You want to put the rent up on a tenancy that carries on past 1 May 2026, and you are not sure what is still allowed. The short version: you can still raise the rent, but from now there is one route, one notice a year, and a tribunal that can only ever agree with your figure or come in lower.
One route only: Section 13
From 1 May 2026, when the tenancy reforms in the Renters' Rights Act 2025 commence (the Act received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025), every assured tenancy becomes periodic and rent review clauses stop working. The only lawful way to increase the rent on a periodic assured tenancy is a notice under Section 13 of the Housing Act 1988.
That matters if your tenancy agreement contains an automatic uplift or a "rent review" schedule. After 1 May 2026 those clauses cannot be relied on. If you want more rent, you serve a Section 13 notice, full stop.
Once a year, two months' notice
Two limits sit on the Section 13 notice:
- You can serve it once in any 12-month period. One increase a year, no more.
- You must give at least two months' notice before the new rent starts. The old rule was one month.
The new rent has to start at the beginning of a rental period, and you use the prescribed form (Form 4 at the time of writing). Check gov.uk for the current version before you serve, because a notice on the wrong form or with the wrong dates is simply void.
The first-year block
There is also a floor on timing. A Section 13 increase cannot take effect earlier than 52 weeks after the tenancy began, so in practice you cannot lift the rent inside the first year. If you agreed a rent starting in March 2026, the earliest a higher rent can bite is the following March, and only with the correct notice served two clear months ahead.
Worked example: your proposed figure is a ceiling
Say you let a flat at £1,000 a month and local rents have moved on. You serve a Section 13 notice on 1 June 2026 proposing £1,150 a month from 1 August 2026, giving the two clear months required. Your tenant thinks £1,150 is above the going rate and applies to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) before the start date.
Here is the change that matters most. The tribunal assesses the open market rent for the property, but under the Renters' Rights Act it cannot set a rent higher than the £1,150 you proposed. So the outcome depends only on where the market sits relative to your figure:
| Tribunal's view of open market rent | Rent the tribunal can set |
|---|---|
| £1,200 (above your figure) | £1,150, capped at your proposal |
| £1,150 (matches your figure) | £1,150 |
| £1,080 (below your figure) | £1,080 |
Your proposed rent is the ceiling. The tenant can end up paying the same or less by challenging, never more. Before the reforms the tribunal could have set the full £1,200 market rent even though you only asked for £1,150, which is exactly what discouraged tenants from challenging. That lever is gone.
No more backdating
One further change is worth banking. The rent the tribunal decides now takes effect from the start of the rental period after its determination, not backdated to the date you put in your notice. Tribunals can also push the start date back by up to two months where paying straight away would cause the tenant undue hardship.
The practical read-across: if a case runs its course, budget for the increase to begin a little later than the date on your notice, rather than assuming you can collect the difference from day one.
What this means for how you price it
Because your notice figure now caps what a tribunal can award, the old tactic of asking high and letting the tribunal "sort it out" works against you. Aim over the market and you gain nothing at tribunal while inviting a challenge that can only hold or reduce your number.
A short checklist for a clean increase:
- Price it realistically. Your Section 13 figure is the maximum outcome, so pitch it at, or just under, honest local market rent.
- Keep comparable evidence. Recent lettings of similar properties nearby are what support your figure if it goes to tribunal.
- Mind the 12-month gap. Serve at most one Section 13 notice per tenancy in any year.
- Give a full two months and start the new rent at the beginning of a rental period.
- Use the current prescribed form and check the live version on gov.uk before serving.
The Section 21 lever has gone too
It is worth naming the tactic that no longer exists. Before May 2026 some landlords leaned on the threat of a Section 21 no-fault notice to nudge a tenant into accepting an increase. Section 21 is abolished from 1 May 2026, and any pre-1-May notice already served stays enforceable in court only until 31 July 2026. So a sensibly priced Section 13 notice, backed by evidence, is the tool you are left with, and for most well-judged increases it is enough.
Handled properly, none of this stops you keeping rents in line with the market. It just means one notice, once a year, priced to stick.
This is general information, not tax or financial advice. The rules and dates here reflect the position as at 1 July 2026; check gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk for the current detail before you serve any notice.
