Nine days to the 31 May Information Sheet deadline: three operational gaps landing in landlord inboxes

Phase 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 took effect on 1 May 2026. The most immediate operational requirement on private residential landlords is the Information Sheet — a written information statement that must be delivered to every existing tenant in England by 31 May 2026, with fines of up to £7,000 per tenancy for non-action (rising to £40,000 for continued non-compliance). Nine days remain at the time of issue.

The Information Sheet is one of the cheapest mistakes in the Act to avoid. It is a single document, available free from gov.uk, that landlords have to deliver to each tenant — by post, by email, or in person — before the end of May. There is no central register of which landlords have delivered it; enforcement runs through local authority housing teams responding to tenant complaints.

Three gaps showing up consistently in the LeaseSafe inbox

In the run-up to the deadline, three operational misconceptions have been recurring in landlord queries to LeaseSafe:

1. Who is responsible for delivering the Information Sheet. Many landlords still believe the obligation sits with the letting agent rather than themselves. In the majority of agency arrangements it does not — the obligation is on the landlord directly, and standard agent terms typically do not cover the new statutory requirement. Landlords using fully managed agency services should check with their agent in writing this week.
2. Pet requests being handled informally. The Act sets out a 28-day written-decision process for tenant pet requests, with specific reasoning requirements for any refusal. A significant share of landlord queries describe these as informal verbal exchanges — texts, WhatsApp messages, doorstep conversations — rather than the written process the Act now prescribes. A tenant who later disputes the decision can challenge it on procedural grounds alone.
3. Pre-1-May Section 21 notices approaching their lapse window. Section 21 notices issued before 1 May 2026 remain valid only through 31 July 2026. Notices with effective dates after 31 July are approaching that lapse window and will need to be reissued under the new statutory possession grounds if the landlord still wants to proceed. Landlords with active S21 notices in this window have approximately ten weeks to act.

Comment from the founder

"The Information Sheet alone is the cheapest mistake in the Act to avoid. It is a free PDF that has to land with each tenant by the end of the month, and a meaningful number of landlords will miss the deadline simply because they didn't realise it existed. Nine days is enough time, but it requires action this week — not the last Sunday in May." — Richard Offenbach, Founder, LeaseSafe

"The three patterns we keep seeing aren't bad-faith landlords cutting corners. They're good landlords applying the old playbook to a new framework. Pet requests handled by text, Information Sheets assumed to be the agent's job, Section 21 notices in a holding pattern — all reasonable under the previous rules, all exposed under the new ones." — Richard Offenbach, Founder, LeaseSafe

About LeaseSafe

LeaseSafe organises a landlord's obligations in one place, prompts the right action at the right time, and keeps a clean record of what was sent and when. The platform is designed for the small landlord market — individuals and small portfolios — rather than for institutional or build-to-rent operators. It is positioned as a productivity tool rather than a compliance authority, legal adviser, or records custodian; users remain solely responsible for their own compliance.

The platform operates on a pay-per-action model. There is no monthly subscription, and the obligations dashboard is free to use. LeaseSafe launched on 1 May 2026 alongside Phase 1 commencement, and is operated by CallMonitor Ltd (Companies House 03844878), trading as LeaseSafe, founded by Richard Offenbach. Available at leasesafe.co.uk.