Assured tenancy forms
Forms for landlords and / or tenants to propose action relating to assured tenancy agreements or to refer such a proposal to the tribunal.
Applies to England
Introduction
The Housing Acts of 1988 and 1996, and the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, set out rules that apply to tenancies when properties are rented out privately or as social housing. In some cases, it may be necessary for landlords or tenants to complete a form called a ‘prescribed form’ that proposes an action that may affect the other party to the tenancy agreement.
You can download the prescribed forms from this page.
The forms are split into 2 sections: properties rented out privately and properties rented out by private registered providers of social housing. Each section contains the prescribed forms that apply to that type of tenancy, along with brief guidance on when to use them.
Use the prescribed forms to ensure the notice or referral to the tribunal is valid. Do not change the wording of these forms unless the form says you can. If you change the wording, the form may not be valid. You must also follow any notice periods mentioned in the form.
Changes starting on 1 May 2026
On 1 May 2026, the Renters’ Right Act 2025 abolished assured shorthold tenancies and ended Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions in the private rented sector in England. New forms for tenancy processes for privately rented properties have been introduced as part of those changes.
Landlords and tenants with social housing assured tenancies should continue to use the old forms, now called the forms for social housing assured tenancies, as the changes will not apply to those tenancies until 2027 at the earliest.
Completing the forms as a landlord
Landlords must use forms when they want to:
- increase the rent
- give notice asking their tenant to leave the property
- opt out of granting an assured agricultural occupancy
- propose changes to certain tenancies that arise by succession, which happens when the previous tenant of a Rent Act 1977 or Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976 tenancy dies
If your tenant proposes changes to a tenancy arising by succession, and you disagree, you must use a form to ask the tribunal to determine what terms might reasonably apply for the tenancy.
Landlords of social housing assured tenancies must use a form to propose changes to the terms of a statutory periodic tenancy. If your tenant proposes changes to such a tenancy and you disagree, you must use a form to ask the tribunal to determine what terms might reasonably apply for the tenancy.
Completing the forms as a tenant
Private rentals
If you are a tenant in a privately rented property and you want to propose a change to the terms of a tenancy arising by succession, use form 1A and serve it on your landlord.
If your landlord proposes changes to such a tenancy and you disagree, use form 2A to ask the tribunal to determine what terms might reasonably apply for the tenancy.
If you disagree with a proposed rent increase you’ve received from your landlord you can ask the tribunal to make a decision on what the open-market rent for the property is. You can also ask the tribunal to make a decision on the open-market rent for the property in the first 6 months of your tenancy.
Social housing - an assured tenancy of social housing where the landlord is a private registered provider of social housing
If you are a tenant who has a social housing assured tenancy, use form 6 to challenge a proposed rent increase or form 7 to apply for a rent determination.
Use form 1 if you want to propose a change to the terms of your statutory periodic tenancy or to a tenancy that arises by succession.
If your landlord proposes changes to such a tenancy and you disagree, use form 2 to ask the tribunal to determine what terms might reasonably apply for the tenancy.
Guidance is also available on this page for tenants in social housing and privately rented properties who have received a notice asking them to leave their property.
Properties rented out privately
The following forms apply to assured tenancies and assured agricultural occupancies in the private rented sector in England.
If you gave notice of possession before 1 May 2026, different forms may apply. Check the guidance to find out which forms you should use.
Form 1A
Form 1A: Notice proposing different terms for an assured tenancy arising by way of succession under the Rent Act 1977 or the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976 in the private rented sector
Use this form if you are a landlord or a tenant of a privately rented property and want to propose changes to the terms of an assured tenancy which arises by way of succession under the Rent Act 1977 or Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976.
Form 2A
Form 2A: Application referring a notice proposing different terms for an assured tenancy arising by way of succession under the Rent Act 1977 or the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976 to the tribunal in the private rented sector
Use this form if you have been given Form 1A and disagree with the terms proposed. You can use this form to ask the tribunal to decide what terms might reasonably be found in the assured tenancy.
Form 3A
Form 3A: Notice seeking possession of a property let on an assured tenancy or an assured agricultural occupancy in the private rented sector
Use this form if you are a landlord and want to seek possession of a privately rented property let under an assured tenancy or an assured agricultural occupancy.
This form is also known as a Section 8 notice.
Form 3A guidance
Form 3A: Completing the notice seeking possession – guidance for private landlords
This document for landlords explains how to complete the notice seeking possession.
Form 3A: Receiving the notice seeking possession – guidance for tenants
This document provides information for tenants when they have been served a notice seeking possession.
Form 3A: Legal wording for possession grounds
This document provides the full legal wording for the grounds of possession. The legal wording should be used in question 4.2 in Form 3A.
Form 4A
Form 4A: Landlord’s notice proposing a new rent for assured tenancies in the private rented sector
Use this form if you are a landlord of a privately rented property and want to propose a new rent.
For tenants: If you are given Form 4A and you disagree with the proposed rent, you can ask the tribunal to make a decision on what the open-market rent for the property is.
Form 5A
Form 5A: Landlord’s or Licensor’s notice proposing a new rent or licence fee under an assured agricultural occupancy in the private rented sector
Use this form if you are a landlord or licensor of a privately rented property and want to propose a new rent or licence fee for an assured agricultural occupancy.
For tenants: If you are given Form 5A and you disagree with the proposed rent or licence fee, you can ask the tribunal to make a decision on what the open-market rent or licence fee for the property is.
Form 9A
Form 9A: Landlord’s notice proposing an assured tenancy where the tenancy meets the conditions for an assured agricultural occupancy in the private rented sector
Use this form if you are a landlord intending to let a property privately to an agricultural worker and you want the tenancy to be an assured tenancy instead of an assured agricultural occupancy. You must serve this notice before the tenancy begins.
The agricultural worker conditions are found in schedule 3 to the Housing Act 1988.
Social housing - assured tenancies of social housing where the landlord is a private registered provider of social housing
The following forms apply to social housing assured tenancies where the landlord is a private registered provider of social housing, that are rented under either an:
- assured tenancy
- assured shorthold tenancy
- assured agricultural occupancy
These forms can also be used when a Section 8 or Section 21 notice for a privately rented property was served before 1 May 2026 as long as the circumstances outlined below apply. Form 9 is an exception. It cannot be used in private rented sector even if the circumstances described below apply as it must be served before a tenancy begins.
Form 1
Form 1: notice proposing different terms for a statutory periodic tenancy
Use this form if you are a landlord or a tenant in social housing and would like to propose changes to the terms of a statutory periodic tenancy which arises when a fixed term of an assured tenancy, an assured shorthold tenancy or an assured agricultural occupancy ends.
Do not use this form if the property is rented privately.
Form 2
Form 2: application referring a notice proposing different terms for a statutory periodic tenancy to the Tribunal
Use this form if you are a landlord or tenant in social housing and have been given Form 1 and disagree with the proposed terms. You can ask the tribunal to decide what terms might reasonably be found in the tenancy.
Do not use this form if the property is rented privately.
Form 3
Form 3: notice seeking possession of a property let on an assured tenancy or an assured agricultural occupancy
Use this form if you rent out a property as social housing and want to give notice to seek possession based on at least one of the grounds in schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988.
Do not use this form if the property is rented privately. You should use form 3A.
Notes for Form 3:
Form 4
Form 4: landlords’ notice proposing a new rent under an assured periodic tenancy of premises situated in England
Use this form if you rent out your property as social housing and want to propose a new rent. This applies to assured periodic tenancies and assured shorthold periodic tenancies.
Do not use this form if the property is rented privately. You should use form 4A.
Form 5
Form 5: landlords’ or licensors’ notice proposing a new rent or licence fee under an assured agricultural occupancy of premises situated in England
Use this form if you are a landlord or licensor renting out a property as social housing and want to propose a new rent or licence fee for an assured agricultural occupancy.
Do not use this form if the property is rented privately. You should use form 5A.
Form 6
Form 6: application referring a notice proposing a new rent under an assured periodic tenancy or agricultural occupancy to a Tribunal
Use this form if you are a tenant in social housing and do not agree with the new rent proposed by your landlord. You can use this form to ask the tribunal to decide what the rent should be.
Do not use this form if the property is rented privately.
Form 6A
Form 6A: notice requiring possession of a property in England let on an assured shorthold tenancy
Use this form if you rent out your property as social housing and want to serve a Section 21 ‘no fault’ possession notice for an assured shorthold tenancy. This notice starts the possession process to evict an assured shorthold tenant.
Do not use this form if the property is rented privately. Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions are not available for privately rented properties.
Notes for Form 6A:
Form 7
Form 7: application to the Tribunal for a determination of a rent under an assured shorthold tenancy
Use this form if you are a tenant living in social housing and want to apply to the tribunal for a rent reduction. Your tenancy must be an assured shorthold tenancy, and applications must be made within the permitted timeframe for the tenancy type. Guidance is provided in the form.
Do not use this form if the property is rented privately.
Form 8
Form 8: tenants’ notice proposing that an assured tenancy be replaced by an assured shorthold tenancy
Use this form if you live in social housing with an assured tenancy and want to ask your landlord to change it to an assured shorthold tenancy. You should seek legal advice before completing this form.
Do not use this form if the property is rented privately. Assured shorthold tenancies are no longer available for privately rented properties.
Form 9
Form 9: landlords’ notice proposing an assured shorthold tenancy where the tenancy meets the conditions for an assured agricultural occupancy
Use this form if you are a landlord intending to let a property as social housing to an agricultural worker and you want the tenancy to be an assured shorthold tenancy instead of an assured agricultural occupancy. You must serve this notice before the tenancy begins.
The agricultural worker conditions are found in schedule 3 to the Housing Act 1988.
Do not use this form if the property is rented privately. Assured shorthold tenancies are no longer available for private properties. You should use Form 9A to propose an assured tenancy instead of an assured agricultural occupancy in the private rented sector.
Notices of possession served before 1 May 2026
This section does not apply to landlords and tenants with social housing assured tenancies as the changes introduced by the Renters Rights Act will not apply to those tenancies until 2027 at the earliest.
If you are letting a private property in England and you served, or were served, a valid Section 8 or Section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, and that notice had not expired immediately before 1 May 2026, you can continue to use the forms for social housing assured tenancies while the notice remains valid.
Landlords and tenants of privately rented properties can only continue using the forms for social housing assured tenancies on and after 1 May if one of the situations below applies:
1. The court process for possession has not yet started and the deadline for doing so has not passed
In this section, starting the court process for possession means the landlord has asked the court to issue a claim form.
The deadline for beginning the court process is either:
- the time remaining on the Section 8 or Section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026
- on or before 31 July 2026,
The deadline is whichever of these dates is earliest.
If the court is asked to start possession proceedings before the deadline you can continue to use the social housing forms until the possession proceedings finish.
The court process cannot be started after 31 July 2026, even if the notice would otherwise still be valid. The exception to this is if the deadline for starting the court process has been extended because the tenant was in a breathing space.
2. The court process for possession started before 1 May 2026, and those proceedings have not finished
3. The possession process started before 1 May 2026, and the case is delayed as the tenant has entered a breathing space
A breathing space is when a tenant is receiving temporary protection from creditors as they have entered either:
- a standard breathing space (protection usually lasts up to 60 days)
- a mental health crisis breathing space (protection lasts for the duration of treatment plus 30 days beginning with the date that treatment ends)
More information about breathing space is available in the debt respite scheme guidance.
If you are not sure whether your situation is covered by one of the categories above, you should get advice before completing the form.
End of the court process
Once the court process for the notice served before 1 May 2026 has finished, or if court proceedings have not been started by the deadline, the tenancy will automatically become an assured periodic tenancy.
Section 21 will no longer be available to regain possession, and the updated Section 8 grounds must be used if a landlord wants to get their property back.
At that point, use the forms for properties rented out privately:
- for any future changes to the tenancy
- when referring a notice to the tribunal
- when giving notice to get the property back
Updates to this page
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On 1 May 2026, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is abolishing assured shorthold tenancies and ends Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions for private rentals in England. New forms have been produced as part of those changes - these are now available on the Assured tenancy forms page.
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On 1 May 2026, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 will abolish assured shorthold tenancies and end Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions for private rentals in England. New forms have been produced as part of those changes. On 1 May 2026 versions of the forms that can be used will be published on this page.
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Updated the Notes to form 6A to clarify that form 6A, or a document setting out the same information as required on that form, must be provided to serve a notice under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.
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Added new versions of the Notes to Form 3 and Form 6A published to reflect the launch of the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service.
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Form 3, Form 6A and the notes to Form 6A have been changed in line with notice periods returning to the pre-COVID position. New notes to Form 3 have also been included.
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Form 3 updated to correct a typographical error. This does not affect the validity of the form published 1 June 2021.
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Form 3, Form 6A and the notes to Form 6A have been changed in line with new requirements on notice periods which come into force on 1 June.
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Form 3 updated to reflect the coming into force of breathing space (debt respite scheme) regulations, which affect the ability to serve notice and make a possession claim under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 in certain circumstances.
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Form 6a and the notes to form 6a have been changed to remove information that is no longer applicable. These changes, along with changes made on 29 August to form 3, form 6a and the notes to form 6a, have been made in line with new legislation that came into force on 29 August 2020 and should be used by landlords in England up to 31 March 2021.
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Form 3, form 6a and the notes to form 6a have been changed in line with new requirements on notice periods.
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Added revised notes to Form 6A.
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Form 3 and Form 6A have been changed to reflect new legislation which came into force on 26 and 27 March 2020 and should be used by landlords in England up to 30 September 2020.
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On 30 July 2019, an incorrect version of Form 6A was incorrectly uploaded. If you have downloaded the Form 6A which was available between 30 July and 12 August please replace this with the corrected form.
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Notes to Form 6a (form for a no fault possession notice on an assured shorthold tenancy) has been updated.
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Form 6A and notes for form 6A have been updated now that the Tenant Fees Act 2019 has come into force (1 June 2019).
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Updated tenancy form 3: notice seeking possession of a property let on an assured tenancy or an assured agricultural occupancy.
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All forms have been updated.
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First published.