The Written Statement of Terms is here: a line-by-line guide for letting agents

From 1 May 2026, every new tenancy in England must be accompanied by a Written Statement of Terms. Not a tenancy agreement. A separate, government-prescribed document that sets out the key terms of the tenancy in a standard format.

If you are a letting agent or property manager, you need to understand what goes into this document, how it differs from what you are already using, and what the penalties look like if you get it wrong.

The government published the prescribed format in March 2026. This post walks through it line by line.

What is the Written Statement and why does it exist?

The Written Statement of Terms is a requirement under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. Its purpose is to give tenants a clear, standardised summary of their tenancy terms, separate from the full tenancy agreement.

Think of it as a factsheet that sits alongside the agreement. It must be provided to every tenant at the start of a new tenancy from 1 May 2026. For existing tenancies, landlords must serve a separate Information Sheet by 31 May 2026.

The two documents are different. The Written Statement is for new tenancies. The Information Sheet is for existing ones. Do not mix them up.

What the Written Statement must include

Names and addresses

Full legal names of the landlord and tenant. The property address in full. If the landlord uses a correspondence address that differs from the property address, both must be listed.

This sounds basic, but it catches agencies out when properties are owned by companies, trusts, or joint owners. Get the legal ownership right. Check Land Registry if there is any doubt.

Occupation date

The date the tenant is entitled to move in. Not the date the agreement was signed. Not the date the deposit was paid. The actual date the tenant can occupy.

Rent details

The amount of rent, how often it is payable (weekly, monthly), and the date it is due. If rent is due on the first of each month, say so explicitly. Do not leave it vague.

Also required: a statement of whether any bills are included in the rent (council tax, water, energy, broadband) and if so, which ones.

Additional charges

Any charges beyond rent that the tenant is liable for. This must comply with the Tenant Fees Act 2019, so in practice the only permitted charges are the tenancy deposit, a holding deposit, fees for early termination, late rent payments, or changes to the tenancy requested by the tenant.

If there are no additional charges, the Written Statement must say so explicitly.

Notice periods

The Written Statement must set out the notice periods for ending the tenancy. From 1 May 2026, the tenant must give two months’ notice. The landlord must give the applicable notice period depending on the ground for possession (ranging from two weeks to four months depending on the Section 8 ground used).

This section should be factual and reference the statutory periods. Do not invent custom notice periods. They are not enforceable.

Repairing obligations

A summary of the landlord’s repairing obligations under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This covers the structure and exterior of the property, installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, and space and water heating.

You do not need to reproduce the full text of the statute, but you do need to make it clear that these obligations exist and cannot be contracted out of.

Fitness for human habitation

A reference to the landlord’s obligation under Section 9A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (as inserted by the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018) to ensure the property is fit for habitation at the start of and throughout the tenancy.

Again, a summary is sufficient. The key point is that the tenant knows this obligation exists.

Gas and electrical safety

A summary confirming that the property has a valid Gas Safety Certificate (if gas is supplied) and a valid Electrical Installation Condition Report. Include the dates of the most recent certificates and when they expire.

Disability adaptations

A statement confirming the tenant’s right to request reasonable adaptations to the property under the Equality Act 2010. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse consent to adaptations that a disabled tenant needs.

Possession order confirmation

A statement that the landlord cannot evict the tenant without a court order. This reinforces the abolition of Section 21 and makes clear that possession requires a court process under Section 8.

How this differs from a standard AST

If your agency uses a standard Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement, you might think the Written Statement duplicates what is already in there. It does not.

The AST is a contract between landlord and tenant. It can run to 20 pages and includes detailed clauses on everything from garden maintenance to satellite dishes.

The Written Statement is a standardised summary prescribed by the government. It must follow the prescribed format. You cannot add extra clauses, modify the wording, or fold it into your existing agreement. It is a standalone document that must be provided separately.

Your existing AST template will also need updating, because from 1 May there are no more fixed-term tenancies. All new tenancies are assured periodic tenancies from day one. But the Written Statement is a separate document on top of that.

Practical steps for your agency right now

Update your onboarding checklist. Every new tenancy from 1 May needs: the tenancy agreement (updated for periodic tenancies), the Written Statement of Terms, the How to Rent guide, deposit protection confirmation, EPC, gas safety certificate, and EICR. Add the Written Statement to your checklist now.

Build the template. Take the government’s prescribed format and create a fillable template your team can complete for each new tenancy. Pre-populate the sections that are the same for every tenancy (repairing obligations, fitness for habitation, possession order statement) and leave blanks for property-specific details.

Set up tracking. You need to prove that every tenant received their Written Statement. Use electronic delivery with read receipts, or get the tenant to sign an acknowledgement. Store the evidence digitally. If a local authority comes knocking, “we sent it but can’t prove it” is not a defence.

Do not forget the Information Sheet for existing tenants. This is a separate document that must be served on all existing tenants by 31 May 2026. If you manage 150 properties, that is 150 documents to serve with proof of delivery in the space of a month. Automated document tracking through a system like OdjoAI can handle the serving, acknowledgement, and audit trail in bulk.

What happens if you get it wrong

Local authorities can impose a financial penalty of up to £7,000 for failure to provide the Written Statement. That is per tenancy, not per agency.

For the Information Sheet, the same £7,000 penalty applies. If you manage 100 properties and fail to serve the Information Sheet to any of them by 31 May, the theoretical maximum exposure is £700,000. That is unlikely in practice, but even a handful of penalties would be painful.

Get ahead of this now. Update your templates, build your tracking system, and start serving documents early. If you want help automating the process, visit odjoai.com/property to see how our case management tools handle document tracking and compliance audit trails.