Assured periodic tenancy agreement

curl -X POST https://dealroom.todo.law/api/v1/agent/contracts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer drk_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{
    "contractType": "RESIDENTIAL_TENANCY_GB",
    "language": "en",
    "party": {
      "legalName": "Your company"
    },
    "counterparty": {
      "legalName": "The other company"
    },
    "terms": {
      "property-address": "<property-address>",
      "monthly-rent": "10000",
      "annual-rent": "10000"
    },
    "inline": "md"
  }'

What it is and when it is used

An assured periodic tenancy agreement is the contract for letting a home to a tenant in England and Wales. The Dealroom skill prepares it under the Housing Act 1988, as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, which came into force on 1 May 2026.

The reform changed the shape of a private tenancy. Three points matter for anyone used to the older model:

• No fixed term. Fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies are abolished for new lettings. Every new tenancy is periodic from the start: it runs from one rent period to the next until it is lawfully ended.
• No section 21. No-fault eviction is abolished. The landlord can recover possession only on a statutory ground.
• No contractual rent increases. The rent can rise only through the statutory notice procedure, once a year.

A tenancy is a consumer contract, and these protections apply whatever the parties write. The skill therefore offers six negotiable clauses covering what the law leaves open, and sixteen standard clauses that set out the statutory frame, each with its legal source. Rent review is deliberately among the standard clauses and not among the negotiable ones, because there is only one lawful way to do it.

Who signs it and in which role

Two parties sign:

• The landlord, who lets the home.
• The tenant, who will live in it.

The parties fill in three facts: the full address of the property, the monthly rent and the annual rent. The annual rent decides which deposit cap applies.

Key clauses

Tenancy period

The tenancy may be monthly or weekly periodic. Either way it has no end date, the tenant may leave on at least two months' written notice, and the landlord may seek possession only on a Schedule 2 ground. The period mainly sets the rent cycle and the dates on which notices expire. The skill has only two options here because that is all the law leaves open.

Tenancy deposit

The options are five weeks' rent (the cap where the annual rent is under £50,000), six weeks' rent (lawful only where the annual rent is £50,000 or more), four weeks' rent, or no deposit, with the tenant paying a monthly fee to a deposit replacement scheme instead. The six-week option carries a warning: below the threshold it is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, so the annual rent should be checked before choosing it. For any cash deposit, the landlord must protect it in an approved scheme within 30 days and give the tenant the prescribed information. Failing to do so exposes the landlord to a penalty of one to three times the deposit and blocks certain possession notices.

Inventory and schedule of condition

An inventory is not required by statute, but deposit scheme adjudicators treat it as the main evidence in a deposit dispute. The options are an independent professional inventory clerk paid by the landlord, with a check-out by an independent clerk at the end; a joint inspection by both parties, who sign the record and repeat the inspection at check-out; or an inventory prepared by the landlord. In the clerk and landlord options the tenant receives a copy within seven days of the start and then has fourteen days to note discrepancies in writing; under the landlord-prepared option, anything not challenged in that time is treated as accepted.

Repairs and maintenance

The landlord's duties to repair the structure, exterior and installations, and to keep the home fit for human habitation, come from the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and cannot be contracted out of. The choice is whether the landlord does only that statutory minimum, with the tenant handling minor internal repairs, or takes on comprehensive maintenance that also covers appliances, fixtures and the garden.

Pets

The tenant may have the statutory right to request a pet, with a written answer due within 42 days, no unreasonable refusal, possible conditions such as pet damage insurance, and consent treated as given if the landlord does not answer in time. Alternatively, pets may be approved from the start of the tenancy, or allowed on condition that the tenant keeps pet damage insurance and shows proof of it.

Termination

The standard option follows the statute: two months' notice from the tenant at any time, possession for the landlord only through a section 8 notice and a Schedule 2 ground, no use of Grounds 1 or 1A in the first twelve months, and return of the home in the condition shown in the inventory, apart from fair wear and tear. The tenant-favourable option adds that, where the landlord recovers possession on a no-fault ground (such as moving in, selling or redevelopment), the landlord repays the tenant's reasonable removal costs up to one month's rent.

The standard clauses also cover governing law, the nature of the tenancy, deposit protection, rent increases by section 13 notice with a right to refer to the First-tier Tribunal, repairs and fitness for habitation, the landlord's possession grounds, quiet enjoyment, access on 24 hours' written notice, the right to request a pet, the Decent Homes Standard, the ban on discrimination (including "No DSS" and "No children" practices), service of notices, council tax and utilities, dispute resolution (county court, the Tribunal, the deposit scheme and the new landlord ombudsman), and a severability clause that preserves every statutory protection.

What the two sides usually negotiate

After the reform the landlord has much less to trade: term length, rent escalation and no-fault possession are all fixed by statute. The open ground is the deposit level, the inventory method, the repairs split and pets. The landlord usually asks for the highest lawful deposit, a statutory minimum repairing obligation, and pets only with insurance. The tenant usually asks for a lower deposit or none, comprehensive repairs, pets approved from the start, and removal costs if evicted on a no-fault ground.

When the two sides disagree, Dealroom proposes the balanced positions in the skill:

• Tenancy period: monthly periodic.
• Deposit: four weeks' rent, the option nearest the centre.
• Inventory: a joint inspection by both parties.
• Repairs: neither option is fully neutral; the statutory minimum is the one closer to the middle.
• Pets: the statutory right to request.
• Termination: the standard statutory provisions.

Jurisdictions and languages Dealroom supports for it

Dealroom offers this tenancy agreement for England and Wales only, and drafts it in English only. Possession claims go to the county court, rent disputes to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), and deposit disputes to the deposit scheme's own dispute service.

For a home in another place, Dealroom offers separate residential tenancy skills built on local law:

• a California residential lease; and
• a Spanish residential lease, drafted in Spanish.

The landlord and the tenant can use Dealroom together, each stating their preferences, or one side can prepare the agreement alone.

Common mistakes

• Using an old template. Any reference to a fixed term, an "assured shorthold tenancy" or a section 21 notice is out of date for a new letting.
• Writing a rent escalation clause. It has no effect. Rent rises only by a section 13 notice.
• Taking six weeks' deposit on a lower rent. Below £50,000 a year the cap is five weeks; the excess is a prohibited payment.
• Protecting the deposit late. The 30-day deadline and the prescribed information both matter; a failure carries a penalty and blocks some possession notices.
• Skipping the inventory. Without a signed record of condition, a landlord's damage claim in a deposit dispute will usually fail.
• Ignoring a pet request. If the landlord does not answer in writing within 42 days, consent is treated as given under the statutory request option.
• Relying on Grounds 1 or 1A too early. They cannot be used in the first twelve months and require four months' notice.