Practical question for those who have read the detail. I have a tenant in one of my Midlands properties who has been on a periodic tenancy since 2024. I have not increased the rent since she moved in two and a half years ago, partly because she is a good tenant and partly because I could not be bothered with the hassle. The rent is now about £150 below comparable market rate. Under the new rules from 1 May, rent can only be increased once per year and requires two months notice via a section 13 notice. My question is whether the clock starts from 1 May 2026 or from the date rent was last increased, which in my case is never. If I serve a section 13 notice today, does the two month period run from today, meaning the increase takes effect in early July? Or is there some transitional provision that resets things? The NRLA guidance is vague on this point and the legislation itself is not exactly light reading on a Saturday afternoon.
@GrumpyLandlord47 been thinking about exactly this for my Scottish properties.. though the regime up here is different obviously. For England I believe the position is:
You can serve a Section 13 notice at any time now that all tenancies are periodic under the RRA. The two month minimum notice period applies. The tenant can refer it to the tribunal within the notice period if they think it’s above market rate. The tribunal then decides what a market rent would be.
The problem?? The tribunal is already drowning. I spoke to a letting agent mate in Sheffield on Friday and he reckons the FTT will be 4-6 months behind by autumn. So you serve your notice, tenant refers it, and you’re stuck on the old rent until they get round to hearing it. Wonderful.
Have you checked whether the Section 13 form itself has been updated? Last time I looked (Wednesday I think) the GOV.UK version still referenced the old rules.. which would be par for the course. Cheers!
Checked the Shelter guidance and the gov.uk page over the weekend. The position for England appears to be that a Section 13 notice must give at least two months notice, and the increase takes effect from the date specified in the notice, which must be the first day of a new period of the tenancy. So if I serve notice today on a monthly tenancy, the earliest the increase could bite is 4 July. That said, I have seen conflicting commentary on whether the tribunal can backdate a reduced amount if the tenant challenges it and wins. From recollection, the tribunal can substitute what it considers a market rent, which might be lower than what I proposed but also might be higher than the current rent. The practical question is whether any tenant would bother challenging a modest increase given the tribunal backlog. My instinct says no, but these are strange times.
Right so two months notice from the s13, that matches what I’ve read too.. but here’s my worry. If you serve the notice now, literally four days after the Act came into force, does that look aggressive at tribunal?? I know there’s no legal reason it should matter. The Act is the Act. But tribunals are human beings and first impressions count.
For my Midlands place I’m holding off until June. Partly because the tenant is decent and I don’t want to spook her, partly because I want to see how the first wave of tribunal decisions shake out before I stick my head above the parapet. My Scottish ones are a different beast entirely (different legislation, different tribunal, different planet basically..).
The other thing nobody seems to be talking about is what happens if you serve the s13 and the tenant just.. ignores it. Doesn’t pay the increase, doesn’t refer to tribunal. Do you then have to take them to tribunal yourself?? Or does the increase just take effect by default after the notice period expires??
Cheers!
@GrumpyLandlord47 had another look at this overnight.. and I think the honest answer is nobody knows yet. The tribunal hasn’t published any updated practice directions for rent increase challenges under the new provisions as far as I can see. Checked the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) website yesterday evening and it still references the old s13 process with no mention of the amended rules.
My concern is practical rather than legal. If you serve the notice now and the tenant challenges it, you’re guinea pig number one. The tribunal panel might not even have internal guidance on how to assess these under the new framework. Could go either way.. they might just apply the old market rent test with a new hat on, or they might take a stricter line to set an early precedent.
For what it’s worth I’m holding off on my English property until June at the earliest. Want to see at least one reported tribunal decision before I stick my head above the parapet. My Scottish ones are a different kettle of fish entirely (rent cap still in force north of the border, obviously..).
Cheers!
Quick update on this. I served the s13 notice on Tuesday, giving two months notice as required, so the increase takes effect from mid July. The proposed increase is in line with the local market and I have kept the supporting evidence in case the tenant refers it to the tribunal, though I don’t expect that to happen given the amount involved. It is a modest uplift after two years of nothing.
Separately, the council tax dispute I mentioned elsewhere has resolved itself. The council accepted that liability reverted to me only from the date the tenant actually vacated, not the date the tenancy formally ended, which saved me about six weeks of CT at band D. Took three letters and a phone call but got there in the end. Not worth starting a new thread over but thought I would mention it here for anyone in a similar position.
Good that you’ve got the notice served.. one less thing hanging over you. Mid July gives you a clean timeline assuming the tenant doesn’t refer it to the tribunal.
That’s my worry though. Under the old regime a tribunal referral was rare because most tenants on ASTs just accepted the increase or left. Now that every tenancy is periodic and s21 is dead, the tribunal is the only pressure valve. I’d be surprised if referrals don’t spike massively over the next 12 months.
And then there’s the new Ombudsman supposedly launching later this year.. nobody seems to know whether rent disputes will fall under that as well or whether it stays purely with the tribunal. The guidance is silent on it. If there ends up being two overlapping complaint routes it’ll be chaos. Obviously.
Did you pitch the increase at market rate or slightly below?? I’ve been agonising over the same decision for my Newcastle flat and I’m leaning towards going 5% under market to avoid a referral entirely. Feels cowardly but pragmatic..
Cheers!