Blog
Expert guides on tenant rights, rent increases, and the Section 13 process in England.
The written statement of terms is missing, late, or wrong: the tenant walkthrough (RRA, 2026)
A renter signs for a new flat in May 2026, gets a tenancy agreement and keys, but never gets a separate document headed 'written statement of terms'. That is not a paperwork triviality. From 1 May 2026, section 12 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 makes the written statement of terms a compulsory document the landlord must provide before the tenancy is entered into - and a failure carries a civil penalty of up to GBP 7,000 from the local authority. This walkthrough covers what the statement must contain, the three failure modes (never provided, provided late, provided but wrong), what each one means, the request-letter template, the council complaint route, and how a missing statement interacts with a later rent increase or possession claim.
The bidding war ban under the RRA: the tenant walkthrough for rejected-bid evidence and the GBP 7k civil penalty route
A renter walks into a viewing and the agent says, casually, 'we have a few people interested, so we are taking best and final offers by Friday'. The advert listed GBP 1,650. The renter offers GBP 1,650, gets a polite 'sorry, you have been unsuccessful', and watches the property re-appear two weeks later at GBP 1,750. From 1 May 2026 that is a civil penalty case under the new bidding war ban - up to GBP 7,000 per breach via local council Trading Standards. This walkthrough covers what counts as evidence, the three patterns we are seeing, the complaint template, and the parallel routes via redress scheme and PRS Ombudsman.