How to Increase the Rent on an Assured Tenancy in England

Rent review clauses no longer work

Section 6 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 inserted section 13(4A) into the Housing Act 1988, voiding any provision that purports to increase the rent other than through the statutory route. That applies to tenancies which began before the reform as well as to new ones.

The practical consequence is that a landlord who follows the increase clause in an older tenancy agreement has not increased the rent at all: the old rent remains payable, and any extra collected is recoverable by the tenant. Relevant low-cost tenancies let by private registered providers follow a separate procedure and use Form 4, not Form 4A.

The two timing rules that catch landlords out

The first is the notice period. The new rent cannot take effect less than two months after the notice is served, and the effective date must be the first day of a period of the tenancy. On a monthly tenancy that began on the 15th, that means the 15th of a month — a date chosen for convenience invalidates the notice.

The second is the 52-week rule, and it has two limbs. No increase can take effect within the first 52 weeks of the tenancy, whenever the tenancy began. And no increase can take effect within 52 weeks of the date the last increase took effect — where the rent is paid weekly or fortnightly and section 13(3B) applies, that period can be 53 weeks.

What restarts the 52-week clock is broader than most landlords assume. A previous section 13 notice restarts it, but so does an increase made under a rent-review clause before 1 May 2026, an increase agreed between the parties, and a rent determined by the tribunal.

1. 1.Confirm the tenancy is a private assured tenancy in England, not social housing, a lodger arrangement, or a tenancy in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
2. 2.Check the date the tenancy began and the date any previous increase took effect, whatever form it took.
3. 3.Pick an effective date at least two months ahead that falls on the first day of a rent period and satisfies both 52-week rules.
4. 4.Download the current Form 4A from GOV.UK and transcribe your figures onto it — the form is revised without notice.
5. 5.Serve the notice by a method that proves delivery, allowing at least two working days for postal service.
6. 6.Do not collect the new rent until the effective date, and not at all if the tenant refers the notice to the tribunal before then.

The tenant's challenge is now risk-free

A tenant who considers the proposed rent above market can refer the notice to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) free of charge, at any time before the start date in the notice.

Two changes made by the 2025 Act matter here. The tribunal cannot award more than the landlord proposed — it determines the open market rent or the proposed rent, whichever is lower — so challenging carries no risk of a higher figure. And the determined rent takes effect from the date the tribunal directs rather than being backdated to the notice, with power to defer the start by up to two months where the increase would cause undue hardship.

Until the tribunal decides, the old rent remains payable. Charging the new rent in the meantime is a common and expensive mistake.

Setting the figure

There is no cap on what a landlord may propose, but the effective ceiling is the open market rent for a comparable property in the area. Proposing above it buys nothing except a stronger incentive for the tenant to challenge, and a tribunal determination that resets the 52-week clock.

Evidence of comparable local rents — advertised properties of similar size and condition — is worth assembling before you serve, both to set a defensible figure and to have something to produce if the tenant does refer the notice.