Tenancy Agreement Template (UK)

Why "UK tenancy agreement" isn't one document

Housing law is devolved. England and Wales share a legal system but have separate housing statutes; Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own. A landlord in Cardiff, Edinburgh or Belfast who fills in an "assured shorthold tenancy" template downloaded for an English property is signing a document that doesn't match their own law — sometimes harmlessly, sometimes leaving out a legally required notice.

Select your nation at the top of the form and this template shows only the clauses and notices that actually apply to you.

England: the law changed on 1 May 2026

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolished assured shorthold tenancies for new lettings in England. Every private residential tenancy is now simply an assured tenancy, and — for the first time — the landlord has a legal duty to give the tenant a written statement of terms in a specific, government-prescribed format before the tenancy begins.

That prescribed format is set out in The Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Statement of Terms etc and Information Sheet) (England) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/324), in force from 1 May 2026. It lists 18 separate items the statement must contain — from the parties and the property address to the tenant's new statutory right to request a pet. Missing it isn't a technicality: a landlord can face a civil penalty of up to £7,000, rising to £40,000 as an alternative to prosecution.

If you already have an "assured shorthold tenancy" template you used before May 2026, retire it. This template's England option is built to the new 18-item list.

Wales: occupation contracts

Wales replaced assured shorthold tenancies earlier, in December 2022, with "occupation contracts." A contract with a private landlord is a standard contract by default, and becomes a secure contract only if the landlord says so in writing at or before the outset. The landlord must give the tenant (called the "contract-holder") a written statement of the contract within 14 days of occupation — miss that deadline and the contract-holder can claim compensation of one day's rent for every day the statement is late, for up to two months, doubled if the court finds the delay was deliberate.

Scotland: Private Residential Tenancies

Scottish tenancies are Private Residential Tenancies (PRTs) under the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016. There is no fixed term and no "no-fault" eviction route — the landlord can only end the tenancy on one of the statutory grounds. Scotland also has a documentation trap worth knowing about: if you use the Scottish Government's model PRT agreement you must also give the tenant the Easy Read Notes; if you write your own agreement instead, you must give the Private Residential Tenancy Statutory Terms Supporting Notes. Either way, handing over a bare agreement on its own is not enough.

Northern Ireland: notice of tenancy terms

In Northern Ireland the landlord must give the tenant a notice of tenancy terms, in the form set out in the Tenancy Information Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023, within 28 days of the tenancy being granted — free of charge. The deposit is capped at one month's rent, and any cash rent payment must be receipted at the time it's paid.

Deposit protection — all four nations

Every UK nation requires a tenancy deposit to be protected in an approved scheme, but the deadlines differ: 30 days in England and Wales, 30 working days in Scotland, and 28 days in Northern Ireland (raised from 14 days in 2023). This template's compliance checklist below states the right deadline for the nation you've selected.

The clauses, explained

Parties and property

Full names and addresses of landlord and tenant, and the address of the property being let. In England the landlord's address doubles as the address for service of notices — get it right.

Nation selector

Choosing your nation swaps in the right legal clauses automatically — England's 18-item statement content, Wales's occupation-contract wording, Scotland's PRT terms, or Northern Ireland's notice-of-terms wording.

Rent and payment

The rent amount, how often it's due, and the payment date. In England any future rent increase must go through a formal statutory notice — this template's England clauses say so.

Deposit

States the deposit amount and which protection scheme it will sit in. The nation-specific protection deadline is filled in automatically from your selection.

Furnished property (optional)

Add this clause to attach an inventory of furniture and fittings supplied with the property — useful evidence at the end of the tenancy for what counts as fair wear and tear.

Pets (optional)

Add this clause to record whether pets are permitted. In England, tenants now have a statutory right to request a pet and the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse — this template's England text reflects that.

Ending the tenancy

Describes how the tenancy can be ended in the selected nation — by statutory notice and grounds in England, notice provisions in Wales and Northern Ireland, or the ground-based eviction route in Scotland.

Requirements checklist by nation

Select your nation above and check the matching row here before you hand the tenancy over.

• England — written statement of terms

  Mandatory before the tenancy begins, in the 18-item format prescribed by SI 2026/324. Civil penalty up to £7,000 (up to £40,000 as an alternative to prosecution) for getting this wrong.

  The Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Statement of Terms etc and Information Sheet) (England) Regulations 2026

• England — deposit protection

  Protect the deposit in an approved scheme and give the tenant the prescribed information within 30 days of receiving it.

  Housing Act 2004, section 213

• Wales — written statement of the occupation contract

  Give the contract-holder a written statement within 14 days of the occupation date. Late statements incur compensation of one day's rent per day, up to two months.

  Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, section 31

• Scotland — written terms and the matching notes

  Give the tenant a document setting out all the tenancy terms by the day the tenancy starts. If you use the Scottish Government model agreement you must also supply the Easy Read Notes; if you write your own, supply the Statutory Terms Supporting Notes instead.

  Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, section 10

• Northern Ireland — notice of tenancy terms

  Give the tenant a notice in the prescribed form within 28 days of granting the tenancy, free of charge. Deposit capped at one month's rent.

  Tenancy Information Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023

How to use this template

1. Choose your nation. Pick England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland in the selector above the agreement — the clauses and notices in the document below change to match.
2. Fill in the parties and property. Tap the highlighted blanks and type the landlord's and tenant's names and addresses and the address of the property being let.
3. Set the rent, deposit and start date. Fill in the rent amount and frequency, the deposit amount and the tenancy start date.
4. Add the optional clauses that apply. The furnished-property inventory, pets and parking clauses each sit in the agreement with their own Add or Remove control, and the document renumbers itself either way.
5. Sign, download and work through the checklist. Sign on the signature line, download the agreement as a Word or PDF file, then work through the requirements checklist above for your nation before the tenancy begins.

Frequently asked questions

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