Free UK tenancy agreement template. APT or AST, picked for you.

The wording follows the Government model Assured Shorthold Tenancy (January 2020 revision) for dates before 1 May 2026 and the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 framework for Assured Periodic Tenancies from that date onward. The template is legally sound as generated, but the PDF we send is a SAMPLE copy watermarked "NOT FOR SIGNATURE" so you cannot mistake it for a signed tenancy. For a signable, audit-trailed, e-signature version with deposit protection deadline tracking, use the full LetCompliance product.

A tenancy can exist verbally, but from 1 May 2026 section 16D of the Housing Act 1988 (inserted by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025) requires the landlord to give the tenant a written statement of the key terms before the tenancy is entered into — the identity of the parties, the rent and payment terms, and confirmation that the landlord can only end the tenancy by a court possession order. A properly drafted written agreement is the simplest way to satisfy this, because the agreement itself counts as the written statement. Skipping it exposes you to a civil penalty of up to £7,000, imposed by the local housing authority (section 16I); a further penalty can follow if the breach continues 28 days after the last one.

No — not for a standard private tenancy. Every new tenancy from 1 May 2026 is an assured periodic tenancy with no fixed term: the tenant can leave on two months’ notice at any point, and the landlord can only seek possession on a section 8 ground. A clause that tries to lock the tenant in for a fixed 6 or 12 months is unenforceable. Our APT template drops the fixed-term wording automatically, so you do not accidentally include a clause the law will not back.

An electronic signature on a tenancy agreement is legally binding in England and Wales — a tenancy is a simple contract, not a deed, so it does not need a witness. The free PDF here is a watermarked SAMPLE for review only and is not signable. Inside LetCompliance the same document becomes an e-signature version: the tenant signs on their phone, and the view, viewed-with-IP and signed timestamps are logged into an audit trail you can export if the tenancy is ever challenged.

For a standard single-let or room-only tenancy the model wording is tested and safe to use as generated, so most landlords do not need a solicitor. Take advice where you customise heavily (service-charge pass-throughs, unusual pet or guarantor terms) or for non-standard lets — corporate lets, student blocks, lodger licences or complex HMOs — where a solicitor-drafted bespoke agreement is the safer route than any template, including ours.

The tenant can end an assured periodic tenancy at any time by giving two months’ notice in writing. The landlord cannot give no-fault notice at all — section 21 is abolished — and must instead rely on a section 8 ground. The two most common landlord grounds, Ground 1 (the landlord or a close family member moving in) and Ground 1A (the landlord selling), are mandatory, need four months’ notice, and cannot be used in the first 12 months of the tenancy.

An AST (Housing Act 1988) is the default regime for private tenancies up to 30 April 2026. It allows a fixed term (commonly 6 or 12 months), section 21 no-fault notice after the fixed term, and contractual rent reviews. An APT (Renters’ Rights Act 2025) is the default from 1 May 2026 onward. There is no fixed term, section 21 is abolished, the tenant can give two months’ notice in writing at will from day one with no minimum tenancy period, and rent increases must go through a Form 4A statutory notice once a year.

No. A tenancy created on or after 1 May 2026 must be an APT under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. A signed "AST" document with a 2026 start date does not retroactively create a fixed term — the statutory regime converts it to an APT the moment it is signed, but the document is then poorly worded for APT (it talks about fixed terms, section 21 and break clauses that do not apply). Our builder auto-selects the right regime based on the start date you enter.

Room-only HMO tenancies work with the AST or APT template, but you should tick the "Single room in a shared property" option so the property description makes clear the demise is a specific room plus shared use of common areas. Bespoke HMO clauses (access to communal kitchen, bathroom rota, shared bills) should be added under Section G "Additional terms" or — for high-value HMOs — replaced entirely with a solicitor-drafted HMO agreement.

Yes. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 caps the deposit at 5 weeks’ rent for tenancies where the annual rent is under £50,000 and 6 weeks’ rent above that threshold. This applies to both AST and APT tenancies. The template does not enforce the cap — you can enter any amount — but the generated document prints the statutory cap explanation and you should always stay within it. Exceeding the cap exposes you to a 1–3× deposit penalty under section 214 Housing Act 2004.

Yes — always. The template generates the contract; it does not discharge any statutory duty. You must (a) protect the deposit in one of DPS, TDS or mydeposits within 30 days of receipt, (b) serve the Prescribed Information on the tenant within the same 30 days, and (c) give the tenant the required move-in information — for a tenancy created on or after 1 May 2026 that is the written statement of terms, as the standalone How to Rent guide was withdrawn that day. Failing to protect the deposit or serve the Prescribed Information costs 1–3× the deposit in court-ordered penalties and blocks the section 8 landlord grounds (Ground 1 and 1A). Section 21 no longer exists — it was abolished for every tenancy, new and pre-existing, on 1 May 2026.

Yes — use the "Additional terms" field (Section G in the generated PDF) for any bespoke clause (pet conditions beyond the new statutory right, rent guarantor schedules, service-charge pass-throughs). Bespoke wording should be reviewed by a solicitor before signing, especially on high-value tenancies. The core template wording is tested; additions are your responsibility to validate. If you have many bespoke clauses, consider a solicitor-drafted agreement rather than a template.

Because the free PDF is intended for review, redlining and side-by-side comparison with competing templates — not for signature. Signing a SAMPLE-watermarked document does not create a legally invalid tenancy (the wording is sound), but it creates evidential and practical problems later (scheme administrators, courts and landlord insurers reading the watermark at face value). To generate a signable copy with e-signature, audit trail and deposit-protection deadline tracking, create a free LetCompliance account — 14 days free, no card needed, and your first live agreement is generated inside minutes.

The template reflects the law as at the download date, stamped on the cover page. Major changes (for example additional section 8 grounds, further deposit cap revisions, or fresh MEES / EPC obligations baked into the tenancy) flow into the builder within a working week of the statutory instrument being laid. If you signed a tenancy under the old wording and need updated wording for the next one, regenerate the template — it is free.