If you still think of a tenancy as a twelve-month contract, it is time to update the picture. Under the Renters' Rights Act, the fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy is gone. Every tenancy is now periodic, which means open-ended and rolling from the start. There is no six or twelve-month lock-in any more, for you or the tenant.
Here is what that actually changes on the ground.
The tenant can leave whenever they like, by giving two months' notice, from day one. There is no minimum term holding them in. That feels like a loss of certainty, and it is worth being honest about, but in practice a tenant who wants to go was never really kept by a piece of paper anyway.
You, on the other hand, cannot just end it. You regain possession only through the proper Section 8 grounds, served correctly, with the right notice period. So your security no longer comes from the length of the term. It comes from the quality of your paperwork and the strength of your grounds if you ever need them.
And there is a new document you must get right. At the start of the tenancy you have to give the tenant a written statement of the terms. Not a handshake, not a vague email. A proper written statement of who the landlord is, what the rent is and when it is due, the deposit, and the key terms of the letting. Miss it and you are on the back foot before the tenancy has even begun.
So here is what a compliant tenancy file looks like for me now, and what I would suggest you build for each let.
The written statement of terms, given at the start and kept on file. This is the new backbone. Get it served and keep your copy.
Deposit protected in a scheme, and the prescribed information served, within the deadline. This has not gone away, and it still sinks possession claims when it is missed.
Right to Rent checks done and evidenced. Same as before, keep the copies.
The safety pack served and logged. Gas safety certificate, a valid EPC, the electrical report, and the How to Rent guide. Serve them, and record the date you did.
Proof of service for everything. The single most useful habit in this whole trade is being able to show what you gave the tenant and when. A dated record beats a good memory every time.
From my own portfolio: I have stopped mourning the fixed term, because it was never the thing protecting me. What protects me is a clean file: the written statement served, the deposit protected on time, the safety documents dated, and proof I handed them over. When everything is papered properly, an open-ended tenancy is not a risk, it is just a tidy arrangement that either party can end the correct way. The landlords who will struggle are the ones who ran on handshakes and old templates, because the margin for a sloppy file has gone.
The temptation is to keep using the tenancy agreement you have always used and hope it still fits. I would not. Dig out your template, check it reflects periodic tenancies and carries the written statement, and fix it once. An hour now saves you a failed possession claim later.
The takeaway: there are no fixed terms any more. Every tenancy is open-ended, the tenant can leave on two months' notice, and you regain possession only through the correct grounds. Your protection is the file, not the term. Serve the written statement, protect the deposit on time, serve the safety pack, and keep proof of all of it.
If you know a landlord still handing out twelve-month agreements and hoping for the best, send them this. The paperwork is the tenancy now.