Rent increases under the new Section 13: the only lawful route

There is now one lawful way to raise the rent on an assured tenancy: the statutory notice under section 13 of the Housing Act 1988. Not a rent review clause, not an agreement reached in correspondence, not a figure written into the tenancy at the start to take effect later.

The route

1. Serve the prescribed section 13 notice, in the correct form, stating the new rent and the date it takes effect.
2. Give at least two months' notice before that date.
3. Once in any twelve-month period. Not twice, not on a rolling six-month cycle.
4. The tenant may refer it to the First-tier Tribunal before it takes effect.

What the tribunal does — and the change that matters

The tribunal decides what the property would command on the open market — the market rent, not the increase you proposed. It cannot set a figure above what you asked for.

That last point is the significant change. Under the old regime a tenant risked the tribunal deciding the market rent was higher than the landlord's proposal, and being landed with it. That risk is gone, so referral is now close to costless for a tenant. Expect challenges where the proposed rent is above market, because there is no longer a reason not to.

Practically: an increase you can evidence against comparables will survive. One that reaches for more than the market supports will be reduced, and you will have spent months getting there.

What no longer works

• Rent review clauses. A clause providing for an annual uplift, or an index-linked increase, does not give you a route around section 13.
• Increases agreed in writing outside the procedure. The statutory route is the route.
• Backdating. The new rent takes effect from the date in the notice, not before.
• Increases used as pressure. An increase designed to make a tenant leave rather than to reach market rent is precisely what the tribunal route exists to test.

Penalty

An improper rent increase carries a civil penalty of up to £7,000, rising to up to £40,000 or prosecution for a repeat breach.

Doing it properly

1. Use the prescribed form. A letter is not a section 13 notice, however clearly written.
2. Evidence the market. Comparable local lettings, kept with the notice. If it is referred, that is your case.
3. Count the twelve months from the last increase, not from the tenancy start.
4. Diarise it. There is no renewal date any more — see periodic tenancies by default.