How rent increases work now

This guide is for tenancies that began on or after 15 January 1989. If you have an older, protected tenancy, see Rent increases for protected tenants.

Since 1 May 2026 there is one clear legal process for putting the rent up. It gives you proper notice, a predictable timetable and a way to have the figure checked independently.

Once a year, with two months' notice

• Rent can go up no more than once a year. The new rent can't start until at least 52 weeks after your tenancy began, or 52 weeks after the last increase.
• Your landlord has to use the official form, called Form 4A (often known as a section 13 notice), and give you at least two months' notice before the new rent starts.
• Rent review clauses in tenancy agreements no longer work. A clause saying the rent will rise each year, or by a set formula, has no effect. Any increase has to go through this process.
• You and your landlord can still agree a lower rent than the one proposed, as long as you agree before the new rent is due to start.

If you think the new rent is too high

You can ask the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the open market rent, which means the rent your home could be expected to let for on the open market. Apply before the date the new rent is due to start.

• The tribunal can decide the rent should stay as proposed or be lower. It can't set it any higher than the figure in the notice.
• If you apply before the new rent is due to start, you keep paying your current rent until the tribunal decides. The new rent can't start before its decision, and it can't be backdated.
• If paying the new rent straight after the decision would cause you hardship, you can ask the tribunal to put the start date back. The latest it can choose is two months after its decision.
• There is an application fee, and you may be able to get help paying it.
• In the first six months of a new tenancy, you can also ask the tribunal to look at the starting rent itself.

Rent in advance

For tenancies agreed since 1 May 2026:

• No rent can be taken before the tenancy agreement is signed.
• Between signing and the start of the tenancy, the most you can be asked for is the first month's rent (or 28 days' rent if you pay weekly).
• After that, rent can't be made due before the period it covers. You're free to pay early if you'd like to, but nobody can require it.

Find out more

• Rent increases (GOV.UK)
• Apply for an open market rent determination (GOV.UK)
• Rent in advance and deposits (GOV.UK)
• Housing Act 1988, section 13 (legislation.gov.uk)