Prescribed Terms for an Assured Periodic Tenancy in England

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 did not just convert every AST into an assured periodic tenancy. It also rewrote the rules on what a tenancy agreement must — and must not — contain. If you are setting up a new letting in England, your Written Statement of Terms needs to include every prescribed field. If you have an existing agreement, some of your clauses are now void.

The 16 Mandatory Fields

The Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Statement of Terms etc and Information Sheet) (England) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/324) set out the prescribed content. Every Written Statement of Terms must include:

Identity and addresses: the full legal names of all landlords, the full legal names of all tenants (including every joint tenant), a service address in England and Wales where notices can be served on the landlord, and the full postal address of the property.

Tenancy details: the date the tenant is first entitled to possession, the exact rent amount with payment frequency and due dates, and details of any council tax, utilities, green deal charges, TV licence, or communication bills — specifying which are included in the rent and which are the tenant's responsibility.

Statutory statements: a statement that rent increases can only occur through the Section 13 process, the deposit amount with a reference to statutory protection under Section 213 of the Housing Act 2004, a statement of the tenant's two-month minimum notice period under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, a security of tenure statement explaining that landlords can only recover possession via court orders on Section 8 grounds, and statements covering the landlord's obligations under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 for fitness for habitation and repairs.

Safety and equality: a statement on compliance with the Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020 (five-year testing and safety reports), compliance with Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, and a statement explaining the tenant's right to request disability modifications under Section 190 of the Equality Act 2010.

Every one of these fields is mandatory. Missing a single one is a breach of Section 16D, exposable to a civil penalty of up to £7,000.

Clauses That Are Now Prohibited

Section 16E of the Housing Act 1988 renders several types of clause void in any assured tenancy:

Fixed-term provisions. Any clause that sets a tenancy end date, creates a fixed term, or purports to limit the tenancy to a specific duration is unenforceable. The assured periodic tenancy rolls indefinitely.

Rent review clauses. RPI-linked escalators, percentage-based increases, market-rent review mechanisms, or any contractual method for adjusting the rent is void. Rent can only be increased through the statutory Section 13 Form 4A notice process — once per 12 months, with two months' notice.

Restrictions on tenant notice. Any clause that prevents the tenant from giving two months' notice to end the tenancy, or that imposes a longer notice period, is unenforceable.

Section 21 references. Any reference to Section 21 notices, landlord notices to quit, or no-fault eviction mechanisms is void. Possession is only available through the Section 8 grounds.

These clauses do not need to be physically removed from an existing agreement to be unenforceable — the statute overrides them automatically. But leaving them in creates confusion and can mislead tenants about their rights, which itself could attract scrutiny from a local authority.

Auditing an Existing Agreement

If you have a pre-May 2026 tenancy agreement still in use, run through it against the prescribed fields and prohibited clauses:

1. Check for void terms. Identify any fixed end date, rent review clause, Section 21 reference, or restriction on tenant notice. Note them, and decide whether to issue an updated version that removes them (optional but recommended for clarity).

2. Check for mandatory content. If you needed to issue a Written Statement of Terms (because the tenancy was new or oral), verify all 16 fields are present. If the tenancy was already in writing pre-May 2026, the Written Statement requirement did not apply retroactively — but the Information Sheet was still required.

3. Look for dangerous additions. Clauses that attempt to charge more than one month's rent in advance, clauses that restrict the tenant's right to request pet consent, or clauses that waive statutory repairing obligations may not be void under Section 16E specifically, but they may breach other legislation (the Tenant Fees Act 2019, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 pet provisions, or the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985).

The Assured Periodic Tenancies compliance kit includes a Written Statement of Terms audit checklist that maps every prescribed field to the specific regulation, so you can verify your agreement line by line.

See more England guides →