How do you raise the rent in 2026? Section 13 + Form 4A.

A Section 13 notice is the statutory notice a landlord in England serves under section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 to propose a new rent on an assured periodic tenancy. Since the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026 it is the only lawful way to increase the rent: you serve the prescribed Form 4A, give at least two months’ notice, and can do so only once in any 52-week period.

Both exist, and picking the wrong one invalidates the notice. GOV.UK publishes Form 4A for the private rented sector and Form 4 for social housing, so a private landlord needs Form 4A. The same split applies to possession: Form 3A is the private-sector Section 8 notice, Form 3 is the social-housing one. Serving the wrong version, or a plain letter setting out the new rent, does not comply with section 13 and the increase does not take effect. Always download the current form from the GOV.UK assured tenancy forms page rather than reusing a stored PDF.

At least two months. The new rent cannot start earlier than two months after the notice is served, and it must begin on the first day of a new period of the tenancy (so for a monthly tenancy, a rent day). Giving less than two months’ notice, or picking a start date mid-period, makes the notice invalid.

Once every 52 weeks, not once every calendar year. A first increase cannot take effect until 52 weeks have passed since the tenancy began, and each later increase must be at least 52 weeks after the previous one. There is one refinement: if the new date would fall more than six days before the anniversary of your first increase after 11 February 2003, you must wait a 53rd week. The clock runs from the date the last increase took effect, whether that came from a Section 13 notice, a term in the tenancy agreement or a First-tier Tribunal determination.

No. Section 13 works tenancy by tenancy: each assured periodic tenancy needs its own Form 4A, served on its own tenants, with a new rent that starts at the beginning of a period of that tenancy, at least two months after the notice is served and at least 52 weeks after the tenancy began or its last increase took effect. Several notices can be prepared and served on the same day, but each one carries its own dates, and each tenant can apply to the First-tier Tribunal before their own new rent starts.

No. Rent-review clauses (fixed percentage uplifts, RPI ladders and similar) in assured periodic tenancy agreements can no longer be relied on to raise the rent in England. Section 13 is the only lawful mechanism, regardless of what the agreement says. Many pre-2026 agreements still contain these clauses; the clause being there does not make it usable.

No. If the tenant refers the notice to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), the tribunal decides the open market rent, and the tenant then pays that figure if it is lower than your proposal, or your proposed rent if it is not (Housing Act 1988, section 14ZB). A referral therefore cannot leave the tenant paying more than you proposed. You should still be ready to evidence the proposed rent with comparable local lets.

No. Under the pre-2026 rules a tribunal could backdate an increase to the date in the notice. That power was removed. The rent the tribunal decides starts on the date in your notice only if that date falls on or after its decision; if it has already passed, the rent starts at the beginning of the first rent period on or after the decision. Where either would cause the tenant undue hardship, the tribunal can direct a later date, within two months of its decision.

The tenant must apply to the First-tier Tribunal before the date the new rent is due to take effect. If they do not apply in time, the proposed rent takes effect on the date in the notice. Once a tribunal has determined a rent, the 52-week clock restarts from that determination.

No. This page covers assured periodic tenancies in England under the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each run separate housing law, notices and tribunals. Do not use an England Section 13 notice outside England.

Yes. The rent increase calculator runs in your browser with no account and no signup: enter the tenancy details and it returns the earliest lawful start date, the two-month notice window and the tenant’s tribunal referral deadline. Drafting the notice and emailing it to the tenant with a timestamped record sits inside the paid LetCompliance plans, from £7.99 a month.

No. LetCompliance provides software and educational summaries only. Verify the current prescribed form, dates and service rules on GOV.UK, and take advice from a qualified adviser where the tenancy type, the rent history or a tribunal referral is disputed.