Email, post, hand delivery and e-signatures — Using each correctly

Before sending a tenancy document, check its contents, recipients, deadline and permitted delivery method. This guide explains how to keep a useful delivery record, not how to serve every type of legal notice.

Before delivery

Identify the exact file or edition, confirm the intended recipients and check whether electronic delivery is permitted. For a new private assured tenancy in England, prescribed written information is due before the agreement is made.

The official Information Sheet for existing written tenancies has different rules: supply the actual PDF as an attachment or a printed copy, not a web link. The general 31 May 2026 deadline has passed; check any transition exception.

Email or another permitted electronic message

1. Attach the correct document.
2. Name the document and property clearly.
3. Include each required recipient and check their address.
4. Save the sent message with its attachment and any reply.
5. Record failed delivery and subsequent action accurately.

A read receipt is supporting information, not proof that an attachment was read. For gas records, follow HSE’s guidance about electronic copies and tenant agreement.

Post or hand delivery

Keep a copy of the contents and record the address, recipient, date and method. Retain posting or tracking evidence. For hand delivery, make a contemporaneous factual note and keep any signed acknowledgement or witness account.

Do not describe a refused signature or an uncollected item as confirmed personal receipt. Obtain advice about the effect on formal notice service.

E-signatures

Keep the final signed document and the completion evidence the signing service provides. Check any document-specific execution requirements. A signature or a provider’s audit record does not by itself establish valid service or remove a defect in the document.

Historical records

How to Rent was withdrawn on 1 May 2026. Keep the edition actually supplied for historical cases. New Section 21 notices ended on that date for private assured tenancies in England; claims on qualifying earlier notices had to start by their applicable deadline, no later than 31 July 2026. See continuing historical proceedings.

File the evidence

Complete the service log and store a PDF or supported image of the evidence with the document in the vault. Do not backdate a reconstructed record. Choose retention periods according to the document, legal duty and any active dispute.