Forum spotlight - How to Rent Guide

Since 2015, landlords in England have been required to provide the latest version of 'How to rent: a checklist for renting in England' to their tenants when the first tenancy starts, with an update version issue by the Government last month.

This month a landlord posted on our forum to see if they needed to issue the latest version of the Government's How to Rent Guide to their existing tenants in the middle of a fixed term.

The responses on our forum

One user took to our forum to say that although in their view there was no obligation for the landlord to give their tenants the updated version of the guide they usually share the latest version with their existing tenants each time as a courtesy,as there is additional information in there. 

This landlord said they do this in part because it reminds their tenants (and themselves as a landlord) of their obligations, and also demonstrates a degree of transparency.

An adviser in our team then joined in on the thread to clarify matters.

They said that there is no need for landlords to issue a new How To Rent guide, unless either the fixed term has become a statutory periodic contract, not a contractual one, or if a new AST has been signed AND the guide has been updated since the last one was issued.

They agreed, however, that it does no harm to issue tenants with the updated version of the guide.

Read the original forum post here.

The NRLA keeps a record of all past editions of the How to Rent guide. To access our archive and the link to the current How to Rent guide, click here.