England serves a tenancy agreement plus a How to Rent guide plus, since the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, an information sheet. Wales does none of those. It has one document, and it is not optional.
What the written statement is
Under section 31 of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, a landlord must give the contract-holder a written statement of the occupation contract. It is not a copy of a tenancy agreement with a Welsh heading: it is a statement of the contract’s terms, arranged in the categories the Act specifies.
- Key matters — the parties, the dwelling, the start date, the rent and when it is payable.
- Fundamental terms — the statutory terms covering the most important aspects of the contract, including possession and the landlord’s repairing obligations.
- Supplementary terms — the default practical terms.
- Additional terms — anything else the parties have agreed.
Fundamental and supplementary terms can only be changed or left out in the limited ways the Act allows, and a change that is not to the contract-holder’s benefit generally requires their agreement.
Fourteen days, and the clock is on the occupation date
The statement is due within 14 days of the occupation date — the day the contract-holder is entitled to occupy, not the day you got round to the paperwork.
Missing it costs rent, not a penalty
This is the part that surprises landlords used to English rules, where a missing How to Rent guide blocks a possession notice but costs nothing directly.
In Wales, if the statement is not provided in time, the contract-holder may be entitled to compensation equal to a day’s rent for every day of the delay, running from the end of the 14 days until the statement is given, subject to the cap the Act sets. A statement given two months late on a £900pcm contract is a real sum, and it is owed automatically rather than at a court’s discretion.
A knowingly false or misleading statement carries its own consequences under the Act.
It also gates possession
A landlord who has not provided the written statement cannot give a valid section 173 notice. It sits alongside the deposit rules and Rent Smart Wales registration and licensing as one of the compliance preconditions for no-fault possession.
Do not serve English documents in Wales
The How to Rent guide and the RRA information sheet are England-only. Serving them in Wales is not a defence to anything and does not substitute for the statement. The reverse is equally true: a written statement has no standing in England.
Check what you are actually letting on. The agreement checker reads your document and cites each finding to the Act and section.
Information tool, not legal advice.