How to Rent Guide: Legal Requirements for Landlords
The How to Rent guide is a government checklist that must be provided to tenants at the start of every new assured shorthold tenancy in England.
What is the How to Rent guide?
The How to Rent guide is a government-published document that provides essential information for tenants renting in England. It covers what to look for before renting, understanding tenancy agreements, deposits, rent, and what to do at the end of a tenancy.
The requirement to provide this guide was introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015, which amended the Housing Act 1988. Landlords must provide the current version of the How to Rent checklist to all tenants as part of their legal obligations.
When must you provide it?
The guide must be provided at the start of every new assured shorthold tenancy, before the tenant moves in or on the day they move in. If the guide is updated and a new version is published, you must provide the new version to existing tenants on periodic tenancies.
You do not need to re-issue the guide when a fixed-term tenancy becomes periodic, as long as you provided the correct version at the start and no new version has been published since.
Which version must you use?
You must always provide the most current version of the guide. The government updates it periodically, so check the gov.uk website for the latest version before each new tenancy.
If you provide an outdated version, it does not satisfy the legal requirement and weakens your position in any legal proceedings.
Where to get the current version
Download the latest How to Rent guide from the official government website: gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-rent
Penalties for non-compliance
The primary consequence of not providing the How to Rent guide is a weakened legal position if disputes arise. While there is no specific fine for failing to provide it, landlords who cannot prove compliance face significant disadvantages in legal proceedings.
To remedy the situation, you must provide the current version of the guide to your tenant and keep proof of delivery.
How to prove your tenant received it
In the event of a dispute, you may need to demonstrate that you actually provided the guide to your tenant. Simply emailing the document does not prove it was received or opened.
Common approaches include having the tenant sign a receipt as part of the tenancy agreement, sending via a method that tracks when the document was opened, or using a document sharing platform that logs access.
This is where many landlords fall short. They provide the document but have no evidence that the tenant actually received it. In any dispute, the burden is on you to prove compliance.
How HouseFile helps
When you share the How to Rent guide through HouseFile, a timestamped log records when your tenant first accessed the document. Tenants can acknowledge receipt, creating an additional record. All compliance documents are organized in one place per property.