Letter to Tenant Regarding New Tenancy Documents (England)
This Letter to Tenant Regarding New Tenancy Documents (England) is for use by a residential landlord who has recently granted a new assured shorthold tenancy (AST) of property in England. This letter should be printed on the landlord’s headed paper and sent to the tenant as soon as possible after the grant of the AST.
Landlords in England are required to provide certain information and documentation to their new tenants. Failure to provide this material can lead to the landlord being unable to serve a valid Section 21 Notice to terminate the tenancy at a later stage. (Landlords in Wales are subject to slightly different requirements – see our Wales version of this letter.)
This template has been updated to reflect the requirement to provide an electrical installation report as introduced by The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. Most residential tenancies are caught by these regulations; however, certain tenancies are excluded, including tenancies granted by social landlords, long leases or tenancies granted for a term of 7 years or more, student halls of residence, care homes, shared accommodation with landlord or landlord’s family.
At the time of writing, failing to provide an electrical installation report does not invalidate the service of a Section 21 Notice.
The information required, and referred to in this Letter, is:
- A valid energy performance certificate. This should be provided before the tenant occupies the property.
- A copy of the last gas safety record. This should be provided before the tenant occupies the property.
- A copy of the last electrical installation report. This should be provided before the tenant occupies the property.
- “Prescribed Information” regarding protection of any tenancy deposit.
- A copy of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s “How to Rent: the checklist for renting in England”. This document can be found on the gov.uk website.
Hard copies of the first three items should be provided. It is permissible to provide the fourth item by email if the tenant has notified the landlord of an e-mail address at which they are willing to accept service of notices and other documents relating to the tenancy.
This template letter allows either for the documents to be enclosed or for the landlord to confirm that they have already been provided, when and by whom.
The tenant is asked to sign a copy of the letter and return it to the landlord to confirm receipt. The landlord must remember to send the tenant two copies of the letter and a stamped addressed envelope.
Optional phrases / clauses are enclosed in square brackets. These should be read carefully and selected so as to be compatible with one another. Unused options should be removed from the document.
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