Get the date arithmetic wrong on a rent increase and the notice is void, which means another two months before you can try again. Since 1 May 2026, Section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 is the only lawful way to raise rent on an assured periodic tenancy in England. One increase per 12 months, two months’ notice, the prescribed Form 4A, and a tribunal that can now only reduce your figure, never raise it. Here is how the process works and where landlords are getting caught out.
Key takeaways
- Section 13 is the only lawful route to a rent increase since 1 May 2026, and rent review clauses in tenancy agreements are void
- Rent can be increased once in any 12-month period, and never in the first 12 months of a tenancy
- The prescribed form is Form 4A and at least two months’ notice is required, double the old one month
- Tenants can refer the increase to the First-tier Tribunal, which cannot set the rent above the figure you proposed
- Increases are not backdated, so a tribunal referral costs you the increase for the months the case is pending
- Guaranteed rent replaces the whole process with a fixed sum agreed at the start of the lease
How can landlords increase rent in 2026?
Through a Section 13 notice, and nothing else. Since 1 May 2026 all assured shorthold tenancies in England have converted to periodic assured tenancies, fixed terms have gone, and with them the renewal-at-a-higher-rent route. A landlord who wants more rent must serve a statutory Section 13 notice on the prescribed Form 4A, giving at least two months’ notice, no more than once in any 12-month period.
Everything else is unenforceable. A rent review clause in an existing agreement has no legal effect. An informal message saying the rent goes up in June is not a rent increase. A renewal document at a higher figure is not a rent increase.
One narrow exception is worth knowing: a tenant can agree to pay less than the figure in your Section 13 notice, but cannot validly agree to pay more outside the statutory process.
What is the once-per-year limit?
You can increase rent once in any 12-month period, and not at all during the first 12 months of the tenancy. The clock runs from the operative date of the last rent change, not from the date you served the last notice. Get that wrong and the notice is void.
A worked example, entirely hypothetical:
A tenancy begins on 15 March 2026 at £1,500 per month. The earliest the rent can change is 15 March 2027. A Section 13 notice served on 1 January 2027 proposing a new rent from 1 March 2027 is defective, because the new rent would take effect 11 and a half months after the current rent was set. The notice is void. Re-serve with an effective date of 15 March 2027 or later, and serve it by 15 January 2027 to leave the full two months.
If the rent was last set by a First-tier Tribunal determination, the 12 months run from the date that determination took effect.
How much notice do you have to give?
At least two months, using Form 4A. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 doubled the notice period from one month, and replaced the old Form 4 with an updated prescribed form. A notice served on the wrong form is not valid.
The new rent should normally start on a date that lines up with the start of a rental period, and service must follow the method your tenancy agreement permits. If you intend to serve by email, the agreement has to allow it. This is one of the most common reasons a technically correct notice fails.
What changed on 1 May 2026?
| Rule | Before 1 May 2026 | From 1 May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Route to an increase | Rent review clause, fixed-term renewal, or Section 13 | Section 13 only |
| Prescribed form | Form 4 | Form 4A |
| Minimum notice | One month for monthly tenancies | At least two months |
| Frequency | Whatever the agreement allowed | Once in any 12-month period |
| First year of tenancy | Increase possible on renewal | No increase permitted |
| Tribunal outcome | Could set rent above the landlord’s figure | Capped at the landlord’s proposed figure |
| Backdating | Determination could be backdated | New rent runs from the determination date forward |
| Rent review clauses | Enforceable | Void |
What happens if a tenant challenges at the First-tier Tribunal?
The tenant applies to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) before the start date in your notice, and the tribunal determines the open market rent. It can confirm your figure or reduce it. It cannot set the rent higher than the figure you proposed. Since 1 May 2026 the application fee for the tenant is £47.
Two consequences follow, and both are financial.
First, the cap removes the old deterrent. Under the previous regime a tenant risked the tribunal setting a higher rent than the landlord asked for, which discouraged speculative challenges. That risk has gone. Expect more referrals.
Second, there is no backdating. If the case takes five months and the tribunal confirms your figure in full, you do not recover the increase for those five months. The new rent runs forward from the determination date. A challenge costs you real money even when you win outright.
The tribunal can also delay the start of an increase by up to two months where the tenant would suffer genuine financial hardship.
The practical answer is evidence. Before you set the figure, assemble three to five genuinely comparable local lettings, same property type, same bedroom count, same condition, advertised or let in the last few months. A proposal grounded in comparables is far harder to reduce than one grounded in what you would like to earn.
What voids a Section 13 notice?
These are the failures that come up repeatedly:
- Using the old Form 4 instead of the prescribed Form 4A
- Giving less than two months’ notice
- An effective date less than 12 months after the last rent change took effect
- Attempting an increase within the first 12 months of the tenancy
- Serving by a method the tenancy agreement does not permit, usually email
- Naming the wrong tenant, the wrong property, or the wrong current rent on the form
- Relying on a rent review clause, which no longer has legal effect
- Agreeing an increase informally by text or email and treating it as binding
A void notice is not a small problem. It resets the process, and if the tenant has already been paying the new figure you may be holding money you are not contractually entitled to.
What does this mean for landlord cash flow?
The rent you set today is the rent you live with for at least 14 months. Two months of notice, then twelve months before you can move again. Add a possible tribunal referral of several months with no backdating and the effective lock-in stretches further.
Layer on the rest of the picture. Section 21 is gone, so a tenant who disputes the increase cannot be moved on without a Section 8 ground. Tenants can leave on two months’ notice at any time, so a rent set too high invites a void you cannot backfill quickly. Void periods, arrears, court timescales and the Phase 2 costs coming from late 2026 all sit on the same balance sheet.
That is the calculation more landlords are now running: not what the maximum achievable rent is, but what the reliable net figure is once voids, fees, arrears risk and compliance time are taken out.
Our Renters’ Rights Hub covers the full legislative picture, and our guide to the Renters’ Rights Act sets out everything that changed on 1 May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How often can a landlord increase rent in 2026?
Once in any 12-month period, and not at all in the first 12 months of a tenancy. The 12 months run from the date the current rent actually took effect, not from the date you served the last notice. If the rent was last set by a First-tier Tribunal, the clock runs from the date that determination took effect. Serving early makes the notice void.
What form do I use for a rent increase?
Form 4A, the prescribed Section 13 notice for an assured periodic tenancy in England. It replaced the old Form 4 on 1 May 2026, and a notice served on the superseded form is not valid. The form must give at least two months’ notice before the new rent takes effect and state the current rent, the proposed rent and the start date accurately.
Can a tenant refuse a rent increase?
Not directly, but they can refer the proposed rent to the First-tier Tribunal before the start date in the notice, for a fee of £47. The tribunal determines the open market rent and can confirm or reduce your figure. Since 1 May 2026 it cannot set the rent higher than you proposed. It can also delay the increase by up to two months in cases of genuine financial hardship.
Are rent review clauses still valid?
No. Any clause in an assured tenancy agreement providing for automatic or discretionary rent increases has been void since 1 May 2026, including clauses in agreements signed before that date. The statutory Section 13 process is the only route. Landlords can no longer include rent review clauses in new assured periodic tenancy agreements.
Can a rent increase be backdated?
No. If a tenant refers the notice to the tribunal, the new rent runs from the date specified in the tribunal’s determination, not from the date in your original notice. Any period the tenant spent paying the old rent while the case was pending is not recoverable. That is why an evidenced, defensible figure matters more than an ambitious one.
Does guaranteed rent avoid the Section 13 process?
Under a Corporate Lease Agreement, the rent is fixed in the lease between you and Elliot Leigh at the outset and paid monthly for the full term. There is no assured tenancy rent increase for you to serve and no tribunal referral for you to defend. The trade-off is that the figure is fixed for the term, so it is agreed with that in mind.
Rent increases are now a formal legal process with a narrow margin for error and a tribunal route that costs you money even when you win. Guaranteed rent replaces the whole exercise with a fixed monthly figure.
See what your property would earn on the Elliot Leigh rent calculator, or call the team on 0208 983 4444.
