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Late rent interest calculator
In England, interest on late rent is allowed only where the tenancy agreement provides for it and the rent is not paid in full before the end of the 14 days beginning with its due date, and then at no more than 3% a year above the Bank of England base rate on the rent unpaid, for each day after the due date (Tenant Fees Act 2019, Schedule 1, paragraph 4). Enter the due date, the rent and any part payments for the most you can charge, day by day, with each Bank Rate change.
Tenant Fees Act 2019, Schedule 1 paragraph 4, read on legislation.gov.uk on 5 November 2026, with Bank Rate from the Bank of England to 5 November 2026.Runs in your browserA guide, not legal or tax advice
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Most interest you can charge: £7.80.
Most interest you can charge: £7.80
For the 45 days from Tuesday 2 December 2025, the day after the rent was due, to Thursday 15 January 2026, worked out day by day and rounded down to the penny. Only if the tenancy agreement provides for interest on late rent.
Working
- 2 Dec 2025 to 17 Dec 202516 days on £1,200.00 at 7% a year (Bank Rate 4% plus 3%)
- £3.6821
- 18 Dec 2025 to 21 Dec 20254 days on £1,200.00 at 6.75% a year (Bank Rate 3.75% plus 3%)
- £0.8876
- 22 Dec 2025 to 15 Jan 202625 days on £700.00 at 6.75% a year (Bank Rate 3.75% plus 3%)
- £3.2363
- Exact total
- £7.8061
- Most you can charge, rounded down to the penny
- £7.80
Each day: the rent unpaid at the end of the day, times the yearly limit, divided by 365 (366 in a leap year). Amounts to four places are cut, never rounded up.
Dates
- Rent due (day 1)
- Monday 1 December 2025
- Last of the 14 days
- Sunday 14 December 2025
- Interest counted from
- Tuesday 2 December 2025
- Paid in full
- Friday 16 January 2026
Day by day: 45 days
Before you charge it
- Only where the tenancy agreement provides for interest on late rent (paragraph 4(1)). If it sets a lower rate, its figure is the most you can ask for.
- This is the most the Act allows, not a fee to add on top. Any charge for late rent, whatever it is called, counts against it, and the part above it is a prohibited payment (paragraph 4(4)).
- A landlord and a letting agent cannot both charge for the same late rent (paragraphs 4(7) and 4(8)).
- England only. Work out each rent due date on its own: each has its own 14 days.
Next: From £7.99 a month: each rent day and part payment on the tenancy, and the late rent rule with today’s limit on the Rent page.
Get startedLetCompliance is online software that runs your whole let: finding and referencing the tenant, the agreement, the rent, repairs and the tax. From £7.99 a month for one property or £14.99 for up to three, it shows who owes rent, with the late rent limit. Get started
Making Tax Digital means HMRC’s new quarterly tax updates for landlords.
Background
How interest on late rent works in England
In England, the only payment a landlord or letting agent can ask for because rent is late is one no bigger than an interest figure the Tenant Fees Act 2019 sets (Schedule 1, paragraph 4). Three things decide it. The tenancy agreement must provide for it. The rent must not have been paid in full before the end of the 14 days beginning with its due date. And it can be no more than 3% a year above the Bank of England base rate, on the rent still unpaid, for each day after the due date. Whatever the charge is called, a flat late fee included, any part of it above that figure is a prohibited payment (paragraph 4(4)).
The 14 days begin with the due date, so the due date is day 1. Rent due on Thursday 1 October 2026 has until the end of Wednesday 14 October 2026, and paid in full by then it carries no interest at all. If any of it is still unpaid at the end of that day, interest counts for each day after the due date, from 2 October 2026, not only from day 15: paid in full on 15 October 2026, £1,000.00 at 6.75% a year comes to £2.40 for the 13 days from 2 October 2026 to 14 October 2026. GOV.UK’s guidance puts the rule as rent overdue by at least 2 weeks. The calculator follows the Act’s own words.
Each day’s interest is on the rent unpaid at the end of that day, so a part payment counts from the day it arrives, and the day the last of the rent arrives carries none. GOV.UK’s guidance says to recalculate whenever the amount owed changes, counting “the number of days the new sum has been outstanding, and any change to the base rate”. Take £1,200.00 due on Monday 1 December 2025, with £500.00 paid on 22 December 2025 and the rest on 16 January 2026. From 2 December 2025 to 17 December 2025, 16 days on £1,200.00 at 7% (Bank Rate was 4%) is £3.6821. On 18 December 2025 Bank Rate fell to 3.75%: 4 days on £1,200.00 at 6.75% is £0.8876, then 25 days on £700.00 is £3.2363. The total is £7.8061, so the most that can be asked for is £7.80.
The base rate in the Act is the rate the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee announces (paragraph 4(6)), which the Bank calls Bank Rate. On 5 November 2026 the Bank of England raised Bank Rate from 3.75% to 4%, so the limit on late rent interest rose from 6.75% to 7% a year from that day: on £1,000 unpaid, £0.1917 a day instead of £0.1849. Rent of £1,000.00 due on 1 October 2026 and still unpaid at the end of 5 November 2026 has 34 days at 6.75% and 1 at 7%: £6.47. The calculator holds every change from 19 March 2020, as the Bank of England’s own table lists them, to 5 November 2026. For later days it keeps the last rate up to the next scheduled decision, on 17 December 2026, and asks for the rate set at any decision after that.
The Act does not say how to turn the yearly rate into a day’s share. The calculator divides it by 365, and by 366 in a leap year, the reading that gives the lower figure, so a whole year is never more than the yearly rate: £1,000.00 unpaid for all of 2028 at 7% comes to £70.00. The Act gives no rounding rule either, and anything over the limit is a prohibited payment, so the total is rounded down to the penny.
The Act covers tenancies of housing in England (section 1). For a tenancy agreed before 1 June 2019, a term the Act would have caught stopped binding the tenant on 1 June 2020 (section 30), so the calculator takes rent due from 1 June 2020. Work out each rent due date on its own: each has its own 14 days. If a landlord and a letting agent both ask for a payment for the same late rent, the later one is a prohibited payment (paragraphs 4(7) and 4(8)).
A term that requires a prohibited payment does not bind the tenant (section 4). Requiring one can bring a financial penalty from the local authority of up to £5,000, or up to £30,000 where it is an offence under section 12 (section 8), and the tenant can apply to the First-tier Tribunal to get the money back (section 15).
Sources, read on 5 November 2026: the Tenant Fees Act 2019 on legislation.gov.uk (Schedule 1, paragraph 4, section 1, section 4, section 8, section 15 and section 30), the County Courts Act 1984 (section 69), the Bank of England’s Bank Rate history and Bank Rate page, and GOV.UK’s Fees you can charge as part of a tenancy and Interest on money claims.
Step by step
How to work out the most interest you can charge on late rent in England
The 14-day test, then each day after the due date at Bank Rate plus 3% on the rent still unpaid, with part payments and Bank Rate changes, rounded down to the penny.
- 1
Enter the due date and the rent
One rent payment: the day it was due under the tenancy agreement and the amount due that day. For a joint tenancy, enter the whole rent.
- 2
Add any part payments
The date and amount of each payment towards that rent before the rest arrived. Each one lowers the rent unpaid from the day it arrives.
- 3
Say whether the rest has been paid
Give the day the rest arrived. While some is still owed, work it out to today or to another day.
- 4
Read the 14-day test and the total
Paid in full by the end of day 14, there is no interest. Otherwise each day after the due date counts at Bank Rate plus 3% on the rent unpaid at its end, each period where the rent or the rate changed is shown, and the total is rounded down to the penny.
- 5
Check the agreement before you ask for it
Interest can be asked for only where the tenancy agreement provides for it, and only up to the agreement’s own rate if that is lower. A landlord and a letting agent cannot both charge it.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How much interest can a landlord charge on late rent?
In England, no more than 3% a year above the Bank of England base rate, on the rent still unpaid, for each day after the due date. It applies only if the rent was not paid in full within the 14 days beginning with its due date and the tenancy agreement provides for it (Tenant Fees Act 2019, Schedule 1, paragraph 4). From 5 November 2026, with Bank Rate at 4%, the limit is 7% a year.
How do I calculate interest on late rent?
Take each day after the due date. Multiply the rent still unpaid at the end of that day by the yearly limit, Bank Rate plus 3%, and divide by 365 (366 in a leap year). Add the days up and round down to the penny. £1,000 unpaid at 7% is £0.1917 a day, and 30 days of it is £5.75.
When can I start charging interest on late rent?
Once the rent has not been paid in full by the end of the 14 days beginning with its due date. The due date is day 1, so rent due on 1 October 2026 has until the end of 14 October 2026. Paid in full by then, there is no interest to charge.
Does the interest run from the due date or from day 15?
From the day after the due date. Paragraph 4(5) counts “each day after the due date for which the rent remains unpaid”. The 14 days decide whether any interest can be charged at all, not the day it starts.
What if the tenant pays part of the rent?
Each day’s interest is on the rent unpaid at the end of that day, so a part payment lowers it from the day it arrives. Paying part within the 14 days does not stop the interest: only paying the whole rent by the end of day 14 does.
What happens when Bank Rate changes?
Each day takes the rate in force that day, and GOV.UK’s guidance says to recalculate with any change to the base rate. £1,000.00 due on 1 October 2026 and unpaid to the end of 5 November 2026 counts 34 days at 6.75% and 1 at 7%, which comes to £6.47.
Can I charge a late payment fee instead?
Any payment you require because rent is late, whatever it is called, is limited to the interest figure, and the part above it is a prohibited payment (paragraph 4(4)). A term requiring a prohibited payment does not bind the tenant (section 4), and a local authority can impose a penalty of up to £5,000 (section 8).
Can I charge interest if the tenancy agreement does not mention it?
No. Paragraph 4(1) permits the payment only if the tenancy agreement requires it. If the agreement sets a lower rate than the limit, or counts fewer days, the agreement’s own figure is the most you can ask for.
Can the letting agent and the landlord both charge it?
No. If one of them has asked for a payment for the late rent, a later one from the other for the same late rent is a prohibited payment (paragraphs 4(7) and 4(8)).
Can I claim 8% court interest instead?
In a county court claim for a debt, the court can add simple interest at the rate it thinks fit (County Courts Act 1984, section 69(1)), and GOV.UK says the rate is usually 8%. It cannot be awarded for a period during which interest on the debt already runs (section 69(4)), such as interest under the tenancy agreement.
Does this apply in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 covers housing in England (section 1). Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules on what tenants can be charged.
Can LetCompliance work out late rent interest for me?
Not in the account. It keeps each tenancy’s rent days as charges with every part payment against them, so the dates and amounts this calculator needs sit on one record. While a tenant is behind, the Rent page, on the 3-day trial and every paid plan from £7.99 a month, states the late rent rule and today’s limit. Tenancy agreements made in LetCompliance set out this interest in Section B. No interest is added to the rent record, and the letter before claim for a former tenant adds none to the amount it asks for.
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