Can a tenancy agreement be signed electronically?

Quick answer · the 30-second read

Yes. A tenancy agreement is an ordinary contract, so it can be signed electronically by both the landlord and the tenant. No witness is needed and no special type of signature is required. Two things around the agreement need more care. Tenancy deposit paperwork has to be signed, and neither the law nor two of the three deposit schemes say whether that signature can be electronic. And Wales runs a different system altogether. This page covers England unless it says otherwise.

Key facts A tenancy agreement is an ordinary contract. It can be signed electronically, with no witness needed. Every adult who will live in the property as a tenant should sign. An agreement binds only the people who signed it. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 changed the tenancy system in England on 1 May 2026. Assured shorthold tenancies were abolished and existing ones became assured periodic tenancies. Existing agreements do not need re-signing. The government states the new rules apply automatically even if the landlord does not update the tenancy agreement. Where there is no written agreement or written record of terms, landlords in England had to provide written information on or before 31 May 2026. Deposit prescribed information must be signed. The law does not say how, and only one of the three approved schemes addresses electronic signing. A tenant ending a tenancy must give notice in writing. The government information sheet gives letter or email as examples. Wales has a separate system under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, where tenancies are called occupation contracts.

Why is a tenancy agreement straightforward to sign?

Because it carries no special formalities. A tenancy agreement is a contract between a landlord and a tenant, and most contracts in England can be signed however the parties choose.

The Electronic Communications Act 2000 makes electronic signatures admissible as evidence, and the Law Commission confirmed in 2019 that an electronic signature can be used to sign a document as long as the person signing means to authenticate it and any other formalities are met (Law Com No 386). For a tenancy agreement there are no other formalities. See Are electronic signatures legally binding in the UK? for the wider framework.

So a typed name, a drawn signature on a screen, or a click through a signing platform all work. What matters is that the person meant to sign.

Does every tenant need to sign?

Yes. An agreement binds the people who signed it. If four adults will live in a house share and only two sign, the other two may not be bound by it.

Electronic signing helps here rather than hindering, because a platform can send the same document to several people and track who has signed and who has not. A paper agreement passed around a house share is far easier to lose track of.

What changed in May 2026?

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 changed the tenancy system in England on 1 May 2026. Assured shorthold tenancies were abolished. Every existing one became an assured periodic tenancy, which is a rolling tenancy with no end date. Fixed terms no longer apply, and section 21 notices can no longer be served.

For signing, the important point is what did not change. The government’s information sheet states that the new rules apply to a tenancy automatically, even if the landlord does not update the tenancy agreement. Landlords did not have to re-issue or re-sign existing agreements.

One requirement did fall on landlords. Where a tenant had no written tenancy agreement and no written record of the terms, the landlord had to provide certain written information on or before 31 May 2026.

New agreements written since May 2026 should of course reflect the new system rather than describing a fixed term that cannot exist.

Can deposit paperwork be signed electronically?

When a landlord takes a deposit for an assured tenancy in England, it has to go into an authorised protection scheme, and the tenant has to be given prescribed information about that scheme. The prescribed information includes a certificate confirming the details are accurate, which the landlord or agent signs, and the tenant is given the opportunity to sign as well.

The question is whether that signature can be electronic, and nobody has given a clear answer.

What's the deposit schemes' position? The law does not say how the prescribed information must be signed. Of the three approved schemes in England and Wales, only mydeposits addresses electronic signing directly, and it says secure digital signatures are legally binding for this purpose. DPS and TDS do not state anything about e-signatures while both disclaim liability for the templates they supply. So there is no rule against electronic signing here, but there is no clear endorsement either.

The Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007 requires that the tenant be given the opportunity to sign. It does not say how.

In practice, landlord associations run digital signing of the prescribed information alongside the tenancy agreement, and many agents do the same.

There is a further complication where the landlord is a company rather than an individual. Company signing rules are stricter, and there has been litigation about how a corporate landlord must sign this document. Anyone letting through a limited company should take advice on this specific point rather than assume the process used for individuals will do.

What about guarantee agreements?

A guarantee agreement is where a third party, often a parent, agrees to cover the rent if the tenant does not pay. These are common in student lets and house shares.

The signing requirements depend on how the guarantee is set up. If it is signed before the tenancy agreement, it can usually be a simple contract, which means it can be signed electronically in the same way as the tenancy. If it is signed afterwards, it may need to be executed as a deed, which brings in the witness requirement.

The practical advice for agents is to get guarantees signed first. It keeps the whole process electronic. For what a deed requires, see Can an electronic signature be witnessed?.

Is Wales the same?

No. Wales replaced its tenancy system under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016. Tenancies are called occupation contracts and tenants are called contract holders, and landlords must give a written statement of the contract.

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 applies to England, not Wales. Anyone letting property in Wales should work from Welsh guidance rather than this page.

Scotland has its own system again, with private residential tenancies, and its own rules on how documents are signed.

What should a letting agent check?

Make sure every adult tenant signs, not just the lead tenant.
Keep the audit trail from the signing platform with the tenancy file. If a tenant later says they never agreed to a term, that record is the evidence.
Send the fully signed copy back to the tenant once everyone has signed, and keep a copy yourself.
Decide separately how you will handle deposit prescribed information, rather than assuming it can go through the same process as the agreement.
If you let for landlords who are limited companies, check how their documents need to be signed.