On 1 May 2026, every assured shorthold tenancy in England became an assured periodic tenancy overnight. Fixed terms ended. Rent review clauses stopped working. Break clauses became pointless. Most landlords responded by doing one of two things, and both were wrong.

Some issued fresh agreements to tenants who didn't need them, which risks giving away protections the old agreement still carried. Others took the AST template, changed a few dates, and used it for new lettings, which produces a document containing terms that are now void and, in the case of a fixed term, potentially an offence. Here's what actually changed, what survived, and what your paperwork needs to look like now.

Scope: England, private rented sector. The reforms don't apply to high rent tenancies above £100,000 a year, lodger agreements, leases to companies, or Rent Act 1977 tenancies. Housing is devolved and other UK nations use different documents.q

Existing Tenancies Didn't Need New Paperwork

On 1 May 2026, almost every assured shorthold tenancy in England converted automatically to an assured periodic tenancy. Fixed terms ended. The tenancy became periodic, rolling month to month.

The AST and the APT are treated as one continuous tenancy. Which means, and this is the part that saves work:

No need to re-issue the tenancy agreement.
No need to re-register the tenancy deposit.
No need to re-serve the gas safety certificate, EICR or EPC.

Section 146 of the Act defines an existing tenancy as one entered into before 1 May 2026. "Entered into" means signed by both parties; it doesn't require the tenancy to have started. An AST signed on 1 April with a start date of 10 May is still an existing tenancy.

What you did need to do was serve the government's Information Sheet by 31 May 2026 on every tenant whose tenancy was wholly or partly in writing. Failing to do so can attract a civil penalty of up to £7,000. If you missed it, serve it now.

Wholly oral tenancies were different: those needed a full written statement of terms by the same date.

The Clauses That Died

Five categories became null and void on 1 May, whatever your agreement says.

1. Fixed term clauses:
   Any wording specifying a term has no effect. Attempting to enforce a fixed term may attract a civil penalty under the new Section 16E of the Housing Act 1988.

2. Contractual rent review clauses:
   Any clause setting out how an increase is calculated, including by reference to CPI or RPI, is void. Increases now run through Section 13 and Form 4A only. Government guidance confirms that a rent increase agreed before 1 May under a rent review clause, but taking effect afterwards, is not permitted.

3. Break clauses:
   Redundant, since tenants can end the tenancy on notice at any time and landlords need a Section 8 ground.

4. Blanket pet bans:
   Subject to the new implied term that consent cannot be refused without good reason, provided the tenant follows the statutory procedure.

5. Rent periods longer than a month:
   Where an AST stated rent was payable quarterly or annually, that became a monthly rent period under a statutory formula. The transition rules here are complex and sit in Schedule 6.

Note what that means practically. Those clauses are still sitting in your existing agreements, doing nothing. A tenant reading their own agreement will find terms that look binding and aren't.

What Existing Tenancies Kept

Two savings are worth knowing, because they're what a new agreement might throw away.

1. Rent in advance clauses remain enforceable:
   The Act makes clauses requiring rent in advance of no effect, but that rule doesn't apply to tenancies entered into before 1 May 2026. If an existing agreement requires rent six or twelve months in advance, that obligation stays valid and enforceable for that tenancy.

2. Tenant notice periods shorter than two months survive:
   The Act's two months is a cap, not a fixed period. Where the agreement says one month, one month prevails.

That's the practical reason to leave converted tenancies alone. Where a new tenancy is created in place of an existing one, transitional savings that applied to the earlier tenancy may not carry over. Whether a new agreement creates a new tenancy depends on the facts and the wording, so take advice before re-papering rather than assuming either way.

For most tenancies there isn't much at stake now, since the pending notice and student HMO transitional provisions expired in July and May respectively. But where the agreement carries a rent-in-advance clause, there's something concrete to lose.

New Tenancies: The Written Statement of Terms

For any tenancy entered into on or after 1 May 2026, you must provide a Written Statement of Terms before the tenancy is entered into. It can be built into the tenancy agreement or given separately. Most agencies fold it in. Failing to provide it is a civil penalty offence.

The required content is prescribed by regulations, confirmed in a statutory instrument published on 20 March 2026 with accompanying guidance. Work from the instrument and guidance directly, or from a template drafted against them, rather than from any summary.

The two documents get confused. The Information Sheet was a one-off for existing tenants, due 31 May 2026. The Written Statement of Terms is an ongoing requirement for every new tenancy. They aren't interchangeable.

Your Old Template Isn't Salvageable

Don't take the old AST, change the dates, and use it. It will contain fixed-term provisions, rent review clauses and break clauses that no longer work, and it won't contain the prescribed written statement content.

Attempting to offer a fixed term is itself an offence, and can lead to fines and rent repayment orders. So a lightly edited AST isn't an out-of-date document. It's one that could evidence an offence.

A compliant agreement needs to be periodic from the start with no fixed term, contain the prescribed written statement content, carry no contractual rent review clause, reflect the tenant's right to end on up to two months' notice, handle pet requests through the statutory process, and include the deposit acknowledgement and prescribed information.

Which ASTs Didn't Convert

Worth knowing if you have anything unresolved from the spring.

Two categories didn't become APTs on 1 May:
-> Those with a pending valid Section 21 notice, and Those with a pending valid Section 8 notice. Those tenancies remained ASTs while the notice ran.

But there was a backstop. Where court proceedings hadn't started, the landlord had to ask the court to issue a claim form by 31 July 2026. That date has passed. Where a notice lapsed or was found invalid, the tenancy became an assured periodic tenancy.

What to Do Now

Leave converted tenancies on their original agreements. Don't re-paper, particularly where there's a rent-in-advance clause.

Confirm the Information Sheet went out to every existing tenant with a written tenancy, and a written statement to any with an oral one. If either was missed, do it now.

Replace your template, don't amend it.

Check the written statement is genuinely in your new agreements, and matches the prescribed content.

Read your existing agreements so you know which clauses survived and which didn't. A tenant asking about a clause that no longer applies deserves an accurate answer.

Check what your agent is using. The offence attaches to the letting.

Structured tenancy and property records holding the agreement, the written statement and the service evidence against each tenancy make it possible to answer "which template, and what did we serve when" without opening twenty files.

Conclusion

Two documents, two jobs, and two opposite mistakes. The tenancy that converted in May is a continuing tenancy. It doesn't need a new agreement, a re-registered deposit, or re-served certificates. And if it carries a rent-in-advance clause or a short tenant notice period, there's a reason to think carefully before replacing the agreement.

Meanwhile every new tenancy needs a genuinely new agreement with the prescribed written statement built in, because the old template contains terms that are now void and, in the case of a fixed term, potentially an offence. New tenancies get new paperwork. Old tenancies get left alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do I need to reissue tenancy agreements that existed before 1 May 2026?
No. ASTs in force on 1 May converted automatically and are treated as one continuous tenancy. You don't need to re-issue the agreement, re-register the deposit, or re-serve the gas certificate, EICR or EPC. You did need to serve the Information Sheet by 31 May 2026.

2. What happens if I replace an existing agreement with a new one?
Where a new tenancy is created in place of an existing one, transitional savings such as an enforceable rent-in-advance clause may not carry over. Whether a new agreement creates a new tenancy depends on the facts and the wording, so take advice before re-papering. There's generally no benefit in doing it to a converted tenancy.

3. Which clauses in my old agreement no longer work?
Fixed terms, contractual rent review clauses, break clauses and blanket pet bans. Rent periods longer than a month converted to monthly under a statutory formula.

4. Can a tenant give less than two months' notice?
Yes, where the tenancy agreement provides for it. The Act's two months is a cap, not a fixed period, so a contractual one-month notice period prevails.

5. What is the Written Statement of Terms?
Prescribed information you must provide before entering into any tenancy on or after 1 May 2026. It can sit inside the agreement or be given separately, and the content is set out in regulations. Failing to provide it is a civil penalty offence.

Important Notice

This article applies to England only and to private rented sector tenancies. The tenancy reforms don't apply to high rent tenancies with annual rent above £100,000, lodger agreements, leases to companies, or Rent Act 1977 tenancies.

Information was compiled as at 1 September 2026. The required content of the Written Statement of Terms is prescribed by regulations and should be checked against the statutory instrument and guidance rather than any summary, including this one. Transition rules for rent periods longer than one month are complex and set out in Schedule 6 of the Act.

Always check the current position on GOV.UK before drafting or serving a tenancy agreement.

This content is general information only and does not constitute legal advice. RIOO is not a law firm. Have any tenancy agreement template reviewed by a qualified adviser before use.