Only 153,000 downloads of the Renters’ Rights Act information sheet with 9 days left
by Tauhid Islam
A Freedom of Information response from MHCLG, published last week, revealed that the government’s mandatory Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet was downloaded just 153,000 times in the first four weeks after publication. There are 2.3 million private landlords in England. Even allowing for agents downloading once and distributing across portfolios, those numbers do not come close to covering the sector.
The deadline to serve this document on every named tenant is 31 May 2026. That is 9 days from today.
What the law requires
The Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Statement of Terms etc and Information Sheet) (England) Regulations 2026 require landlords to provide every tenant named on an existing written or partly written tenancy agreement with the government’s official Information Sheet by 31 May 2026.
The obligation applies where the tenancy was entered into before 1 May 2026 and has a wholly or partly written record of terms. That includes any standard AST.
If you use a letting agent, the agent is also required to provide the Information Sheet. This is not a substitute for the landlord’s own obligation. It is a parallel one.
For tenancies based entirely on a verbal agreement made before 1 May 2026, the Information Sheet does not apply. Instead, landlords must provide a Written Statement of Terms by the same deadline.
The penalty regime
The penalty for failure is a civil penalty of up to £7,000 per tenancy. The MHCLG statutory guidance sets the starting point at £4,000. Local authorities may adjust depending on severity, compliance history, and whether the landlord gained financially from the failure.
If the breach continues for more than 28 days after a penalty has been issued, it becomes a continuing offence. Further civil penalties of up to £40,000 apply, or the local authority may pursue criminal prosecution. For landlords with multiple properties, the exposure stacks: five tenancies unprovided is a £20,000 starting liability.
The MHCLG guidance explicitly states there is no expectation that councils issue informal warnings before taking formal action.
Why this is not just a fine
Failure to comply with statutory obligations is a factor courts can consider in possession proceedings. If you ever need to recover your property and your compliance record has gaps, a tenant’s legal representative will find them. Walking into a hearing with an unserved Information Sheet is not a position any landlord should want to be in.
If a landlord fails to remedy the breach within 28 days of a civil penalty, tenants or local authorities can apply for a Rent Repayment Order of up to two years’ rent. A single failure will not trigger an RRO on its own, but ignoring the penalty after it lands will.
The Information Sheet takes five minutes to serve. The consequences of not serving it can follow you for years.
The five mistakes that will cost you
- Sending a link instead of the PDF.The government guidance is explicit: a link to the GOV.UK page does not count. The exact PDF must be attached or physically given to the tenant. If you emailed a link in March and assumed you were covered, you are not.
- Serving only the lead tenant on a joint tenancy.There is no legal concept of a “lead tenant.” Every tenant named on the agreement must receive their own copy. If you served one of two named tenants, you have complied for one and breached for the other.
- Using an altered version.The Information Sheet is only valid when downloaded directly from GOV.UK. Reformatting it, converting it to Word, or summarising it in your own words does not satisfy the requirement.
- Assuming your agent has handled it.The landlord’s obligation is separate. Confirm in writing that your agent has served the Information Sheet and ask for evidence.
- Having no proof of service.Serving is one obligation. Proving you served it is another. If a dispute arises in two years, “I’m sure I sent it” is not evidence.
How to serve it and keep proof
Download the exact PDF from GOV.UK: The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026. Do not alter it, summarise it, or send a link.
List every named tenant across every current tenancy. Joint tenancies mean multiple names, and every name needs its own copy.
Serve by one of three methods: hand delivery with a signed and dated receipt; recorded delivery; or email with the PDF attached, asking the tenant to confirm receipt by reply.
Record the date, method, and tenant name alongside the evidence of service, and store it somewhere you can find it in two years.
Proof that holds up
If a local authority investigates, you will need to show you served the right document, on the right date, to the right tenant. A confirmation email is good. A signed receipt is better. A screenshot of the sent email with the PDF attached works.
The question is where that proof lives. If it is buried in an email thread you cannot find in 18 months, it is not serving its purpose.
At LLCR, we built the compliance record specifically for this. Email the Information Sheet to your tenant, screenshot the sent email showing the attachment and date, and upload it to LLCR against that tenancy. LLCR keeps a cryptographic record using SHA-256 hashing anchored to a public ledger. The file is timestamped at upload in a way that is independently verifiable and tamper-evident. If the evidence is ever challenged, the hash proves the document existed in that form at that time and has not been altered since.
Not sure whether the Information Sheet is your only gap? LLCR’s free compliance checker runs through every legal requirement for your tenancy in under two minutes.
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The deadline is 31 May. The obligation is not complicated. The consequences of missing it are. If you have already served it and have proof, you are in a stronger position than most of the sector right now. If you have not, 13 days is still enough time.
What method did you use? Did your tenants respond? For those who have not done it yet, what is holding you back?
Tauhid Islam is a property law paralegal. He works on tenancy, possession, and compliance matters daily, and founded LLCR — Landlord Compliance Register to give self-managing landlords in England a single place to track every deadline, certificate, and document the law requires of them.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Always seek independent legal advice for your specific situation.
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Member Since June 2019 - Comments: 833
9:04 AM, 22nd May 2026, About 2 weeks ago
If those figures are accurate so many landlords are not keeping up with the legislation. I hope they are compliant in other areas but there was even less publicity about EICR, EPC etc.
Member Since April 2026 - Comments: 9 - Articles: 4
10:39 AM, 22nd May 2026, About 2 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 22/05/2026 – 09:04
Thank you, Paul. That’s a fair point, if the information sheet has had this little traction, it’s hard to imagine EICR and EPC awareness being any better. Those requirements have been around much longer but enforcement has been patchy, so it’s easy for landlords to assume they’re optional until something goes wrong.
Member Since May 2018 - Comments: 2125
2:46 PM, 22nd May 2026, About 2 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 22/05/2026 – 09:04
The Renters Rights Act will drive up rents for tenants, and already is doing (without benefiting most landlords).
However, the Renters Rights Act information sheet is one of TWO GOOD CONSEQUENCES of the labour Renters Rights Act. For the benefit of any landlord who has not yet seen it, the link to the information sheet is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-renters-rights-act-information-sheet-2026
And also here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69bc04b8f7b1c24d8e23ce60/The_Renters__Rights_Act_Information_Sheet_2026.pdf
In the information sheet the wording says:
Below is a brief summary of some of the main reasons your landlord may legally seek to evict you. You can find full details of these and other grounds on GOV.UK.
• If you have not paid your rent on time
• If you, others living with you, or visitors commit antisocial behaviour in or near the property
• If you, or others living with you, do not care for the property properly
• If your tenancy was for certain purposes, for example it was connected to your employment, or was for temporary or supported accommodation.
I.e., the Renters Right Act information sheet gives landlords a reason to send their tenants a leaflet saying (a) pay the rent on time and in full (b) get on with the neighbours (c) look after the property, because if you don’t, the government says that the landlord can get rid of you, and you won’t have anywhere to live.
That’s a good thing, even if some other consequences of the Labour RRA are bad [particularly for tenants] and every landlord should take advantage of sending that sheet to his or her tenants.
Member Since November 2020 - Comments: 139
3:31 PM, 22nd May 2026, About 2 weeks ago
I asked my lettings agents, Leaders, for evidence that they had sent the Information Sheets to my tenants and that they had acknowledged receipt, and this their response:
“Please note the tenant information sheet does indeed need to be sent to each individual tenant and this has been done.
In regards to the tenants needing to reply, I have been informed that the process we are following is sending an E Mail to each individual tenant and if the E Mail does not bounce back then it is classed as accepted, in this case I have spoken to the tenants and they have confirmed receipt of the E Mail.
Due to GDPR regulations I am unable to forward you the E Mails sent to the tenants, however please be assured that they have been received and the tenants are aware of the changes.”
I don’t see the relevance of the reference to the General Data Protection Regulations, which so many organisations hide behind, but hopefully this will suffice in the event that any associated issues arise at a later date.
Member Since October 2020 - Comments: 1212
5:03 PM, 22nd May 2026, About 2 weeks ago
I think this info sheet could be the catalyst that accelerates landlords toward the exit. It was always obvious that the overwhelming majority of the small landlord sector were disconnected from most sources of information on staying legal and yet the Govt still went ahead with setting bear traps such as this one, with unnecessarily punitive fines. The £4k to £7k penalty for failing to serve the info sheet on time will probably be most landlords first encounter with the RRA and will come very soon. For most of those, it will probably also be their last as they then evict their tenants and sell up. We may see dramatic scenes as thousands of tenants become homeless.
Member Since May 2018 - Comments: 2125
5:08 PM, 22nd May 2026, About 2 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by SimonP at 22/05/2026 – 15:31
I also asked my lettings agents for evidence that they had sent the Information Sheets to ALL NAMED TENANTS. The truth is that I don’t know whether the legal obligation to send out the information sheet imposed upon the agent is separate to the legal obligation imposed upon the landlord, and therefore failure to send the information sheet could result in a technical error that results in you not being able to get your property back if you have to go to court. But I don’t care (even though I do want to be 100% sure that I am one of the landlords that CAN get his property back).
The Labour Renters Rights Act has some outrageous labour-left-wing stuff in it that has increased rents, and will continue to increase rents for all tenants, year on year, as landlords adjust rent annually to market rent, and market rent in turn goes upwards, and together the unnecessary additional costs and rents climb in a vicious circle as landlords mitigate the additional risk imposed upon them by the Renters Rights Act. The cost, however, of printing off the Renters Rights Act Information sheet and sending it to tenants, is an absolute BARGAIN.
I printed off the Renters Rights Act Information Sheet and sent it to all named tenants by first class recorded delivery costing just over a fiver. When I did so I was sending it to tenants that have made such a mess of my property that it far exceeds the cost of any deposit I am legally able to require. I was sending it to tenants that sometimes go on expensive family holidays abroad, rather than paying their rent, and lie about this. I was sending it to tenants whose behaviour is occasionally so bizarre that I have to spend extra money on sorting out the problems they are causing the neighbours. I was sending it to tenants whose children do far, far more damage than any pet because they are largely unsupervised and out of control.
So when I sent out the Renters Rights Act Information Sheet that effectively says “…pay the rent on time and in full, get on with the neighbours, look after the property, or your landlord can kick you out…” I did so with joy in my heart and happily kissed my fivers goodbye, knowing that it was money well spent.
My advice to any landlord is, even if you are unsure about what the detail of the legislation says, send out the Renters Rights Act Information sheet to ALL NAMED TENANTS and rejoice as you do so. That obligation is ONE OF ONLY TWO GOOD THINGS about the Renters Rights Act.
Member Since June 2019 - Comments: 833
7:12 PM, 22nd May 2026, About 2 weeks ago
I love the optimism here that tenants will actually read the information supplied. I think most paperwork gets filed rather than read.
Member Since May 2018 - Comments: 2125
2:40 PM, 23rd May 2026, About 2 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 22/05/2026 – 19:12
I have never known a tenant read or ask about an EPC, but I think that this information sheet is definitely worth sending.
Member Since October 2023 - Comments: 29
5:56 PM, 24th May 2026, About 1 week ago
Hi
So I have issued to both tenants, one has replied back saying he has the document, the other no reply back.
Also the AST was via an agent, reading above it says the agent has also to send the document. Is this correct, they have not, if I have already done so?
Thanks CP
Member Since April 2026 - Comments: 9 - Articles: 4
12:31 AM, 25th May 2026, About 1 week ago
Reply to the comment left by CP at 24/05/2026 – 17:56
Hi CP,
On the tenant who hasn’t replied, you don’t need a reply. As long as you sent the PDF as an attachment (not a link) and can evidence that, you’ve met your obligation. Keeping a copy of the sent email is sensible proof.
On the agent question, yes, that’s correct. If you have a managing agent, they are separately required to serve the information sheet to the tenant as well, even if you’ve already done so. It’s worth chasing them to confirm they have done this before the 31 May deadline. The GOV.UK guidance on this is clear: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-renters-rights-act-information-sheet-2026