Every landlord in England with an existing assured shorthold tenancy on 1 May that is wholly or partly in writing needs to serve the government-produced Information Sheet on their tenants by 31 May 2026. The Information Sheet explains to tenants how their tenancy will be affected by the changes introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act.
This is one of the transitional requirements in the Renters’ Rights Act and applies to tenancies that were entered into before 1 May 2026. (This means “signed by all of the parties”, even if the tenancy hasn’t started).
It does not apply to new tenancies entered into on or after 1 May, as they’ll be on the new assured periodic tenancy regime. However, those new APTs will need to contain mandatory terms and information, known as the “Written Statement of Terms“.
The penalty for not giving the Information Sheet to tenants is a civil penalty of up to £7,000.
Like most emails, i don’t think you have to prove that someone’s received it merely that you’ve sent it to the correct email. If the email is stated in the contract as okay for service, which it is on Openrent then I’d suspect proof of sending will be sufficient.
'“You must also make sure you give your tenants the exact PDF found on the page, by either:
Printing a hard copy, which can be posted or given to the tenants by hand.
Sending the PDF electronically as an attachment, for example, to an email or text message, provided the tenant responds to confirm receipt or you have an appropriate worded clause in your tenancy agreement which allows electronic service.
You must not email or text a link to the PDF to the tenant, as this will not be valid.”
I’m sure getting tenants to confirm receipt would count as some sort of evidence it was sent, but they could always recant; other evidence could be a copy of the email or proof of posting. Or video of handing over to the tenant in person.
For the how to rent guide/deposit prescribed info Openrent keeps a record of the email sent with these on the ‘manage documents’ dashboard as well as sending to LL at same time as tenant. I expect they will do the same with the info sheet
But in any case I have sent it to my tenants already requesting they confirm receipt. I will also mention during my next inspection visit(s) before 1 may and include in the agreed note of the meeting so I have a contemporaneous record.
The fine for not providing the info note is so ridiculously high that gathering a bit of evidence of proof I did provide is worthwhile even if it makes the whole process clunky and means tenants get copies of the info sheet multiple times
My point was, it’s not essential, but I understand your preference. I interpreted your word ‘essential’ as suggesting the legislation required the tenant to acknowledge receipt of an email, which of course it doesn’t.
For HMOs, would it be acceptable to leave it in the property during an inspection even if tenants aren’t at home? I can then take a photo as evidence.
Should there be a copy for each tenant or can it be one for the entire house if the tenants are on a single tenancy agreement?
If leaving the information sheet at the house is not acceptable, then I will send by email. Do I need a receipt from each tenant in the property or just from one would suffice?
You can serve by email if your contract allows. In my view you do not need to have any tenant issue a ‘receipt’ if you can prove its been emailed as per your contract. If you wish to be 100% sure, then get each to acknowledge receipt, as a receipt from one of them is useless for the others.
If I were delivering in ‘hard copy’ I’d want them to sign a receipt personally. A photo doesn’t prove they received it, it could have been moved / binned by another tenant.
Thank you for your response. Why would a receipt from one of them be useless for the others if they are on a single contract? As you say, a receipt isn’t required if I am sending to the email address that they provided on their contract. That’s exactly what I’m thinking of doing but a receipt from at least one of them proves that the email was sent (and received by at least one in the group).
@Joseph_1 it would be useless because the RRA says they each have to be served the doc individually.
If you are bothering to get receipts (which isn’t a requirement of any sort) it is purely to evidence they have each received it. So you need a receipt from each.
What happens if one says they all received it and another says they didnt? It will be a mess won’t it?
Sending to a single email address won’t work either. You have to send to separate emails for each tenant. Otherwise you have no idea or way to prove they each received it
I will be emailing it to each tenant but as it’s difficult to get everyone to respond, having at least a response from one tenant would be better than nothing, particularly as there really is no requirement for a receipt.
I have sent both by whatsapp (tick shows read) and by email
For any that doesn’t work re getting confirm from tenant organize an inspection visit before 1 may and take hardcopies and take a note of the meeting asking if they received and/or receiving the hard copy and send a note of the meeting afterwards so you have a contemporaneous record.