Who Must Receive the Sheet
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 requires the Information Sheet to be served on every person who is a named tenant on an assured tenancy in England. The test is simple: if their name is on the tenancy agreement as a tenant, they must receive the document.
This applies equally to:
- Single tenancies — one named tenant, one copy required
- Joint tenancies — two or three named tenants, one copy each
- HMO tenancies with individual room agreements — each named tenant on each agreement
There is no concept of a "main" tenant or "lead" tenant for the purpose of this obligation. Every name on the agreement is a named tenant with an equal entitlement to receive the document.
Joint Tenancies — Each One Individually
Joint tenancies are where the most common errors occur. Landlords with two or more tenants on a joint agreement sometimes serve only one — typically the person who first made contact or who pays the rent — and assume the others will be told about it.
This is not valid service for the tenants who did not receive it directly. Each named tenant must receive their own copy through a method that creates evidence of individual service.
Telling Tenant A to pass the document to Tenant B does not constitute service on Tenant B. Even if Tenant A does pass it on, you have no evidence of when Tenant B received it, whether they received the complete document, or that they received it at all. Serve each tenant directly and keep evidence for each.
The simplest approach for joint tenancies: Send a single email addressed to all named tenants — "Dear [Name 1] and [Name 2]" — with the PDF attached. Include both email addresses in the To field. This creates one piece of evidence covering both tenants. Keep the sent email permanently.
If each tenant has a separate email address, sending individual emails to each is equally valid and may produce cleaner evidence for each tenant separately.
Who Does Not Need to Receive It
The following do not need to receive the Information Sheet from the landlord:
- Unnamed occupants — people living at the property who are not named on the tenancy agreement. A partner, family member, or flatmate who was not part of the original tenancy does not need to receive the sheet, though they have the same protections under the Renters' Rights Act.
- Guarantors — guarantors are not tenants and have no entitlement to receive the document.
- Former tenants — people who were previously named on the agreement but whose tenancy has formally ended.
- Lodgers — lodgers are not assured tenants and the Information Sheet obligation does not apply to lodger arrangements.
- Company tenants — company lets are not assured tenancies and fall outside the scope of the obligation.
Missing Contact Details
Occasionally landlords find they do not have individual contact details for every named tenant on a joint tenancy — particularly in longer-running tenancies where correspondence has only ever been with one person.
The right approach:
- Contact the tenant you do have details for — ask them to provide email or postal contact details for the other named tenant(s)
- Document your request — note the date you asked and the response
- Serve by post if needed — if email details are unavailable, print the document and post it to the property address marked for the attention of the named tenant
- Keep your evidence — proof of postage, or a note of the email chain requesting contact details
A landlord who makes genuine documented attempts to serve a tenant they cannot contact is in a far stronger position than one who makes no attempt at all.
This situation is also a useful prompt to update your records. Every named tenant should have their own contact details on file. If they do not, now is a good time to request them.
Evidence of Service for Each Tenant
For each named tenant you serve, keep:
- Their name and the property address
- The date the document was provided
- The method used (email / hand / post)
- The evidence (sent email, signed acknowledgement, delivery receipt)
A simple log with one row per tenant — property address, tenant name, date served, method, email reference — is sufficient. For a portfolio landlord with multiple properties and joint tenancies, a spreadsheet with one row per named tenant is the cleanest approach.
In any investigation, local authorities will want to see evidence of service per named tenant — not per property. Make sure your records reflect this.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I email both tenants together, is that one act of service or two?
It is one email but it constitutes service on both tenants — provided both are named in the email, both email addresses are in the To field, and both can be shown to have received it. A single email serves both. Keep that email as evidence of service on both named tenants.
What if one tenant is overseas and hard to reach?
Email is the most practical method for a tenant who is temporarily abroad. Provided you send to their known email address, email is valid service. If the tenancy agreement lists their email address, that is the address to use. Document the sending and keep the sent email.
My tenant's partner moved in after we signed the agreement. Do they need the sheet?
No — unless their name has been formally added to the tenancy agreement as a named tenant. An unnamed occupant is not a named tenant for the purpose of this obligation. However, if you later formally add them to the agreement, they should receive the Information Sheet at that point.
Get the Pre-Tenancy Checklist
The free compliance pack includes a Pre-Tenancy Checklist that covers the RRA Information Sheet alongside every other document required — with clear notes on who must receive each one.
Get the Free Compliance Pack →