Section 12 inserts section 16D (Duty of landlord and contractor to give statement of terms etc) into the Housing Act 1988. This section places a duty on landlords and any contractors responsible for compliance with this section, such as letting agents, to provide the tenant with a written statement of terms and information before the tenancy is entered into. This section applies to an assured tenancy other than a tenancy granted by implication, after an implied surrender of a previous tenancy between the same parties, where the implied surrender and grant result from an agreement to vary the terms of the previous tenancy. If the tenancy arose by succession under the Rent Act 1977 or Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976, or is an assured agricultural occupancy, the requirement must be met within 28 days of the landlord acknowledging the tenancy.
	Where a landlord wishes to use any of the "prior notice" grounds for possession which are 1B, 2ZA, 2ZB, 2ZC, 2ZD, 4, 5 to 5H, 6A, or 18 in Schedule 2, the landlord is required to have stated that they may wish to use these grounds in the written statement of terms (see sections 16D(3), 16E(1)(f) and 16I(1)(a) of the Housing Act 1988 as inserted by sections 13 and 15). Section 12 also enables the Secretary of State to make regulations to specify which terms and information are required in writing at the start of a tenancy.
	A tenancy may change status during its lifetime and become an assured tenancy – and therefore become a tenancy to which the requirement to provide a written statement of terms applies. This may happen if the tenant begins to use the dwelling as their principal home or a rent becomes payable, for example. Where a tenancy becomes assured during its lifetime, landlords will have 28 days to comply with the requirement to provide a written statement of terms, starting from when the tenancy became assured.
Part 1: Tenancy reform Chapter 1: Assured Tenancies Section 12: Duty of landlord and contractor to give statement of terms etc Effect