How to Increase Rent in 2026: The Section 13 Rules Landlords Must Follow

Raising the rent has changed for good. Since May 2026, landlords must follow one strict legal route, and tenants can now challenge any increase cheaply at a tribunal. Here is how to raise rent correctly, and avoid a costly dispute.

If you are a landlord, one of the trickiest parts of the job just got trickier. The way you increase a tenant's rent changed completely on 1 May 2026, when the Renters' Rights Act came into force. There is now only one legal way to do it, and getting it wrong can freeze your income for months.

Worse still, tenants now have a strong, cheap incentive to challenge almost any increase. As a result, rent-increase disputes are rising fast. However, none of this means you cannot raise the rent. It simply means you have to do it properly. Our Renters' Rights Act guide covers the wider changes. This guide explains exactly how, and how to protect yourself from a challenge.

The New Rules at a Glance

What Changed on 1 May 2026

Before the Renters' Rights Act, landlords had several ways to raise the rent. You could use a rent review clause in the tenancy agreement, agree a new figure informally, set a higher rent at the start of a new fixed term, or serve a formal notice. Those options are now gone.

Since 1 May 2026, all assured tenancies are periodic, meaning they roll on with no fixed end date. Alongside that, the rules on raising rent were tightened significantly. Here is what changed:

• One route only. Rent can now be increased solely through a Section 13 notice on the official Form 4A.
• Once a year. You can only raise the rent once in any 12-month period.
• Two months' notice. The notice period doubled from one month to two.
• Rent review clauses are void. Any clause in an old agreement that allowed automatic increases stopped having legal effect.
• Market rate only. The proposed rent must reflect the local market, and tenants can challenge anything above it.

In short, the informal "let's agree a small rise" approach many landlords relied on is no longer valid on its own. Everything now runs through one formal, defensible process.

How to Increase Rent With a Section 13 Notice

So the Section 13 notice is now your only tool, and it is worth understanding the process properly. Fortunately, it is straightforward if you follow the steps carefully.

Step 1: Check your timing

You can only increase the rent once every 12 months. If you last raised it under the old rules in, say, November 2025, your next increase cannot take effect until November 2026 at the earliest. The clock does not reset just because the law changed.

Step 2: Set a fair, market rate

Next, decide on a new rent that reflects the local market for a similar property in similar condition. This matters more than ever, because an increase that looks above market is the most likely to be challenged and reduced.

Step 3: Serve Form 4A correctly

Use the official Form 4A, the prescribed Section 13 notice. It must give the tenant at least two months' notice, and the new rent must start at the beginning of a new rental period. Any mistake on the form can make the whole notice invalid.

Step 4: Wait out the notice period

Then, if the tenant does not challenge the notice, the new rent simply takes effect when the two months expire. There is nothing more for you to do. If they do challenge it, the process moves to the tribunal, which we cover below.

The Rules You Must Follow Every Time

Essentially, to keep your rent increase valid and defensible, four rules apply on every occasion. Miss any one of them, and you risk an invalid notice or a successful challenge.

Notably, there is no government cap on how much you can propose. However, the market-rate rule acts as a natural ceiling, because a tenant can challenge anything higher and the tribunal will simply bring it back down to market level. So a sensible, well-evidenced increase is always your strongest position.

Why More Tenants Are Challenging Increases

Notably, this is the part catching landlords off guard. The Renters' Rights Act has made challenging a rent increase almost risk-free for tenants, so many more are doing it, even when the increase is perfectly fair.

Here is why a tenant has so little to lose:

• It is cheap. A challenge at the First-tier Tribunal costs the tenant just £47.
• The rent cannot go up further. The tribunal cannot set a rent higher than the landlord proposed, so the tenant risks nothing by trying.
• It delays the increase. Once challenged, the higher rent is suspended until the tribunal decides, which can take months.
• No backdating. Even if the landlord wins, the new rent only starts from the decision date, so the tenant keeps paying the old rent throughout.

Put those together and you can see the issue. A tenant can challenge an entirely reasonable increase purely to delay it, and enjoy several more months at the old rent, for just £47. This is why landlords are seeing more challenges, and why getting your increase right first time matters so much.

What Happens at the Tribunal

However, if your tenant does challenge the increase, do not panic. The tribunal process is designed to be fair, and if your proposed rent is genuinely at market level, you are in a strong position. Here is how it works.

First, the tenant applies to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) before the notice takes effect. Once they do, your proposed increase is suspended while the tribunal considers the case. The tribunal then determines the open-market rent for your property.

Three things are worth knowing about the outcome:

• It takes time. A decision typically takes around 8 to 16 weeks from the date of referral.
• The rent cannot exceed your proposal. The tribunal sets the market rent, but never more than the figure you put on Form 4A.
• Hardship delays are possible. In cases of genuine hardship, the tribunal can push the start date back by up to two months.

The key takeaway is that evidence wins. If you can show your proposed rent matches similar local properties, backed by an accurate rental valuation, the tribunal is likely to uphold it. If your figure looks inflated, expect it to be reduced to market level. Either way, the increase will not start until the tribunal decides.

How to Protect Yourself From a Challenge

Importantly, you cannot stop a tenant from challenging an increase, but you can make your position as strong as possible. Done well, this both reduces the chance of a challenge and helps you win one. Here is how.

• Price at genuine market rate. The single best protection is a fair, evidence-based figure. Over-reaching invites a challenge and a reduction.
• Gather evidence. Keep examples of similar local properties at similar rents, so you can justify your figure if it goes to tribunal.
• Get Form 4A right. A technically perfect notice, with correct dates and amounts, removes the easiest grounds for challenge.
• Communicate with your tenant. A good relationship and a reasonable, well-explained increase often heads off a challenge before it starts.
• Review rent regularly. Small, annual, market-rate increases are easier to justify and less likely to be disputed than a single large jump after years of no change.

Where an agent helps most

This is exactly the kind of situation where a professional letting agent earns their fee. A good agent knows the local market rent precisely, serves a flawless notice, holds the evidence to defend it, and manages the tenant relationship throughout. For a self-managing landlord, matching all of that alone is genuinely hard.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the questions landlords ask most about raising rent under the new rules. First, the process. After that, challenges and the tribunal.

The rules on raising rent

Challenges and the tribunal