Is there one tenancy agreement that works across the UK?

No. England, Scotland and Wales have separate statutory regimes with different tenancy types, different notice procedures and different mandatory terms. A template that claims to cover the whole UK is either wrong for two of the three or so generic it fails the statutory requirements everywhere.

Is a written tenancy agreement legally required?

In Scotland, yes, and it must contain the nine statutory terms. In England a tenancy can arise without one, but you would be relying on statute alone for every term, which makes deposits, obligations and permitted occupiers far harder to enforce.

Can I still download a free AST template?

You can find them, but almost all of them pre-date 1 May 2026. An AST is no longer the tenancy type for new English lets, and a template built around a fixed term and a Section 21 clause is void in the parts that matter most.

Do I need a new agreement for each new tenant?

Yes. A tenancy agreement names its tenants, and adding or replacing a tenant creates a new tenancy in most circumstances. Generating a fresh agreement from the same property record takes a minute and avoids arguing later about who was actually party to what.

UK tenancy agreement templates

Published 22 May 2026 · Last reviewed 8 August 2026

The short answer

There is no single UK tenancy agreement. England uses an assured periodic tenancy under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025; Scotland uses a private residential tenancy under the 2016 Act; Wales uses an occupation contract. Using the wrong one is not a formatting problem — it leaves you unable to serve a valid notice when you need one.

At a glance

England	Assured periodic tenancy (APT) — periodic, no fixed term
Scotland	Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) — open-ended, nine statutory terms
Wales	Standard occupation contract, Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2022
Must be written	Scotland yes; England strongly advised
Fixed terms	Not available in either England or Scotland
Deposit cap	Five weeks (England); no statutory cap in Scotland
Advance rent	One month maximum in England
Cost here	Free to preview, free to download on the free tier

Which agreement does your property need?

Jurisdiction follows the property, not the landlord. A landlord living in Manchester with a flat in Glasgow needs a Scottish private residential tenancy for that flat, and a landlord in Edinburgh with a house in Leeds needs an English assured periodic tenancy for that house.

England. Every private let since 1 May 2026 is an assured periodic tenancy. It is periodic from day one, has monthly rent periods, contains no fixed term, no Section 21 clause and no rent review mechanism, and caps advance rent at one month. Our template also folds the Section 48 address for service into the agreement itself, so you do not need to serve a separate notice.

Scotland. Every private let since 1 December 2017 is a private residential tenancy. It must be in writing, must contain the nine statutory terms, and is open-ended — there is no end date to rely on and no equivalent of a no-fault notice.

Wales operates under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2022 and is not yet covered here.

What separates a usable template from a downloaded one

Most free tenancy agreement templates online are pre-2026 ASTs with the dates changed. They will contain a fixed term, a Section 21 clause and a rent review mechanism, all of which are void in England, and any of which will be used against you if the tenancy is ever disputed.

The test to apply to any template you are considering: does it name the current statute, does it avoid fixed-term language entirely, does it state the deposit cap, and does it handle pets as a request rather than a prohibition? If it fails any of those it pre-dates the law.

Ours are generated from your property and tenancy record rather than filled in by hand, which means the tenant names, addresses, rent and deposit figures appear consistently everywhere they need to and the same data drives the deposit prescribed information, the inventory and any notice you serve later.

Templates you can preview free

AST Tenancy Agreement TemplateA free, post-RRA tenancy agreement for private landlords in England.Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) Agreement TemplateA free PRT agreement for private landlords in Scotland, matching the Scottish Government model wording.Deposit Prescribed Information TemplateA free, schemes-aware deposit prescribed information document.Landlord Inventory and Schedule of Condition TemplateA free, detailed inventory and schedule of condition.Section 48 Notice TemplateA free Section 48 notice for English landlords.

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Guides on this topic

What the Renters' Rights Act Means for Your Tenancy AgreementsFixed terms, Section 21 clauses and rent review mechanisms are void from 1 May 2026. What your England tenancy agreement must change, and what can stay.APT vs AST: What Actually Changed When Your Tenancy Converted on 1 May 2026Every AST in England became an assured periodic tenancy on 1 May 2026. What actually changed, what your old agreement still does, and what to reissue.The Documents Every Landlord Needs Before Starting a New Tenancy (2026 Checklist)The full checklist of paperwork a UK landlord must have in place before a new tenancy starts in 2026, and what it costs you to get each one wrong.Starting a New Tenancy in Scotland: The Documents Every PRT Landlord NeedsEvery document a Scottish landlord must serve at the start of a PRT — the tenancy agreement, Easy Read Notes, deposit paperwork and safety certificates.Guarantor Agreement Template: Why It Must Be a Deed and What to IncludeA guarantor agreement that is not executed as a deed is usually unenforceable. What to include, how to sign it correctly, and a free template to start from.

Common questions

Sources

Every statute, form and scheme named above, linked to the primary source.

Starting a private residential tenancy in Scotland — mygov.scot

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Enter the property and tenancy once. DocuTenant produces the agreement, the deposit paperwork, the inventory and any notice you need from the same data, in PDF or DOCX.

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