How to Increase Rent Legally Under the Renters Rights Act

From 1 May 2026, the way landlords increase rent changes entirely. One route in, one form to use, two months' notice required. Rent review clauses stop working on the same date. If you have been raising rent using a clause in the tenancy agreement or an informal agreement with your tenant, that option disappears.

This is not a minor administrative update. It is a complete reset of how rent increases work in England, introduced by the Renters Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. With 36 days until commencement, landlords who have not already reviewed their process need to do so now.

How Rent Increases Worked Until Now

Before the Renters Rights Act, landlords had several routes to increase rent. The most common were:

Section 13 via Form 4. The statutory route. A landlord serving Form 4 on a periodic tenant triggers the Section 13 process. Under current rules, notice for a monthly tenancy is one month. The tenant can challenge at the First-tier Tribunal, but historically very few did, partly because the tribunal could set the rent higher than proposed and could backdate the increase to the notice expiry date. Those two risks put most tenants off appealing.

Rent review clauses. Many fixed-term tenancy agreements contain a clause that provides for automatic rent increases at a set date, often tied to CPI or RPI, or specifying a percentage. On a statutory periodic tenancy, landlords have sometimes continued to rely on these clauses even after the fixed term ends.

Agreed increases. Informal agreement between landlord and tenant, sometimes without any formal notice, often written into the tenancy agreement renewal or just done by email.

All of these options narrow down to one from 1 May 2026.

What Changes on 1 May 2026

Section 13 via Form 4A becomes the only route. The government has confirmed that for all assured periodic tenancies in England, the Section 13 statutory notice process is the exclusive legal method for rent increases from commencement of the Act. There is no alternative.

Form 4A replaces Form 4. The new form will be published on GOV.UK's assured tenancy forms page and will be available for use on or after 1 May 2026. You cannot use Form 4A before that date, and you should not use Form 4 after it.

The notice period doubles. The current one-month notice period for monthly tenancies becomes a minimum of two months. A landlord must give the completed Form 4A to the tenant at least two months before the proposed increase takes effect. The notice can be served in person, by post, or by email if the tenancy agreement permits email service.

Rent can only increase once every 12 months. This includes any increase made under the old rules. If rent was last increased six months ago, you cannot serve a Form 4A to take effect before the 12-month anniversary of that last increase.

Rent review clauses become invalid. This applies to all assured periodic tenancies from 1 May 2026, regardless of what the tenancy agreement says. Any existing clause providing for a scheduled, automatic, or agreed rent increase ceases to have legal effect on that date. A rent increase agreed before May 1 under a rent review clause, but taking effect after it, will not be permitted.

The proposed rent must reflect open market value. Under Section 13, the increase needs to be in line with the rent you would expect to receive if you were reletting the property on the open market. This is not a formal cap, but it gives tenants and the tribunal a clear benchmark against which any challenge will be assessed.

A Worked Example

Sarah is a landlord with a two-bed flat in Sheffield let on a monthly periodic tenancy. The current rent is £850 per month. She last increased the rent in March 2025, so she will be eligible to increase again from March 2026 under the 12-month rule. She wants to raise the rent to £920 from late June 2026.

Under the new rules, here is the process:

1. Sarah checks that at least 12 months have passed since the last increase took effect. It has.
2. She downloads Form 4A from GOV.UK on or after 1 May 2026.
3. She completes the form, proposing a new rent of £920 per month, with a start date of 26 June 2026.
4. She serves the completed form on her tenant by post on 24 April 2026. But wait: she cannot use Form 4A before 1 May 2026. She needs to serve it on or after 1 May 2026 and allow two full months from the service date. That means the earliest start date she can set is 1 July 2026 if she serves the form on 1 May.
5. She serves Form 4A by email (permitted in her tenancy agreement) on 1 May 2026, proposing a new rent of £920 from 1 July 2026.
6. The tenant receives the notice. They have until the expiry of the notice period to either accept the increase or apply to the tribunal for a determination.
7. The tenant does not challenge. On 1 July 2026, the rent automatically increases to £920.

If Sarah had tried to serve a Form 4 notice in late April to get ahead of the May 1 date, that would still be valid, provided the notice was served before May 1 and used the existing Form 4 correctly. But any proposed increase taking effect after May 1 under a rent review clause would not be permitted.

How Tenant Challenges Work Under the New Rules

The Renters Rights Act significantly reduces the risk of challenging a rent increase for tenants. This matters for landlords, because it means more tenants may be willing to refer a Section 13 notice to the tribunal than in previous years.

Under the current rules, tenants face three deterrents to challenging at tribunal:

• The tribunal could set rent higher than the landlord proposed
• Any new rent could be backdated to the notice expiry date, creating arrears
• A challenge could provoke a Section 21 eviction notice

All three of these deterrents are removed from 1 May 2026.

Under the new rules:

The tribunal cannot set rent higher than proposed. If a tenant challenges your Section 13 notice and the tribunal determines the market rent is actually higher than what you proposed, they still cannot award more than your original figure. This removes a major disincentive for tenants to challenge.

No backdating. Any rent determined by the tribunal takes effect from the date of the determination, not retrospectively from the notice expiry date. Tenants will not fall into arrears by exercising their right to challenge.

Section 21 is abolished. From 1 May 2026, no-fault evictions are gone. A landlord cannot serve a Section 21 notice in response to a tribunal challenge.

The tribunal can delay the start date. Where paying the new rent from the date of determination would cause the tenant "undue hardship," the tribunal can delay the commencement of the increase by up to two months after its decision. This is a limited discretion, but landlords should factor the possibility of a delay into their cash flow planning.

The application fee is £47. The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Fees (Amendment) Order 2026 introduced a £47 fee for tenants applying to challenge a rent increase. There is no additional hearing fee. The Help with Fees scheme is available for tenants who cannot afford this charge.

The practical implication for landlords: if your proposed increase is meaningfully above what comparable properties are renting for in the local area, expect a higher likelihood of challenge than you may have seen historically. The smartest approach is to have your comparables ready before you serve notice.

What Not to Do

A few things that will not work after 1 May 2026, and which it is worth being clear about:

Do not rely on a rent review clause. Even if it is in the tenancy agreement and both parties signed it, it has no legal force from 1 May 2026 for assured periodic tenancies.

Do not use informal agreements as a substitute for Form 4A. If you and your tenant agree a rent increase by email or conversation and you do not follow the Section 13 process, the increase may not be legally valid. You still need to serve Form 4A.

Do not use Form 4 after 1 May 2026. Form 4 is only valid for notices served before that date.

Do not serve Form 4A before 1 May 2026. The form will not be published or valid until that date.

Do not try to increase rent more than once in any 12-month period. This applies even if the previous increase was made under old rules or under a rent review clause that has now become void.

The Government Information Sheet Obligation

There is a separate, time-sensitive obligation connected to the Act that landlords must not miss.

The government published its official RRA information sheet on 20 March 2026. If you have an existing tenant on an assured or assured shorthold tenancy with a written record of terms, created before 1 May 2026, you are legally required to provide this information sheet to every tenant named on the agreement by 31 May 2026.

Failure to comply can result in a fine of up to £7,000.

Delivery requirements are specific. You must either:

• Print the document and give or post it to the tenant
• Send the PDF as an email or text attachment

Sending a link to the PDF is not valid. The GOV.UK publications page states clearly that the Information Sheet is only valid when downloaded from that page, and the exact PDF must be provided.

If your letting agent manages the property, the agent must also provide the information sheet, even if you have done so yourself.

For verbal tenancies with no written record of terms, the information sheet cannot be provided. Instead, you must supply certain written information about the key terms of the tenancy.

Practical Preparation for May 1

With 36 days until commencement, here is what to do now:

Audit your rent increase history. For each tenancy, check the date the last rent increase took effect. This sets the earliest date from which you can serve a new Section 13 notice.

Review your tenancy agreements. Identify any rent review clauses. Note them and accept that they will be void from 1 May 2026.

Prepare your market comparables. Before serving any Form 4A notice, check what similar properties in the area are renting for. Portals like Rightmove and Zoopla, and RICS-registered letting agents, can help establish local market rates. Having this evidence ready before you serve notice will put you in a stronger position if a tenant challenges.

Download Form 4A on or after 1 May 2026. Do not try to use it before. Do not use Form 4 after.

Serve the RRA information sheet to all existing tenants by 31 May 2026. This is mandatory if you have a written tenancy agreement predating 1 May 2026. The PDF is at: gov.uk/government/publications/the-renters-rights-act-information-sheet-2026.

A Note on Reasonable Increases

Nothing in the Renters Rights Act prevents you from raising rents in line with the market. The Act does not introduce a rent cap. What it does is standardise the process, limit frequency, and remove the deterrents that previously stopped tenants from challenging excessive increases.

The practical effect is that very large above-market increases are now more likely to end up at tribunal than before. Landlords who set rents at or close to open market value and can evidence that with comparables are in a far stronger position than those who cannot.

A once-a-year review, served with proper notice, benchmarked to local market comparables, is both legally compliant and commercially sound. That is the rhythm the new rules are designed to create.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Tax rules and legislation change frequently. Always verify current rates with HMRC or GOV.UK and seek independent professional advice before making investment decisions.