Written Statement of Terms Missing a Term? Here's What to Check
If your written statement of terms is missing information, it doesn't invalidate your tenancy, but it does put the landlord in breach of section 16D of the Housing Act 1988. Below is the full list of mandatory particulars for new assured tenancies in England, and a wizard that generates a corrected, compliant statement.
Landlord details
Required: your name and an address in England or Wales where the tenant can send legal notices. This does not need to be your home address.
Statement Preview
Updates as you fill inWhat makes a written statement of terms incomplete
Section 16D(2) of the Housing Act 1988, inserted by section 12 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, requires landlords to give tenants a written statement covering a specific list of terms. The exact wording is set out in the Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Statement of Terms etc and Information Sheet) (England) Regulations 2026. A statement is incomplete whenever it leaves out any item on that list, even if the tenancy agreement itself covers everything else the parties have agreed.
This applies to new assured periodic tenancies granted on or after 1 May 2026. For tenants who already had a tenancy with no written agreement in place before that date, the landlord had to issue the full statement by 31 May 2026.
Mandatory particulars checklist
Every item below must appear in the statement, or in a tenancy agreement that stands in for it.
| Term | What it must cover |
|---|---|
| Landlord name(s) | Full name of the landlord, or names of all joint landlords. |
| Address for service | An address in England or Wales where the tenant can send legal notices. |
| Property address | The full address of the rented property. |
| Tenant name(s) | Full name of the tenant, and any joint tenants. |
| Tenancy start date | The date the tenancy begins. |
| Rent amount and due date | How much rent is payable, and when it falls due. |
| Rent increase process | A statement that rent can only be increased by a section 13 notice. |
| Deposit amount and scheme | The deposit held, and the government-approved scheme protecting it. |
| Bills | Whether bills are included in rent or payable separately, and which ones. |
| Tenant notice to end tenancy | The minimum notice a tenant must give to leave. |
| Landlord possession rights | Confirmation the landlord can only regain possession through a court order, after serving a notice on a valid ground. |
| Fitness for human habitation | Confirmation of the landlord's duty to keep the property fit to live in. |
| Repairing obligations | The landlord's duty to maintain the structure, exterior, and installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating. |
| Right to request a pet | A statement that the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse a request to keep a pet. |
| Right to request disability adjustments | A statement that consent to reasonable adjustments cannot be unreasonably refused. |
| HMO licence number | Required if the property is licensed as a House in Multiple Occupation. |
| Supported accommodation status | Required only if the tenancy is granted as supported accommodation. |
The terms landlords leave out most often
Rent increase process
Standard tenancy agreements often state the rent amount but skip the statement that increases must go through a section 13 notice. Without it, a tenant reading the statement has no way to know that a landlord cannot simply raise the rent by letter or verbal notice.
Deposit scheme and bills
The deposit amount is usually included, but the name of the protection scheme is often missing. Bills are the other common gap: the statement needs to say plainly whether bills sit inside the rent or are billed separately, and name which ones if they're separate.
Notice and possession terms
A compliant statement has to explain that the landlord can only regain possession through a court order, after serving a prescribed notice on a valid ground, and that the ground determines the notice period. Many landlords still use older tenancy wording built around section 21, which was abolished from 1 May 2026, and this section is left out entirely. Our Section 8 notice generator and possession order timeline cover what happens after a notice is served, if it comes to that.
Repairs and fitness for human habitation
The statement must confirm the landlord's duty to keep the property fit to live in, and to maintain the structure, exterior, and the water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating installations. This is frequently assumed to be "obvious" and left unwritten, which is exactly why it fails a compliance check.
Pets, disability adjustments, and HMO status
The right to request a pet, and the right to request disability-related adjustments, both need an explicit statement that the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse. If the property is a licensed HMO, the licence number has to appear as well.
Missing more than one of these terms?
Fill in the wizard once and generate a complete statement, rather than patching your existing document clause by clause.
Before and after: a real gap
States the rent, deposit amount, and start date. Says nothing about the deposit protection scheme, nothing about how rent increases are notified, and nothing about the landlord's repairing obligations.
Adds the deposit scheme name and protection date, a line confirming rent can only rise through a section 13 notice, and a paragraph confirming the landlord's duty to maintain the structure, exterior, and utility installations.
How to ask your landlord to correct it
- 1. Compare your statement against the checklist above. Note down exactly which items are missing, rather than raising a general complaint that the document "isn't complete."
- 2. Put the request in writing. Email is enough. Ask the landlord or agent to issue an updated statement covering the specific missing terms.
- 3. Give them a reasonable window to respond. Landlords are expected to correct a changed or incomplete statement within a reasonable time, generally treated as 28 days.
- 4. Report to your local council if they don't. Councils can investigate and issue a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for failure to provide a compliant written statement.
Five-minute compliance check
- ✓Both parties’ names and the landlord’s address for service are on the document.
- ✓The rent amount, due date, and the section 13 increase process are all stated.
- ✓The deposit amount and protection scheme are named.
- ✓Bills are marked as included or separate, with which ones listed if separate.
- ✓The possession section describes a court order and a prescribed notice, not a section 21 notice.
- ✓Repairing obligations and fitness for human habitation are both confirmed in writing.
- ✓Pet and disability adjustment rights are stated, not just implied.
- ✓The HMO licence number appears, if the property is licensed.
Related reading
Ready to fix it now?
The wizard at the top of this page walks through every mandatory particular and produces a PDF you can send straight to your landlord or tenant.
Frequently asked questions
Does a missing term make my tenancy invalid?
No. A written statement that is missing a required term does not undo the tenancy or make it unenforceable. It puts the landlord in breach of section 16D of the Housing Act 1988, which is a separate matter from whether the tenancy itself exists.
What can I do if my landlord won't correct it?
You can report the failure to your local council. Councils can investigate and issue a civil penalty of up to £7,000 against a landlord who does not provide a compliant written statement.
Is the Written Statement of Terms the same as the government Information Sheet?
No. The Information Sheet is a fixed government document sent to tenants whose existing tenancy converted to an assured periodic tenancy on 1 May 2026. The Written Statement of Terms is tenancy-specific and applies to every new assured tenancy granted from that date.
How long does my landlord have to fix a written statement after something changes?
If a term changes during the tenancy, generally within 28 days after the change, the landlord must issue an updated statement reflecting it.
Can I write my own corrected written statement instead of asking my landlord?
The written statement is the landlord's legal duty to provide, so a tenant cannot substitute their own version and make it binding. What you can do is draft a compliant version to show your landlord exactly what is missing, which is usually the fastest way to get it corrected.
Sources and methodology
Last updated: 25 July 2026
The checklist above was built directly against section 16D of the Housing Act 1988 (as inserted by section 12 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025) and the Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Statement of Terms etc and Information Sheet) (England) Regulations 2026. Where the regulations name a specific requirement, this page lists it as a separate row rather than folding it into a general summary, so it can be checked item by item.