The 31 May 2026 Information Sheet deadline — what UK landlords and letting agents need to know.

What is the Information Sheet?

The Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet 2026is a specific government-published PDF. It explains what the Renters' Rights Act changes for existing tenants — the end of Section 21 no-fault evictions, the move to Assured Periodic Tenancies, new rules on rent increases, the right to request pets, and protections against discrimination.

The document is written by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Every landlord (or the letting agent acting on their behalf) must distribute this exact document to every existing tenant on a written tenancy. You cannot rewrite it, redesign it, or create your own version. You cannot summarise it in an email and call that compliance. The legislation is specific: the exact PDF, delivered to the tenant.

The official PDF is published on the GOV.UK website under the MHCLG landing page. Your legal obligation is to get this document to every named tenant on every existing written tenancy agreement before 31 May 2026.

Who has to provide it?

The obligation lies with any landlord in England with an existing written tenancy still in effect on 1 May 2026. This includes:

• Landlords with Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) — these auto-convert to Assured Periodic Tenancies on 1 May
• Landlords with existing Assured Tenancies
• Private landlords letting directly to tenants
• Portfolio landlords with multiple properties — one delivery per named tenant, so a 10-property landlord with 14 named tenants across those properties has 14 deliveries to make
• Landlords who use a letting agent — the obligation still sits with you, even if the agent does the actual delivery

If the landlord uses a letting agent, the practical responsibility for delivery typically falls to the agent — but the landlord remains legally liable. We cover the agent-specific obligations in detail in the next section.

If you have a verbal tenancy — meaning there is no written agreement in place — you must instead provide a Written Statement of Terms. This is a different document, which sets out the key terms of the tenancy (rent, deposit, parties, property details). We cover this in a separate guide.

If you manage properties in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, this Act does not apply to you. Each devolved nation has its own tenancy legislation. This guide is for England only.

If you're a letting agent

Letting agents carry a double burden under the Renters' Rights Act. Your landlord clients expect you to handle compliance on their behalf. Your agency carries its own regulatory exposure if delivery fails. And councils — under the new enforcement powers — can pursue both the landlord and the agent for a breach.

Here is what you need to understand before 31 May:

The dual obligation

The legislation makes both the landlord and anyone acting on the landlord's behalf liable for correct delivery. If you, as the managing agent, fail to deliver the Information Sheet to a tenant, the landlord is still liable. But you are also potentially liable. Councils have discretion on who to pursue, but in practice they pursue whoever has the most assets — and for a letting agent with 50 managed properties, that could mean cumulative exposure of £350,000+ in penalties.

This means agents cannot simply tell their landlord clients "we'll sort it" and skip documenting delivery. You need proof for every single tenancy — one that your landlord clients can rely on if they're investigated, and one your own agency can rely on if it's investigated.

Portfolio-scale delivery

A small letting agent managing 20 properties could easily have 30-40 named tenants across them (joint tenancies, flatmate arrangements, families where multiple adults are on the lease). A mid-sized agency with 80 properties typically handles 120-150 deliveries. At that scale, manual email with a spreadsheet tracker is fragile: one missed row, one bounce unhandled, one joint tenant forgotten, and the agency is exposed.

What agents specifically need:

• Bulk delivery workflow — CSV upload of properties and tenants, one-click batch send
• Per-property compliance records — so each landlord client can be given their own evidence pack
• Agency-level audit trail — so if your agency is investigated, you have a single source of truth
• Bounce handling — because across 150 deliveries, you will see bounces, and they need to be caught and redelivered, not silently missed

What your landlord clients will expect

Sophisticated landlords are already asking their agents what their Renters' Rights Act compliance process looks like. Several of the larger property forums and landlord associations have published checklists for landlords to send to their agents. If you cannot answer questions like "how will I know the Information Sheet was delivered to my tenants?" and "what evidence pack will I receive after 31 May?" you risk losing landlords to competitors who can.

A well-run agency should, by 31 May, be in a position to hand each landlord client a dated PDF compliance pack — showing exactly which tenants on their properties received the document, when, and by what method. That's the minimum standard, and landlords are starting to expect it.

Why 31 May 2026 specifically?

The Renters' Rights Act commences on 1 May 2026. Parliament wants every existing tenant to understand how their tenancy has changed by the end of that month — a 30-day transition window for landlords and agents to reach their tenants.

After 31 May, enforcement begins. Local councils gain the power to investigate non-compliant landlords and letting agents and issue civil penalties. Those penalties can reach £7,000 per breach for initial offences, and £40,000 or criminal prosecution for continuing or repeated breaches.

Importantly, the fine is per breach — not per landlord or per agent. If you have a three-bedroom house share with three named tenants and none of them receive the Information Sheet, that is three breaches: potentially £21,000 of exposure on a single property. For a letting agent with 50 properties that multiplies fast.

How do you deliver it?

The Act is specific about what counts as valid delivery. You have two compliant options:

1. Email the PDF as an attachment

This is by far the most common and efficient method. The email must include the actual PDF file attached — not a link to the PDF, not a summary of its contents. A link is not sufficient.

You need evidence of delivery. Save the sent email. Request a read receipt if your email service supports one. Keep records of any bounce-backs and follow up on them. If a council later investigates, you will need to show that you actually sent the document — and to whom.

2. Deliver a printed copy

If you or your agent hand-deliver a printed copy to the tenant at the property, that counts. If you post it by recorded delivery so you get a signed confirmation, that also counts. Standard post without proof of delivery is risky — if the tenant later denies receiving it, you cannot prove you delivered it.

What does NOT count

• Emailing a link to the PDF (even a link to GOV.UK) — the PDF must be attached
• Texting or WhatsApping the tenant a link
• Pointing the tenant to a website where they can find the document
• Summarising the document in your own words — you must deliver the actual PDF
• Asking the tenant to download it themselves
• Assuming delivery because the tenant "knows about the Act"

The legislation intends for every tenant to actually receive the exact document. Anything less risks a £7,000 fine per tenant who did not receive it.

The most common mistakes

Based on early guidance from the National Residential Landlords Association, Propertymark, and housing-law commentators, these are the mistakes most likely to trip landlords and agents up:

Mistake 1: Sending a link instead of the PDF

Emailing "Here's the government guidance: [link]" is the single most common non-compliant delivery. The attachment must be the PDF itself.

Mistake 2: Landlord and agent both assume the other has done it

This is the biggest pitfall of the managed-property relationship. The landlord assumes the agent is handling compliance. The agent assumes the landlord has been told what to do. Neither sends the Information Sheet. Both are liable when the council investigates. The fix: get it in writing — who is delivering, by what date, and with what evidence shared with whom.

Mistake 3: Only sending to the lead tenant

If a tenancy has multiple named tenants (joint tenancy, flatmate arrangement, couple renting together), every named tenant must receive the document. One delivery to "the tenant" does not cover them all. Each person named on the tenancy agreement gets their own copy.

Mistake 4: Using a modified or rebranded version

Some letting agents have been tempted to rebrand the Information Sheet with their own letterhead, or to combine it with other information into a single document. The law requires the exact MHCLG PDF. Modifications invalidate the delivery. If you want to add your own covering letter, fine — but the PDF must be attached unaltered.

Mistake 5: Waiting until 30 May

The deadline is 31 May. But with bounces, tenants who have moved without updating contact details, joint tenants who need multiple deliveries, and last-minute technical issues, leaving it to the final week is how landlords and agents end up non-compliant. Every landlord and agent reading this should aim to complete delivery by mid-May at the latest.

Record-keeping: the compliance pack

Delivery is only half the job. You also need a record of what you sent, to whom, and when. If a council later investigates — or a tenant claims they never received the document — you need to prove compliance.

At minimum, keep:

• A copy of the email you sent (date, time, recipient, the PDF attachment)
• The read receipt or delivery confirmation if you have one
• Any bounce notifications and evidence of redelivery
• A signed acknowledgement from the tenant if you can get one
• A spreadsheet or list of every tenancy, every named tenant, and when each received the document

For a single-property landlord, a folder of sent-email receipts is fine. For a letting agent managing 50 properties with potentially 70-100 named tenants across them, you need a systematic audit trail. This is where dedicated compliance tools start to pay for themselves — both to reduce your own agency's exposure and to give each landlord client a professional evidence pack.

Future phases of the Renters' Rights Act

The 31 May 2026 deadline is only Phase 1 of the Act. Getting it wrong does not just expose you to a fine today — it sets the tone for the more onerous obligations that follow.

Phase 2 (late 2026 into 2028)

The PRS Database rolls out from late 2026, with full rollout in 2027. Every private landlord will be legally required to register themselves and each of their properties. Failure to register means civil penalties up to £7,000, and ultimately restrictions on using possession grounds.

The PRS Landlord Ombudsman scheme becomes mandatory in 2028. Every landlord will be required to join. Failure to join again carries civil penalties up to £7,000. Letting agents will need to ensure their landlord clients are enrolled, or face questions from those clients about why compliance wasn't coordinated.

Phase 3 (2035 onwards)

The Decent Homes Standard extends to the private rented sector from 2035 (or possibly 2037 depending on further consultation). This will set minimum property quality standards enforceable by councils. Awaab's Law, which obliges landlords to remedy damp and mould within fixed timescales, is also expected to extend to the PRS.

How TenancyKit helps

TenancyKit is a compliance tool built specifically for the Renters' Rights Act — for both landlords and letting agents. We handle the three things that actually cause non-compliance:

• Delivery of the exact document. We use the official MHCLG PDF, unmodified. No risk of rejection due to alterations or formatting.
• Evidence of delivery. Every email is tracked — sent, delivered, opened, bounced. Timestamps, recipient records, delivery status, all stored and downloadable.
• The compliance pack. A dated PDF per property showing exactly what was sent, to whom, and when. For agents, an agency-level summary and per-landlord-client packs are generated automatically.

For a single-property or small-portfolio landlord, signup to compliance pack takes about ten minutes. Pricing starts at £39.99 one-time for up to 5 properties, or £19.99/month for ongoing compliance beyond the deadline.

For letting agents, our CSV upload flow handles dozens or hundreds of properties in a single batch. Pricing starts at £4.99 per property (minimum £149, capped at £999) for a one-off deadline solution, or from £34.99/month for ongoing compliance. Agents managing larger portfolios get per-landlord-client compliance packs, agency-level audit trails, and priority onboarding support.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further reading

• Renters' Rights Act 2025 (c.26) — full text on legislation.gov.uk
• MHCLG Implementation Roadmap (published November 2025)
• GOV.UK guidance: "Guide to the Renters' Rights Act"
• GOV.UK: "6 ways to get yourself ready for new renters' rights" (landlord-facing official guidance)
• National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA): Renters' Rights Act key dates for landlords
• Propertymark: letting agent compliance guidance for the Renters' Rights Act

Disclaimer:This guide is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. The Renters' Rights Act is new legislation and its application to specific circumstances may vary. If you are uncertain about your obligations, consult a qualified solicitor. TenancyKit's service helps you deliver the required documents and maintain delivery evidence, but does not replace qualified legal advice.