlord — not the tenant — who faces legal consequences.
The document covers seven core areas. Here is a plain-English summary of what is in it:
If the Information Sheet has not arrived in your inbox, there are clear steps you can take — and you are well within your rights to ask for it. Here is the order we recommend:
The legislation is specific about what constitutes valid delivery of the Information Sheet. Landlords must provide the official government document — not a summary they wrote themselves. And it must be delivered in a durable, retrievable format. These delivery methods are valid:
After 31 May 2026, landlords who have not provided the Information Sheet to all named tenants are in breach of the Renters' Rights Act. Local councils in England have the power to issue a civil penalty notice of up to £7,000 per breach.
Each named tenant on a tenancy who has not received the document represents a separate potential breach. A landlord with three named tenants on one property who fails to send the sheet to any of them could face three separate penalties.
Enforcement is handled at the local council level. If your council's housing enforcement team is under-resourced, enforcement may be patchy — but the right to report remains, and the breach is still on record. For tenants in dispute with their landlord, documented non-compliance is valuable evidence of a landlord who is not meeting their legal obligations.
BeTenant App
BeTenant helps you log every communication with your landlord, timestamp requests, and build an evidence trail — including whether you've received legally required documents like the Information Sheet.
Get BeTenant Free →The obligation sits with the landlord, but many landlords have delegated compliance responsibilities to their letting agents. On a "fully managed" tenancy, the agent is typically responsible for landlord compliance documents — including the Information Sheet.
In practice, this means you may receive the document from your letting agent rather than your landlord directly. That is fine. What matters is that you receive the official document by 31 May — not who sends it.
If neither your landlord nor your agent has sent it, you can contact either party. Document your request either way.
The Information Sheet is not just a formality. It is the government's mechanism for ensuring that the rights created by the Renters' Rights Act actually reach the people they were designed to protect. Laws only work if people know they exist.
For renters who have never challenged a rent increase, never considered challenging a Section 13 notice, or never thought about their repair rights, the Information Sheet may be the first time they encounter these protections in accessible language. Getting it — and reading it — is worth the two minutes it takes to ask for it.
It is an official government document that landlords in England are legally required to give every named tenant under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. It explains your new rights including the abolition of Section 21, annual-only rent increases, and new repair deadlines. The government published it on 1 May 2026.
Landlords must send the Information Sheet to every named tenant by 31 May 2026. For new tenancies starting after 1 May 2026, landlords must provide it at the start of the tenancy.
Failure to provide the Information Sheet is a civil offence. Your landlord can face a civil penalty of up to £7,000. You can report non-compliance to your local council's housing enforcement team.
Your landlord must give you the official document in writing — either printed and handed over, sent as an email attachment, or hand-delivered. A link in a text message or WhatsApp does not count as valid delivery under the legislation.
Yes. The 31 May 2026 deadline applies to all existing named tenants in England, not just new tenancies. Your landlord must send it to you even if you've been in the property for years.
Yes. BeTenant is a free tenant protection app built for private renters in England. It lets you log repair issues and disputes directly from your phone, upload photo or video evidence that is automatically timestamped, and generate a formal Evidence Report in one tap — the kind of documented record that matters at a tribunal or in court. The app includes 15+ tools covering the most common situations private renters face: a Rent Increase Checker, a Section 8 Notice Validity Checker, a DSS & Benefits Rights guide, and a letter generator that drafts formally worded letters to send to your landlord or letting agent. A built-in Statutory Timeline Tracker automatically calculates how long your landlord has under law to respond — whether it's a repair request, a rent increase notice, or a deposit return. Free to use. Available at betenant.com.
Not legal advice. BeTenant provides information and tools — not legal advice. For complex matters, seek advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice.