Under the Renters' Rights Act, landlords of assured tenancies in England can increase the rent no more than once a year, and not in the first year of a tenancy. You must give at least two months' notice using the prescribed Form 4A (a section 13 notice), and tenants can ask the First-tier Tribunal to decide whether the new rent is at market level. The tenant won't pay more than you proposed, and the increase can't be backdated. Rent review clauses in tenancy agreements no longer work as a way of putting the rent up. In a house let by the room, each tenancy needs its own notice.
The new rules apply from 1 May 2026 for most private tenancies. This guide covers the rules, the form, what happens if a tenant challenges, and how to plan increases across a shared house.
Where the rules come from
Rent increases for assured tenancies are governed by section 13 of the Housing Act 1988, as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. The government's guide to the Renters' Rights Act says landlords can increase rent once per year to the market rate, with at least two months' notice, using a section 13 notice. GOV.UK's landlord guide to rent increases sets out the steps, and the government's landlord hub confirms the changes took effect on 1 May 2026.
The basic rules
- Once a year, not in the first year. GOV.UK says you can only increase the rent once a year, and not in the first year of the tenancy. In the law, the first increase can take effect no earlier than 52 weeks after the tenancy's first rent period began, and each later increase no earlier than 52 weeks after the last one took effect (53 weeks in some cases).
- Two months' notice. The notice must be given at least two months before the new rent starts.
- The right form. You must use Form 4A, the landlord's notice proposing a new rent, from GOV.UK's assured tenancy forms. A letter or email on its own isn't enough. GOV.UK says you need the form even if your tenant has already agreed the increase.
- Start of a rent period. The new rent must start at the beginning of a rent period.
- Market rent. If the tenant challenges, the tribunal decides the open market rent, so propose a rent you can justify against similar rooms or homes.
- No backdating. The new rent can't be applied to earlier periods.
Use our free rent increase date calculator to plan when a new rent can start, based on when the rent last changed and when you give notice. It's a planning aid: check the dates against the rules above before you serve notice.
Filling in Form 4A
Form 4A asks for the details of the tenancy, the current rent, the proposed rent and the date it starts. It also explains to the tenant what they can do if they disagree. Read the notes on the form itself before you fill it in, because the form is updated from time to time and the version on GOV.UK is the one to use.
Serving it
- GOV.UK says you can give the notice in person, by post, or by email if the tenancy agreement allows notices by email.
- Give it in a way you can prove, and keep a copy with the date and method of service.
- Allow time for delivery so the tenant has the notice at least two months before the new rent starts, and leave a margin.
Joint tenancies
If a whole house or flat is let on one joint tenancy, it's safest to address the notice to all the joint tenants and give each of them a copy.
If the tenant challenges
A tenant who thinks the new rent is above market rent can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber); see GOV.UK's housing tribunals page. They must apply before the new rent is due to start (section 13). The tribunal decides what the market rent is, and the tenant keeps paying the current rent until it decides.
Under the rules added by the Renters' Rights Act (section 7, inserting section 14ZB into the Housing Act 1988):
- the tenant pays the lower of the market rent the tribunal decides and the rent you proposed, so never more than you asked for;
- if the tribunal decides before the start date in your notice, the new rent starts on that date;
- if it decides after that date, the new rent starts at the beginning of the first rent period on or after the decision, so it isn't backdated; and
- if paying from that date would cause the tenant undue hardship, the tribunal can set a later date, up to two months after its decision.
Section 14 of the Housing Act 1988 sets out how the tribunal works out the market rent. It also lets a tenant challenge the rent in the first six months of a new tenancy, even without a rent increase. In that case the rent can only go down, not up.
Be ready to show your workings
Keep a short note for every increase:
- comparable rooms nearby, with the source and date;
- the condition of the room and the house, and any improvements since the last rent was set;
- what's included in the rent: bills, furniture, cleaning of shared areas, broadband; and
- the date the rent last changed.
Our guide on how to price a room explains how to gather comparables without guessing.
Bills-included rents
Many rooms are let with bills included. The tribunal values a tenancy on the same terms as the actual one, so be clear what the rent covers and keep a record of what the bills cost. If energy costs rise, that doesn't create a separate right to raise the rent outside the section 13 process.
If you charge tenants separately for gas or electricity instead, Ofgem's maximum resale price rules say you can't charge more than you paid, including standing charges. See our guide to bills in a shared house.
Rent review clauses and agreed changes
Clauses that set automatic increases, such as "the rent will rise by inflation each year", have no effect for assured tenancies so far as they would put the rent up (section 13(4A)). GOV.UK says that an increase agreed through a rent review clause before 1 May 2026 but due to start after that date doesn't apply. Remove these clauses from your templates. See tenancy agreements for a room.
Reducing the rent is a different matter. The law only limits increases, so you can agree a lower rent with a tenant. Record it in writing with the date it starts.
Lodgers
Lodgers who share your home aren't assured tenants (GOV.UK), so section 13 doesn't apply. Agree any change with your lodger in writing and give reasonable notice. See lodger or tenant?
Planning increases across a shared house
In a house let room by room, every tenancy started on a different date and may have last changed on a different date. A few habits keep this manageable:
- Review on a fixed rhythm. Pick a review month for each room, such as the anniversary of the tenancy, and check the market a month before.
- Give notice early. Two months is the minimum. Giving notice a little earlier leaves room for delays in service.
- One notice per tenancy. Each tenant gets their own Form 4A with their own figures.
- Keep it consistent. If two similar rooms in the same house end up at very different rents, be ready to explain why, such as size, an en suite or a newer tenancy.
- Keep the history. Note the old rent, the new rent, the date it starts and the date you gave notice.
Common mistakes
- Using the wrong form. Since 1 May 2026, private landlords use Form 4A; Form 4 is now for social housing. Download it fresh from GOV.UK each time rather than reusing a saved copy.
- Cutting the notice fine. If the tenant receives the notice late, the start date may not work. Leave a margin of a week or two.
- Starting mid-period. If the rent is due on the 5th, start the new rent on a 5th, not on the 1st.
- Two increases in a year. If you raised the rent in March, you can't raise it again in November. Check the date of the last change first.
- Raising rent in the first year. A new tenancy's rent can't go up through section 13 until 52 weeks after it started.
- Sending one notice for the whole house. In a room-by-room house, every tenancy needs its own notice.
- No evidence. If the tenant goes to the tribunal, you'll want comparables and a clear list of what the rent includes. Collect them before you send the notice, not after.
- Forgetting the bills. If bills are included, check what they cost now; a rent that looked generous a year ago may not be once energy prices change.
Worked example
Tom lets four rooms in a house in Sheffield. Room 1 is let to Grace at £520 a month, rent due on the 1st, bills included. Her tenancy started on 1 March last year and the rent hasn't changed since, so more than 52 weeks will have passed by April.
- In January, Tom checks comparable bills-included rooms nearby on two listing sites, notes three similar rooms, and decides a fair rent is £550.
- He fills in Form 4A with the current rent of £520, the proposed rent of £550, and a start date of 1 April, the start of a rent period.
- He hands the notice to Grace on 20 January and emails her a copy the same day. That's more than two months before 1 April. He keeps a note of the date and how he gave it.
- Grace doesn't apply to the tribunal. From 1 April her rent is £550.
- Tom puts a reminder to review Room 1 again next January. He'll do Room 3 separately in June, when that tenancy's anniversary comes round.
If Grace had applied to the tribunal before 1 April, she would keep paying £520 until it decided, and the new rent couldn't be higher than £550. If the decision came after 1 April, the new rent would start from the next rent day after the decision, not from 1 April.
How Rentap helps
When you change a room's rent in Rentap, you choose when the new rent starts; Rentap suggests the start of the next rent period, and you can note the date you gave notice. Rentap shows a warning that most increases need written notice, but it doesn't check the notice rules or produce Form 4A for you, so use the calculator to plan the dates. From the start date, the new rent is used for each rent period and the old rent stays in the history. For terms such as section 13 and Form 4A, see our glossary of letting terms.
Existing tenancies
Tenancies that were running before 1 May 2026 became assured periodic tenancies under the new system, so the same rules apply to them. GOV.UK says a notice given on the old Form 4 before 1 May 2026 still takes effect as stated, even if the new rent starts after that date, and you then can't increase the rent again until at least a year after that increase took effect. See periodic tenancies: what changed.
Sources
- Housing Act 1988, section 13
- Housing Act 1988, section 14
- Renters' Rights Act 2025 and section 7
- GOV.UK: assured periodic tenancies, rent increases
- GOV.UK: guide to the Renters' Rights Act
- Government landlord hub: renting is changing
- GOV.UK: assured tenancy forms from 1 May 2026 (Form 4A)
- GOV.UK: housing tribunals
- GOV.UK: your lodger's tenancy type
- Ofgem: resale of gas and electricity, maximum resale price
Last checked: 10 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice.