Type 'tenancy agreement template UK' into a search engine and you will get free downloads, association libraries, solicitor offers and paid packs, ours among them. The honest answer to 'which is best?' is that it depends on the property's nation and how current the document is, not on the logo at the top. This guide is the checklist we would use ourselves: what any good template must contain, the red flags that date a document, and the questions worth asking a provider, including us, before you pay.
LetSafe UK sells tenancy agreement templates, so we have an interest in this comparison. The checklist below applies to our documents as much as anyone else's, judge us by it too.
Start with the nation, not the brand
The UK has four separate residential tenancy regimes, and a template drafted for one is legally wrong in another. England uses the periodic assured tenancy under the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Wales uses the occupation contract under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, with a written statement due within 14 days of occupation. Scotland uses the Private Residential Tenancy. Northern Ireland uses the private tenancy under the Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. So the first filter for 'best' is brutal: if the template does not say which nation and which statute it was drafted for, it fails, whatever it costs. Our jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction landing page maps each nation to the right document type.
The England checklist
- Creates a periodic assured tenancy from day one, with no fixed term and no break clause mechanics
- Contains the prescribed written statement of terms content required by the 2026 regulations
- Rent review by Section 13 only, with no contractual escalator clause pretending otherwise
- A pet-request clause reflecting the statutory reasonableness test and the 28-day response window
- Deposit protection acknowledgement naming the approved schemes, with the prescribed information annexed
- A reference to the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet and how it was served
- Possession described by Section 8 grounds, with no mention of Section 21 or Form 6A
A document that ticks all seven is a genuinely current English template. Most free downloads still fail on the first three. If you want the version we maintain, it is the periodic tenancy agreement template, and for a shared house let room by room the HMO tenancy agreement template adds the shared-areas schedule and licensing references an HMO needs.
The Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland checklists
For Wales, the test is terminology and the fundamental terms: the document must call the occupier a contract-holder, embed every Schedule 4 fundamental term including the June 2026 discrimination terms, and flag the 14-day written statement deadline. For Scotland, a good template follows the Scottish Government's model Private Residential Tenancy and includes the required easy-read notes. For Northern Ireland, it must sit alongside the notice of tenancy terms the 2022 Act requires. In each case the free government model is the benchmark: a paid template should match it on statutory content and beat it on guidance, or it is not worth paying for.
Red flags that date any template
- No named statute and no 'reviewed against' date anywhere in the document
- England templates offering a choice of fixed terms, or a Section 21 clause
- A blanket no-pets clause presented as enforceable in England or Wales
- Deposit clauses with no scheme names and no prescribed information annex
- Guidance notes that talk about 'the new rules coming in 2025' as a future event
Questions to ask any provider before paying
- Which Act and commencement date was this template last reviewed against, and when?
- What happens when the law changes, do I get the updated version without paying again?
- Is the licence per tenancy, per property, or unlimited across my own portfolio?
- Does the pack include the supporting forms the agreement refers to, or are they extra?
- Is there completion guidance, or is it a bare document?
Where you buy is a separate question from what you buy, and we compare the realistic sources, gov.uk forms, NRLA membership, free sites, solicitors and LetSafe, in the companion guide on the best source for landlord tenancy templates. If price is the sticking point, the honest breakdown of free vs paid tenancy agreement templates covers when a free document is genuinely enough.
One property in England, first tenancy: the new landlord pack covers the agreement plus the seven supporting documents this checklist keeps mentioning, £49 in one download.