Context from the Form: “4.3 The most recent rent increase (if applicable) was on… Note 4.3: If there has not been a rent increase since the start of the tenancy, leave blank. [Day] [Month] [Year]”
I have had a tenant since 30th October 2003. The original rent in the tenancy agreement was £360 per week (though they pay monthly). In 2019, we mutually agreed to an informal rent increase to £369 per week, and no Section 13 notice was served at that time. I do not remember the exact date the increase took effect.
What date do I enter for “The most recent rent increase (if applicable)” if the 2019 increase was entirely informal? Do I still need to find and input the 2019 date, or should I leave it blank because no formal Section 13 notice was served back then?
Not sure what you mean by 'entirely informal". It didnt need to be by a s13 notice to be formal or legally valid
It doesn’t matter how it was agreed or documented (written, verbal, smoke signals..). The form doesnt specify that the increase needs to be formal nor that it has to be by s13. Put the 2019 increase date down
Thank you for the clarification. I understand that the form asks for the date of any rent increase, regardless of how it was agreed (written, verbal, or informal).
My issue isn’t about the legal status of the 2019 increase—I know it’s legally valid because the tenant paid it. My issue is that I genuinely do not know the exact date it started.
Because it was agreed verbally and paid in cash initially, I have no bank trail or written paperwork to find the exact day and month. If I just ‘put the 2019 increase date down’ by guessing, I am entering an unverified date onto a strict statutory form.
Since my tenant has legal aid, their lawyer will likely demand proof of that 2019 date at the Tribunal. If I cannot prove the date I wrote down is 100% accurate, the notice can be thrown out as factually incorrect.
Given that a guess could invalidate the whole notice, how do I safely fill out this box when the exact date is impossible to verify?I cannot afford to get this wrong. I have already had a previous Section 13 notice thrown out and declared invalid because I listed the rent increase as a monthly figure (reflecting how they actually pay me) instead of the weekly figure stated in the original tenancy agreement.
Because the Tribunal evaluates these forms with absolute, unforgiving precision, guessing a past date feels like a massive gamble with a legal aid lawyer watching. If the exact date cannot be proven, is there a legally safe way to complete this section, or will any entry be a trap?