With the new Renters Reform Act, as long as you and your tenants are on good terms, is the section form needed, no matter what, to notify tenants of a rent rise?
We have always emailed the info, without the section 13 form.
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only if you want to be legal and valid and enforceable. Potentially any increases would have to be refunded -you never know what your relationship with tenants will be like in future, why take a risk unnecessarily for the 5min it will take to complete
Not exactly a long or complicated form
Good luck
@Niteowl with things becoming more onerous for LLs, the way I see it is that if youâve always verbally agreed rent rises before (which carries some risk) you can now eliminate any risk and use an S13 without Ts feeling like youâre being over the top because you can always just say the RRA made you do it.
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We dont know yet how a lot of the RRA is going to be interpreted by the First Tier Tribunal, but I would think that there is a risk that a landlord who didnât use the prescribed form for a rent increase could be found to have breached s56(3) of the RRA, even though that section wasnât specifically designed for this scenario. That breach carries a potential ÂŁ7k fine.
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Even if it is mutual agreement you will be in breach of the law. I will not be surprised if increase without Form 4A ends up in court and you pay everything back and fine on top. I will say my tenants that they will get increases via form and that is the law. Please note that if they contest then you might not get the amount you put in the form. So this new process forcing me to go in with a higher figure ( at market rate). Normally I come up with something reasonable for both parties but if I lock in a reasonable figure in the form then tribunal might skim it further. I would like to hear what you and others thinking. Am I overthinking?
Yup. The purpose of a rent tribunal is to protect Ts from being forced to pay unreasonable rents. If your increased rent is reasonable based on the market and state of the property, then any challenge is unlikely to even get a hearing let alone be successful at tribunal.
Your tactic of going with with a higher figure from the start is actually more likely to warrant a tribunal.
Tribunal isnât new tenants have always been able to challenge. You can always increase to market rent in a years time when we know what evidence tribunal will use/agree when deciding but itâs a risk right now esp.with no backdating and the time it takes..
Whatâs new is tenants donât pay any increase till tribunal decides and wonât pay the increase for the intervening period. So for 48 quid they get no rent increase for many months so you may lose out on the increase for 6-9 months worth of rent if they do contest via the Tribunal (see below)
Better not to unnecessarily provoke a tribunal review- if you were happy with below market before.there is no need to increase fully up to market immediately now under RRA (you can do it any time)
Good luck
Based on 2023â2024 data, tenants in England challenging a Section 13 rent increase through the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) wait an average of 24 weeks for a hearing. [1, 2]
While some estimates indicate a range of 18 to 27 weeks depending on whether an inspection is required, others suggest the entire process can take 6 to 9 months from application to final decision
I think youre right that once this beds in, many landlords will set their increases to market rent, but not for the reason you say. The Tribunal wont seek to reduce a rent thatâs already below the market rent for the property, but once landlords start getting increases only every 2 years due to FTT delays, they will max out their rents.
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The reason why I asked in my original post was that a relative lets a house out to a tenant, who has been in the house for about 6 years and he charges her well under the going market rate. She is a very good tenant and looks after the house very well. They are on good terms and my brother is very keen to keep her as a tenant.
He has only put her rent up once in those 6 years and the increase was minimal, and I mean minimal. Both are totally happy with the current situation.
She has had very traumatic few years, family wise, which I will not go into, is very nervous and understandably gets scared very easily.
My relative hesitated about sending her the Renters Reform Bill, as anything like that may risk worrying her, so he eventually emailed it to her, saying it is nothing for her to worry about and all is fine and her tenancy is safe.
He has told me that even if raising the rent minimally in the future, an email by mutual agreement saying so would have less of a stressful impact on her than an official form, so he sees the section 13 as inappropriate in her case. She has been totally happy with this before.
I do know the tenant and know how carefully you have to be with her, given her traumatic past.
My relative feels less formal approaches are best for her.
Also, if it is by mutual agreement, minimal increase, well below market rates and she is happy, is there really an issue?
Advice please.
@Niteowl if itâs minimal why bother instead of just leaving rent as is?
Otherwise do everything possible to minimise stress by explaining plans for increase and the new monthly amount face to face in advance, then another face to face where the section 13 is handed over in person. Maybe do it when visiting for an annual inspection visit.
LL can say they are doing everything formally using the s13 form because of the new legislation. And that by serving the form everything is legal and it actually protects tenant from any further increase over next 12 months as thatâs not allowed under the new legislation.
Tenant probably worried because knows hasnât had increases for a long time so reassuring them and giving them an official doc which protects them from future increase might actually be better for them. Having a chat face to face is fairer to all concerned. Def better than emailing docs.
Donât know what the penalties would be for not using s13 process at the least it could mean any increases would have to be refunded.
Sorry if ridiculously obvious
Best
Quite simply, yes.
There is nothing to stop your brother having an informal chat with the tenant to tell them that the form is on the way and to explain it before it lands on the doorstep.
I have explained it to my brother and he is still not having it. He thinks as long as both parties are happy, there is no issue and the authorities will be fining millions of other landlords before him.
It took some encouragement and nagging from me, for him to send the tenant the Renters Reform Bill.
Well, I have done my bit.
@Niteowl heâs possibly quite right as there is no specific fine for not using the s13 process I âthinkâ. Perhaps see what response or reaction from tenant following sending of the RRA info sheet.
@David122 may be able to advise whether there could be any sort of fine, rather than (if challenged at tribunal) only the amount of the increase plus legal costs)
The simple solution is to not increase at least rather than a minimal increase. And if it were to be more than minimal the LL should be discussing with tenant first in these circumstances Iâd have thought, so any stress as likely due to increase as the fact being done through an official form with 2 months notice
Best
See my first post near the top of this thread.
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YES, the slightest errors now will work against you
We are all referring to market rent but how will the market rent be assessed? What evidence is the tribunal likely to require to establish the market rent for a particular property?
I donât know if the tribunal already has standard methods but obviously you can get valuations from local agents. Online there are reports from eg Zoopla on rent increases in different regions Rental Price Tracker | Property news
plus calculators from Openrent and others
Source: OpenRent Rent Calculator: Find the Rental Value of Your Property | OpenRent
Rent Checker | How Much Can I Rent My House for? | OnTheMarket Rent Checker | How Much Can I Rent My House for? | OnTheMarket
Rent Valuation - Rentround Rent Valuation - Rentround
Source: Zoopla https://share.google/0sauaRWxRyX3hvISR
If you propose an increase in rent and it takes you above the ranges in these tools youâd probably need some special justification (eg upgrades done to make extra luxurious or new facilities added well beyond the average). Similarly an increase thatâs much more in % terms than what is happening in the market would be hard to justify unless you can show what you were charging before was well below market rates (perhaps because youâd not increased for many years)
In practice most increases get discussed and agreed between tenants and LLs and if too high tenants can just give notice so LLs unlikely to press for too high increases if they have good tenants and want to keep them. Likewise altho in principle every tenant could challenge increases at Tribunal most wonât if the increase is reasonable as it poisons the relationship with a LL if you take them to court, and they are more likely to seek grounds to evict (less fear of that now s21 abolished)
âBased on recent data, 2,944 rent appeal cases were brought across the property tribunal chambers in the three years leading up to May 2026.â so less than 1000 pa. So itâs very rare, tho expected to increase now s21 abolished. But really there to protect tenants from egregious unjustified increases.
You can find eg 3,747 tribunal cases decided after 2022 where issue was rent here (use filters)
You can look at a few of the ones about market rent and these show the sort of evidence submitted by both tenants and LLs and what the Tribunal used to decide a market rent.
Best
If established âmarket rentâ didnât exist, it wouldnât be a concept that people in the market can agree on. Yet thatâs exactly what estate/letting agents do for a living. They use criteria that are pretty standard across the board.
Hereâs what the govt says about rent tribunals which may help you with your questions:
Inspections
The tribunal may inspect the property if you or the other party requests it, or if the tribunal considers it necessary. An inspection will usually be on the day of the hearing.
If there is a dispute of fact, or the tribunal needs to consider the physical condition of a property, an inspection may be necessary. If this happens, you will be told the date and time they want to carry out the inspection.
The tribunal will only inspect inside a property if the tenant has given their permission. A landlord may be allowed to join the tribunal at the inspection but again only if the tenant has given permission.
Either party can draw attention to any physical aspect of the property or its surroundings but will not be allowed to say anything further. For example, a damp patch on a wall can be pointed out but any suggestion as to why it appeared should not be given. Arguments and evidence (sometimes called ârepresentationsâ) will either have been made in writing already or will be made at the hearing, if one has been requested.
If the members of the tribunal are unable to gain access at the appointed time, they may decide to make another appointment or they may decide that they have sufficient information to make a decision.
How the rent will be decided
How the rent will be decided depends on the type of rent case. Other costs and considerations will also be considered.
Market rent
The tribunal will look at the market or rents of similar properties in the local area. Both parties can provide evidence of comparable rents.
The tribunal will ignore any improvements to the property made by the tenant to avoid inflating the rent.
Fair rent
The tribunal will first look at the market rent for the property, ignoring any improvements to the property by the tenant. It will then consider whether there is a shortage of similar properties in the area. If there is a shortage, a deduction will be made to reflect this.
Where a fair rent is already registered and an application is made to increase the rent, thereâs a limit on any increase. This is sometimes called the ârent capâ or the âcapped rentâ.
The rent cap is calculated using a formula from the Rent Acts (Maximum Fair Rent) Order 1999. This allows only for an increase in a fair rent linked to the retail prices index (RPI).
Where a landlord has improved the property in a way that would increase the rent by at least 15%, the cap will not apply.
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