How do you increase the rent on a tenancy in England?

There is one route in practice: serve a section 13 notice on Form 4A, giving the tenant at least two months before the new rent starts, and the increase takes effect unless the tenant applies to the First-tier Tribunal before that date. A rent review clause no longer works, and nor does a bare agreement with the tenant — section 13(4A) of the Housing Act 1988 makes any other mechanism "of no effect". One increase in any 52 weeks, and none before 52 weeks of the tenancy have run.

The only lawful routes to a higher rent

Section 13(4A) is the provision to read. The rent for a period "may not be greater than the rent for the previous period" except by virtue of:

• a section 13 notice, or an agreement under section 13(4)(b) following such a notice;
• a determination under section 14 by the First-tier Tribunal; or
• a written agreement after a determination, where the agreed rent is lower than the determined figure.

The tail of the same subsection kills rent review clauses outright: any provision of the tenancy allowing the rent to rise otherwise is of no effect. GOV.UK is blunt: "You need to follow the section 13 process every time you increase the rent, even if you have already agreed the increase with your tenants."

So the friendly email — "shall we say £50 more from June?" — is not a mechanism: agree it, then serve the notice that gives it effect.

The timing rules

Three requirements must be satisfied at once.

1. At least two months' notice. Section 13(2)(a) now reads "two months" after the date of service — the Renters' Rights Act 2025 substituted that flat figure for the old sliding "minimum period". Count from service.
2. Not in the first 52 weeks. Section 13(2)(b)(ii): the new rent cannot begin earlier than "the date that falls 52 weeks after the date on which the first period of the tenancy began."
3. Once in any 52 weeks after that. Section 13(3A) measures 52 weeks from the date the last increase took effect — extended to 53 weeks under section 13(3B), where the 53rd week would begin more than six days before the anniversary of the first increase. Hence Form 4A's question about your first increase after 11 February 2003.

A fourth, easily missed: the new rent must start at the beginning of a tenancy period. If the monthly tenancy runs from the 20th, it starts on a 20th — rarely the first of the month.

What a valid Form 4A needs

Form 4A is the private rented sector form; Form 4 is the social housing version, and assured agricultural occupancies use Form 5A. The current version is marked (05.26). It wants the parties, the property, the current rent and frequency, the tenancy start date, the date of the last increase, the date of the first increase after 11 February 2003, the proposed rent, the date it starts, and any bills included in the rent — fixed charges only, never variable service charges. Name every tenant on a joint tenancy.

Where it goes wrong

• A start date of the 1st on a tenancy that began mid-month.
• Counting the two months from the wrong day, or leaving no margin for service. You must be able to evidence service: use a method the agreement specifies, or hand it over, leave it at the address, or send it by registered post.
• Missing the 52-week gap by days, because last year's increase was diarised by month rather than by week.
• Using Form 4, or a template predating May 2026.
• Treating an agreed increase as self-executing and serving nothing.

If the tenant challenges it

The tenant may apply to the First-tier Tribunal under section 14(A3), and the deadline is hard: section 13(4) preserves the increase only if no application is made "before the beginning of the new period specified in the notice". Miss it and the rent takes effect.

The tribunal determines the open market rent under section 14(1) — what the property "might reasonably be expected to be let in the open market by a willing landlord" — and may take its condition into account. What it cannot do is leave you better off than your own notice: section 14ZB(5) sets the rent payable at the open market rent "if lower than the proposed rent", and otherwise at the proposed rent. There is no upside in a speculative number.

The increase is never backdated. Under section 14ZB(3) the new rent starts on the date in your notice if the tribunal has decided by then; if that date has already passed, it starts at the beginning of the first period beginning on or after the determination — later still, up to two months after the determination, where the tribunal finds paragraph (a) or (b) would cause the tenant undue hardship (section 14ZB(4)). So the old rent simply continues while the case runs, and a challenge costs you months of the increase whatever the outcome. The application costs the tenant £47.

Deciding the figure

Evidence, not instinct. Three to six genuinely comparable local lets — same postcode sector, size and condition, let recently rather than merely advertised — kept with the tenancy file. The tribunal works to open market rent, so a proposal at or just under it is defensible and rarely worth challenging; above it, you invite an application you cannot win and delay the money.

Practical cadence

• Diarise by week, not by month. A reminder 14 weeks before each anniversary leaves time to check comparables, confirm the 52- or 53-week date, and serve with margin.
• Write before you serve. A short letter with the figure and the evidence behind it, then the notice. People challenge surprises more readily than numbers.
• Small and regular beats large and infrequent. A modest annual rise tracks the market and is easy to justify against comparables; four quiet years and a correction is neither.

Because the rent payable is capped at the lower of market rent and your own proposal, an inflated increase is no way to move a tenant on — and with section 21 gone, there is no notice standing behind it: see ending a tenancy after section 21. On new lets you must advertise a specific rent — "A price range is not allowed" — and you cannot "ask for or accept offers above the advertised rent", on pain of a penalty of up to £7,000.

More in what the Renters' Rights Act changed for landlords, tenant-find versus fully managed, letting agent costs in Manchester and our fees.

General information, current at October 2026, and not legal advice. Rent increase dates turn on the facts of the individual tenancy — confirm the position on GOV.UK or take advice before serving a notice.

If you would like us to check a rent increase date or a draft Form 4A before it goes out, ring 0161 710 4510, call in at 12–14 Midland Street, Manchester M12 6LB, or book a valuation.