Does every named tenant need their own copy of the information sheet?

Updated July 2026 · Based on official gov.uk guidance · General information, not legal advice

Short answer: yes. Each named tenant on the agreement is entitled to receive the required written information individually. Serving one copy to the household, or handing it to whoever happened to be in, does not count for the other tenants. You still owe each of them their own copy.

Landlords miss this constantly, because the rule feels pedantic. It is not. A council can prove this gap very easily, and it is expensive when they do.

What has to be given

It depends on what the tenancy looks like:

Written or partly-written agreement → the government's official information sheet explaining how the tenancy has changed under the Renters' Rights Act.
Entirely verbal tenancy → the information sheet is not enough. You owe a full written statement of the tenancy terms.
Any new tenancy → the information must be given at the outset, to every tenant.

What counts as giving it

A link is not service. Emailing "here's the gov.uk page, have a read" does not do it. The tenant must actually be given the document — a PDF attached to an email, or a printed hard copy. If your agreement does not permit service by email, you need to serve it on paper.

Practically, the safest approach for a joint tenancy:

One email per tenant, individually addressed to their own email address, each with the PDF attached. Not one email with three people in the To: field — that is a single communication, and it makes the "each tenant received it" argument harder than it needs to be.
Plus a printed copy each if you are handing them over in person, with each tenant signing a short receipt listing the date and what they received.
Keep everything. Sent emails, delivery confirmations, signed receipts, photographs of addressed envelopes. Filed per property, per tenancy.

If a tenant has no email address — which is more common than people assume — post it first class and photograph the addressed, stamped envelope before it goes in the box. Note the date in your property file. That photograph has settled more disputes than any amount of arguing about what was said.

What it costs to get wrong

Failure to provide the required written information is enforceable by local authorities through civil penalties of up to £7,000, rising to as much as £40,000 for repeated or serious breaches. There is also a cost that arrives sooner than any fine. If you have not served the required information, that gap complicates any possession claim and gives the tenant's adviser something to argue about.

New tenants joining an existing household

If a sharer moves out and someone new moves in, you are almost certainly creating a new tenancy rather than amending the old one — see what happens when one joint tenant leaves. That means the information duty starts again, for all of the tenants on the new agreement, not just the new arrival.

If you missed the 31 May 2026 deadline for existing tenancies, serve it late rather than not at all — late service stops the breach continuing and materially improves your position. Here's how to fix it this week.

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More guides

Missed the 31 May 2026 deadline? · Written statement of terms: what it must include · One sharer leaves: joint tenancies