Many landlords set to miss key Renters’ Rights Act deadline

A Freedom of Information request reveals that the government’s mandatory Renters’ Rights Act information sheet was downloaded 153,000 times in the first four weeks after publication.

That’s despite there being 2.3 million private landlords in England who are required to serve it on tenants by 31 May.

The data was obtained by Landlord Studio from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.

Landlords who fail to provide the information sheet by the deadline could face penalties of up to £7,000 per tenancy.

Landlord RRA challenge

The firm’s co-founder, Logan Ransley, said: “The findings shine a light on a rollout challenge when it comes to the Renters’ Rights Act.

“Even allowing for reuse across portfolios, engagement with the official document looks low compared with the size of the private rented sector.

“We know the property sector isn’t uniform – some landlords already have systems in place for managing compliance and others don’t, relying on more manual or informal processes.”

He added: “When you introduce something like this on a fixed deadline, it doesn’t land in the same way for everyone.

“With the deadline approaching, landlords need to make sure they can not only provide the information required, but also evidence that they’ve done so.”

Uneven landlord compliance

The FOI response also showed 189,000 Gov.uk page sessions over the same four-week period, meaning not every visitor went on to download the official document.

Letting agents may account for part of the gap, with one download potentially used across several landlord clients or portfolios.

However, Landlord Studio said the figures suggest direct engagement with the official compliance material has been uneven ahead of the deadline.

The FOI response has been made publicly available through WhatDoTheyKnow.