Can they do that? Brighton & Hove
All questions

Can my landlord put the rent up whenever they like?

Short answer

No, once a year

Your landlord can only raise the rent once a year, not in the first year, with at least two months' notice on the official form. You can challenge it at a tribunal, and the tribunal can't make you pay more than your landlord asked for.

If you rent from a private landlord, you’ll usually have an assured periodic tenancy.1 Since 1 May 2026, there’s only one way to raise the rent on these tenancies.2 Your landlord must:

  • use the official form, Form 4A (“Landlord’s notice proposing a new rent”). This is called a section 13 notice.3
  • give you at least two months’ notice,4
  • raise it no more than once a year, and
  • not raise it in the first year of your tenancy.5

The new rent has to start at the beginning of a rent period. For example, if your rent is due on the 20th of each month, the increase has to start on the 20th.6

Your landlord can give you the form in person, by post, or by email if your tenancy agreement allows it.7

Rent review clauses in tenancy agreements, such as “the rent will go up by 5% every year”, no longer work. Nor does a text, or a letter or email that isn’t a Form 4A notice. The rent can only go up through a section 13 notice or a tribunal decision.2 If you get anything else, you can keep paying your current rent. Tell your landlord in writing why.

If you think the increase is too high

You can ask the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the rent.8

  • Apply before the date the new rent is due to start. That’s the date in question 4.6 of the form. Don’t wait until you’ve gathered all your evidence.9
  • It costs £47. You may be able to get help with the fee if you have little or no savings and get certain benefits or are on a low income.10
  • Tell your landlord you’ve applied, or they may assume you agree to the new rent.11
  • The tribunal works out the open market rent: what the landlord could reasonably expect to get if they let the property on the open market on the same terms. It can take things like the condition of the property into account.12
  • The tribunal’s figure might be higher than your landlord asked for, but you’ll never have to pay more than the rent in the notice. So challenging it can’t make things worse for you.13

When the new rent starts

You don’t have to pay the new rent until the tribunal has decided.14 Then:

  • if it decides before the start date in the notice, the new rent starts on that date, or
  • if it decides after that date, the new rent starts at the beginning of your next rent period after the decision. It isn’t backdated.15

If paying from that date would cause you hardship, you can ask the tribunal for a later start date, up to two months after its decision. Put full details of your finances in your application.16

Evidence

Look up similar places nearby, with the same number of bedrooms and in a similar condition. Rents from letting agents or sites like Rightmove and Zoopla can help, but the rents actually agreed for similar homes are stronger evidence.17 Photos of each room, the size of each room, and details of any repairs or problems all help too.18

If you’ve just moved in

In the first 6 months of a tenancy, you can also ask the tribunal to decide whether your starting rent is above the open market rent.19 It can only lower your rent, not raise it, and any change can’t take effect earlier than the date you applied.20

Increases from before May 2026

If your landlord raised the rent before 1 May 2026, using the old form 4 or a rent review clause, they can’t raise it again until a year after that increase took effect.21 A rent review clause increase that was agreed before 1 May 2026 but was due to start after that date doesn’t apply.22

Paying rent upfront

A term in a tenancy that started on or after 1 May 2026 that makes rent due in advance has no effect, apart from the first rent you pay before you move in.23 Your landlord can’t make you pay rent early, though you can choose to.24 See rent in advance for what you can be asked to pay before you move in. If you’re being asked to offer more than the advertised rent, see rental bidding.

Get help

If you’re not sure your notice is valid, or you’re worried you can’t afford the new rent, talk to a local advice service before the increase starts.

References

  1. Private renting for tenants: evictions in England. GOV.UK. If you rent a property from a private landlord it will usually be an assured periodic tenancy. ↩

  2. Housing Act 1988, s. 13(4A), in force from 1 May 2026. The rent for a period of an assured tenancy to which this section applies may not be greater than the rent for the previous period except by virtue of— (a)a notice under this section or an agreement under subsection (4)(b) following such a notice, (b)a determination under section 14 … and any provision relating to an assured tenancy to which this section applies is of no effect so far as it provides that the rent for a particular period of the tenancy must or may be greater than the rent for the previous period otherwise than by virtue of a notice, determination or agreement mentioned in this subsection. S. 13(4A)-(4E) inserted (1.5.2026 for specified purposes) by Renters’ Rights Act 2025 ↩ ↩2

  3. Housing Act 1988, s. 13(2). the landlord may serve on the tenant a notice in the prescribed form proposing a new rent to take effect at the beginning of a new period of the tenancy specified in the notice. Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Prescribed Forms and Transitional Provisions) (England) Regulations 2026, reg. 3(1)(d). for a notice under section 13(2) of the 1988 Act (increases of rent) proposing a new rent for an assured tenancy of premises, Form 4A in the Schedule ↩

  4. Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for tenants, “Rent increases”. GOV.UK. The landlord must give you at least 2 months’ notice if they want to increase your rent. They’ll need to do this by giving you a completed form 4A: Landlord’s notice proposing a new rent. This is known as the ‘section 13 process’. ↩

  5. Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for tenants, Rent increases. If you have an assured periodic tenancy, your landlord can only increase your rent once a year. They cannot increase your rent in the first year of your tenancy. Housing Act 1988, s. 13(2)(b): in any other case, on the date that falls 52 weeks after the date on which the first period of the tenancy began. ↩

  6. Form 4A: Landlord’s notice proposing a new rent (PDF). Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 05.26. Note A4, p. 7. Third requirement: in all cases, the new rent must start at the beginning of a tenancy period. First example: if a monthly tenancy starts on the 20th of April, the new rent must start on the 20th day of the month when the increase begins. ↩

  7. Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for tenants, Rent increases. Your landlord can give you notice in the following ways: in person by post by email (if that’s allowed in your tenancy agreement) ↩

  8. Form 4A, section 5.2, p. 6. Refer the new rent to the tribunal if you believe the proposed rent is higher than the market rate, or if you believe there is another problem with this notice. Apply for an open market rent determination. HM Courts & Tribunals Service, updated 10 August 2026. you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the open market value rent of the property. ↩

  9. Housing Act 1988, s. 13(4)(a). a new rent specified in the notice shall take effect as mentioned in the notice unless, before the beginning of the new period specified in the notice,— (a)the tenant … applies to the appropriate tribunal under section 14(A3). Apply for an open market rent determination, Before you apply. You must apply before the start date of the new rent given in the notice, even if you’re still collecting your supporting evidence. Form 4A, section 5.2, p. 6. The tribunal must receive the application before the start date your landlord has given in question 4.6. ↩

  10. Apply for an open market rent determination, Application fee. This application costs £47. You may be able to get help with paying some or all of the fee if you have little or no savings, and either: get certain benefits … are on a low income ↩

  11. Form 4A, section 5.2, p. 6. If you refer the proposed new rent to the tribunal, tell your landlord or they may otherwise assume you agree with the new rent. ↩

  12. Form 4A, section 5.2, p. 6. The tribunal can consider other factors like the condition of the property when deciding what the rent for your home should be. The tribunal will decide what rent the landlord could reasonably expect if the property were let on the open market on the same terms. Housing Act 1988, s. 14(1). might reasonably be expected to be let in the open market by a willing landlord under an assured tenancy ↩

  13. Form 4A, section 5.2, p. 6. The amount the tribunal decides might be higher or lower than the rent your landlord has proposed. However, you will not be required to pay more than the rent the landlord first proposed in question 4.5. Housing Act 1988, s. 14ZB(5). The new rent amount is— (a)the open-market rent, if lower than the proposed rent, and (b)otherwise, the proposed rent. ↩

  14. Form 4A, section 5.2, p. 6. You do not have to pay the new rent amount until the tribunal has made its decision. ↩

  15. Housing Act 1988, s. 14ZB(3)(a)–(b). (a)the beginning of the new period specified in the notice under section 13(2) or 13A(2), if that date is on or after the date of the determination, (b)the beginning of the first new period of the tenancy which begins on or after the date of the determination, if the beginning of the new period specified in the notice under section 13(2) or 13A(2) is before the date of the determination. Apply for an open market rent determination, When any new rent could start. If the tribunal’s decision is after the new proposed new rent date has started, any new rent will usually start from the next payment date after the tribunal’s decision. ↩

  16. Housing Act 1988, s. 14ZB(3)(c) and (4). if it appears to the tribunal that applying paragraph (a) or (b) would cause undue hardship to the tenant, a date that the appropriate tribunal directs. A date specified under subsection (3)(c) must fall before the end of the period of two months beginning with the date of the determination. Apply for an open market rent determination, Ask the tribunal to consider your hardship. If you want to postpone the payment date, you must provide full details of your financial circumstances in the application. ↩

  17. Apply for an open market rent determination, Evidence you should include. You must also provide information about the rent, including any evidence from similar nearby properties (similar size, features and location) to show how much they were rented for. Information from letting agents or websites such as Rightmove and Zoopla can help but evidence from actual agreed lettings (rental agreements) is stronger. ↩

  18. Apply for an open market rent determination, Evidence you should include. a recent photo of each room, showing as much of the room as possible … the size of each room … details and photos of any repairs or improvements that have been done ↩

  19. Housing Act 1988, s. 14(A1)–(A2). A tenant under an assured tenancy other than a relevant low-cost tenancy may make an application to the appropriate tribunal for the purpose of challenging the rent payable under the tenancy. … more than six months have elapsed since the beginning of the tenancy. ↩

  20. Housing Act 1988, s. 14ZA(4)–(5). The new rent amount is— (a)the open-market rent, if lower than the tenancy rent, and (b)otherwise, the tenancy rent. The date must not be earlier than the date of the application. ↩

  21. Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for tenants, Rent increases. Your landlord cannot increase the rent until at least a year after the last increase took effect. This applies if they either: increased the rent by giving you notice using form 4 used a rent review clause in the tenancy agreement to increase the rent ↩

  22. Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for tenants, Rent increases. If the increase was agreed before 1 May 2026 but takes effect after 1 May 2026, the increase will not apply. ↩

  23. Housing Act 1988, s. 4B(1)–(2). Terms of an assured tenancy which provide for when rent is due are of no effect so far as they provide for rent to be due in advance. to a tenancy entered into before the commencement date … to terms of any other assured tenancy so far as they provide for initial rent to be due during the permitted pre-tenancy period. ↩

  24. Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for tenants, Rent and other payments. Once the tenancy has started, you can choose to pay any amount of rent early. The landlord or letting agent cannot make you do this. ↩