A landlord has a new tenant moving into a two-bed flat in three weeks and no fixed term to negotiate, because every new residential tenancy in England is now an assured periodic tenancy under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. This guide is drafted for England. If you are letting in Wales, the equivalent document is a standard occupation contract under a different statute, and our Wales occupation contract guide covers that separately, so do not mix the two. The cheapest reliable way to draft an England tenancy with AI is a clause-assembly drafter on a flat monthly plan, because a solicitor's letter-by-letter drafting fee or a per-tenancy template charge both cost more the more properties you let.
> Quick answer: A clause-assembly drafter produces a complete assured periodic tenancy, written statement duty, rent and deposit clauses, repair obligations and the current notice regime, for a flat monthly price with no charge per tenancy. A generic AI chatbot can also draft one quickly, but it may still describe the old fixed-term system that stopped applying from 1 May 2026, since chatbots trained on older material do not automatically know the law changed. Draft from a template written to the current regime, then check the notice and possession detail against gov.uk before you rely on it.
Why the cheapest option depends on getting the law current, not just the price
A tenancy template that describes a system no longer in force is not cheap at any price, because a landlord relying on it can find a notice invalid regardless of how little the document cost to produce.
| Route | Upfront cost | Is it built for the post-May-2026 regime | What actually goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| An old assured shorthold template reused from a previous letting | Free, already on file | No | Refers to a fixed term and a section 21 notice that no longer exist |
| Paid template site | A per-document fee | Sometimes, depends how recently it was updated | Static wording, no adaptation to your rent and deposit detail |
| General-purpose AI chatbot | Free or a flat subscription | Not reliably | Trained on older material, may invent or misstate current notice rules |
| Clause-assembly drafter in a document platform | Covered by the monthly plan | Yes, maintained to the current regime | None hidden, and the drafter is explicit about what is a starting point |
The genuinely cheap option is the one that does not need reworking or re-serving a notice because the underlying law had already moved on. Our assured periodic tenancy template guide sets out the written statement duty, rent rules and possession grounds in full, and is the reference to read before you finalise any tenancy for a new letting.
Assembled clauses versus a chatbot guessing at housing law
A general-purpose chatbot writes a tenancy agreement the way it writes anything else, by predicting plausible wording from patterns in its training data. Housing law in England changed substantially with the Renters' Rights Act 2025, and a chatbot has no guaranteed way of knowing whether its training data reflects the current position or the system that applied before 1 May 2026. It will produce fluent, confident wording either way.
A clause-assembly drafter works differently. AI Legal Drafting in 99 Data Rooms selects clauses by ID from a library maintained against the current statute and matches them to your answers. It never invents legal wording. Our assembled clauses versus invented ones guide covers this distinction generally, and a fast-moving area of housing law is exactly where the difference between assembled and invented wording is most likely to matter in practice.
Inside the drafter: from a rent figure to a compliant draft
The Assured Periodic Tenancy sits in the Property and Tenancy group of the template library, next to the Lodger Licence and the Wales Occupation Contract. Describe the letting in plain terms, for example a two-bed flat, monthly rent, a deposit protected in one of the three schemes, and standard repair terms, and the assistant asks the questions that shape the draft: the parties, the address for service, the rent and payment date, the deposit scheme, and the repair obligations.
It assembles a complete draft in a couple of minutes, built to the periodic structure from day one with no fixed term and no reference to a section 21 route that no longer applies. Save it free to keep. Because notice periods and possession grounds in this area have moved substantially over the past year and can move again, check the current position on gov.uk before you serve any notice under the tenancy.
From draft to a tenant who has actually read the notice clause
Once the draft looks right, share it with the tenant as a tracked, revocable link rather than a printed pack handed over at the door. Gate it behind a verified email, so you know the person opening it is the tenant moving in. Page-by-page analytics show whether they actually read the repair and notice sections, not just whether the link was opened.
When both sides are ready, send it for signature in the browser. The tenant signs without needing an account, and the executed agreement returns with an audit certificate recording who signed, their IP, intent to sign, timestamps and a SHA-256 fingerprint. Electronic signatures are admissible for most commercial documents in England and Wales, with exceptions that include deeds and land transfers, so check whether your specific letting needs a deed. General information, not legal advice. Store the signed tenancy, the deposit protection certificate and the rent-review date in the same place, so nothing goes missing between now and the next Section 13 notice.
What to check before you send a tenancy out for signature
Check five things before the draft goes anywhere: the parties and the address for service under section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, the rent figure and payment date, the deposit amount and which scheme protects it, that the written statement of terms has actually been given before the tenant signs, and that the document nowhere refers to a fixed term or a section 21 notice, since neither exists for a new tenancy under the current regime.
Frequently asked questions
Does an AI-drafted tenancy still need a separate written statement of terms?
Yes. The written statement is a distinct statutory duty under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, given to the tenant before they sign, separate from the tenancy agreement itself. A drafted tenancy does not remove that requirement, and both documents should be kept together on file.
Is a cheap tenancy template safe to use if it was written before May 2026?
Not reliably. A template built around a fixed term and a section 21 notice describes a system that no longer applies to new tenancies in England. Using it can mislead a tenant about their actual rights and cause problems if a dispute later reaches a tribunal.
Can AI get the notice and possession grounds wrong?
A general chatbot can, particularly in an area that changed as recently and substantially as this one. A clause-assembly drafter is maintained against the current statute, but notice periods and grounds have moved before and may move again, so always verify the current position on gov.uk before serving a notice.
Does the same drafter work for a Welsh letting?
No. Wales operates under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, with contract-holders and occupation contracts rather than tenants and tenancies. Use the separate Occupation Contract template for a Welsh letting rather than adapting an England tenancy.
How much drafting is included on each plan?
The AI drafter starts on Pro at £19 a month, with three drafted documents a month as PDF; Business raises that to twenty-five a month with Word export. The free tier gives three rooms and twenty-five active links, forever, no card, for gating and sharing documents once they exist - it does not include the drafter or e-signatures. Three tenancies a month fit inside a Pro month; a portfolio turning over faster than that is a Business month.
Draft your tenancy agreement with AI
Assemble an assured periodic tenancy built to the current written statement, rent and possession rules, for a flat monthly price that does not rise with how many properties you let. The free tier is real: three rooms and twenty-five active links, forever, no card; the AI drafter and e-signature start on Pro at £19 a month. Start for free and have a compliant draft ready before moving-in day. If you also let a room to a lodger, see drafting a lodger licence with AI, and once the tenancy is signed, tracking the rent-review and notice dates keeps a schedule that runs for years from slipping through the cracks.
Sources
- Renters' Rights Act 2025, full text: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/26/contents
- Written statement of terms duty and rent increase procedure: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-renters-rights-act-information-sheet
- Address for service, section 48 Landlord and Tenant Act 1987: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1987/31/section/48
- Repairing obligations, section 11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/70/section/11
- Tenancy deposit protection rules: https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection
- Grounds for possession, Schedule 2 Housing Act 1988 as amended: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/schedule/2
- Electronic execution of documents, Law Commission (2019): https://lawcom.gov.uk/project/electronic-execution-of-documents/