If the 31 May Information Sheet deadline was missed

Finding a missed compliance date after it has passed is unsettling, especially when the task was a new one-off requirement rather than an annual certificate already in the diary. The useful response begins by identifying which document the tenancy required. Pre-May written and verbal agreements did not follow the same route.

For most pre-May tenancies recorded in writing, every named tenant needed the official Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet by 31 May 2026. Where the agreement was wholly verbal, the landlord could not substitute that sheet; the prescribed written information about the tenancy terms was required instead.

Confirm which duty applied to the tenancy

Open the tenancy file before sending anything. If there is a written agreement made before 1 May 2026, use the final government Information Sheet published in March 2026. Earlier draft copies should be replaced by the final document. Give it to each person named as a tenant, either as a printed copy or as the PDF attached electronically.

For a wholly verbal pre-May agreement, prepare the written information specified by the regulations instead. The government’s landlord guidance lists the required details and explains when they must be given. Do not assume that forwarding the Information Sheet completes this different duty.

A saved possession process needs a separate date check. Where a valid Section 8 or Section 21 notice was served before 1 May and the tenancy later becomes assured periodic because the notice expires or the court process ends without possession, current government guidance gives one month from that event to supply the Information Sheet. Do not use 31 May as the automatic deadline for that exception.

Correct the omission and keep a clear delivery record

Supplying the correct document late does not rewrite the original deadline, and this guide cannot promise that it removes enforcement risk. It does, however, end the practical omission and creates an accurate record of what the tenant received. Send the document promptly rather than waiting for the next tenancy review.

Keep the version supplied, the date, the recipient and the delivery evidence together. For email, retain the message and attachment. For a printed copy, keep a short dated note of hand delivery or the postal record. If an agent manages the tenancy, ask for their delivery evidence rather than relying on a general assurance that the pack was handled.

A council notice has its own response timetable

Failure to provide the required information can lead to a financial penalty of up to £7,000. Before imposing a final penalty, the council must notify the person and allow written representations. Government guidance describes a 28-day period from the notice for those representations, with a further right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal after a final notice.

If a council has already written about the tenancy, use the deadline in that notice and take advice on the response. Evidence of what was sent, when it was sent and who was responsible belongs with that response; it should not be reconstructed from memory later.

Use the same review to check the rest of the file

The information duty sits beside older records rather than replacing them. Check the deposit receipt and protection date, gas safety record, electrical report, EPC, licence position and any prescribed information while the file is open. Each has its own trigger and cannot safely inherit the tenancy start date as a shortcut.

The landlord compliance tracker records the usual 31 May task for pre-May tenancies and keeps the supporting certificate dates separately in the browser. Its reminder does not calculate the saved-notice exception, so compare it with the notice or court timeline. Mark the item complete only when the correct document and delivery evidence are in the file.