Rent Increases Under the Renters' Rights Act: Proving Notice and Handling a Challenge

Since 1 May 2026, a rent increase for an assured periodic tenancy in England follows a fixed procedure: a prescribed form, two months' notice, and a tenant's right to ask the tribunal to look at it. For a self-managing landlord the question that matters later isn't "did I increase the rent?" It's "can I show exactly when and how I told the tenant, and what they said back?"

This post is a record-keeping checklist, not a legal explainer. It is general information, not legal advice. Check section 6 and section 7 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 on legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK's landlord guidance on rent increases for your own situation, or speak to a solicitor or a landlord association.

What the Act and GOV.UK say about rent increases

Section 6 amends section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 (the "section 13 process"). In summary:

• Use Form 4A, the landlord's notice proposing a new rent, and serve it at least 2 months before the increase is due to start.
• Follow the process every time, even if the tenant has already agreed to the new figure.
• Once a year at most, and not in the first year. GOV.UK says you can only increase the rent once a year. The Act sets the gap in terms of weeks since the last increase took effect, so check the dates carefully.
• Service: in person, by post, or by email if the tenancy agreement allows it (GOV.UK).
• Rent can only go up through a landlord's notice, a tribunal determination, or a written agreement after a tribunal determination. Agreeing other changes to the tenancy by consent is still allowed.
• Older notices: a Form 4 notice given before 1 May 2026 keeps its stated notice period and increase, even if the new rent starts later.

The new procedure came into force on 1 May 2026. The Act doesn't prescribe a particular way of proving service, and the GOV.UK pages we reviewed don't either. That's the gap a dated record fills.

What a tenant can do about it

Section 7 reworks section 14 of the 1988 Act. In summary:

• A tenant who thinks the proposed rent is above the open market rent (what you could expect to get by reletting the property) can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).
• GOV.UK's tribunal guidance and Form 4A say the tribunal should receive the application before the proposed new rent starts, and the tenant should tell the landlord they've applied.
• The tribunal sets the new rent at the open market rent if that is lower than your proposal, otherwise at your proposed rent. It can't end up higher than the figure on your notice.
• The new rent normally takes effect from the start date in your notice (or the first rent period after the decision, if the decision comes later).
• If paying from that date would cause the tenant undue hardship, the tribunal can direct a different date. The Act says it must fall within two months of the determination; some official guidance describes the limit differently, so check the current position before relying on it.
• Separately, a tenant can ask the tribunal whether a notice is valid (section 13B), for example where it wasn't served with enough notice.

The paper trail for each step

A few points on timing:

1. Count the two months from service, not from when you wrote the form. If a notice went by post, think about when it could realistically have arrived, and keep the proof of posting.
2. Diary the date before the new rent starts. That's the last day a tenant's tribunal application is expected to reach the tribunal, so it's also the date by which an objection might surface.
3. Log verbal objections. "I think that's too much" on a phone call isn't a tribunal application, but it's useful context if one follows. Note the date and ask them to put it in writing.

A tenant who says "you never sent that" and a landlord who says "I sent it in March" is the dispute a dated record settles. It's the same point made in why landlord records matter under the Renters' Rights Act.

Where this gets lost

Rent conversations rarely stay in one place. The tenant rings after reading the notice, texts to say they've seen it, or mentions at the end of a repair call that they plan to challenge it. If that lands on your personal phone among everything else, it's hard to reconstruct later. Keeping tenant contact on a dedicated number, separate from your personal one, puts calls and messages for each property in one dated place. See the landlord-tenant communication guide for what to log and how long to keep it. TenantCall is built for that kind of per-property log.

Checklist

• Use Form 4A and serve it at least 2 months before the new rent starts.
• Check the gap since the last increase before you serve.
• Record the date and method of service, and keep proof of delivery.
• Diary the day before the new rent starts.
• Ask for objections in writing, and log any you hear by phone.
• If the tenant applies to the tribunal, keep their notice and all tribunal correspondence with the rest of the record.
• Confirm the final rent and start date in writing.