Tenancy Agreement — What UK Landlords Need to Know

What type of tenancy agreement do you need?

From 1 May 2026, following the Renters' Rights Act 2025, all private residential tenancies in England are assured periodic tenancies. Fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies can no longer be granted for new tenancies, and existing fixed-term tenancies automatically converted to periodic.

This means you now need a periodic assured tenancy agreement — not the standard fixed-term AST that was the norm before the Act. Any agreement that specifies a fixed end date is effectively on a rolling periodic basis from the start.

Tenants can give two months' written notice to leave at any time. Landlords must use Section 8 to end a tenancy.

What a tenancy agreement must include

There is no single prescribed format for a tenancy agreement, but it must clearly state:

• Parties — full legal names of all landlords and all tenants
• Property address — full address of the let property
• Tenancy start date — the date from which the tenancy runs
• Rent — the amount, frequency (monthly, weekly), and payment method
• Deposit amount — how much, and which scheme it will be protected in
• Permitted use — residential only; any restrictions on subletting, pets, or alterations
• Landlord obligations — repair and maintenance responsibilities, access rights
• Tenant obligations — to pay rent on time, use the property responsibly, not cause nuisance
• Notice requirements — how the tenant must serve notice to leave (minimum two months in writing)

Clauses that are no longer valid

Several clauses that were standard in fixed-term ASTs are no longer enforceable under the Renters' Rights Act:

• Fixed-term break clauses — not relevant in a periodic tenancy; all tenancies are rolling from day one
• Rent review clauses — no longer effective; rent can only be increased via the Section 13 statutory process
• Blanket pet bans — landlords can no longer unreasonably refuse a tenant's written request to keep a pet
• No DSS / no benefit clauses — have been unenforceable for some time; explicitly unlawful discrimination

Where to get a tenancy agreement

You have several options:

• Solicitor-drafted agreement — the most robust option; tailored to your property and circumstances
• NRLA / NLA template — the National Residential Landlords Association provides regularly updated template agreements for members
• Letting agent template — if you use a managing agent, they will typically have a standard agreement updated for the current regime
• GOV.UK model agreement — a government model tenancy agreement is available for free on GOV.UK, though it may not reflect all RRA changes yet

Tenant City does not generate tenancy agreements — it manages the digital signing, storage, and tenancy lifecycle once you have an agreement. For a new periodic tenancy agreement updated for the RRA, we recommend using an NRLA template or a solicitor.

Signing the tenancy agreement

A tenancy agreement does not need to be in writing to be legally binding — an oral agreement creates a tenancy. However, a written and signed agreement is strongly recommended as it is the primary evidence in any dispute.

E-signatures are legally valid in the UK under the Electronic Communications Act 2000 and the eIDAS framework. An electronically signed tenancy agreement has the same legal standing as a wet signature.

Tenant City manages the e-signature process via Zoho Sign — upload your agreement, send to all parties for signature, and receive a completed document with a full audit trail of who signed, when, and from which IP address. The signed document is stored permanently against the tenancy record.

Documents to serve alongside the agreement

At the start of a tenancy, the tenancy agreement is just one of several documents that must be given to the tenant. Also required:

• Gas Safety Certificate (if the property has gas)
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
• How to Rent guide (current edition)
• EICR (within 28 days of inspection)
• Deposit prescribed information (within 30 days of deposit receipt)

Tenant City's move-in pack feature bundles all of these into a single digital pack sent via e-signature at move-in.

Learn about move-in packs →

Storing the signed agreement

Keep a copy of every signed tenancy agreement for the duration of the tenancy plus at least six years (the limitation period for contract claims). Tenant City stores signed agreements permanently against the tenancy record — accessible from any device.