Section 13 rent increase: Form 4A, two months’ notice, and when the new rent can start
Since 1 May 2026 a private landlord in England proposes a rent increase on Form 4A, with at least two months’ notice, once a year — and the start date has to satisfy three separate rules at the same time. Get the date wrong and the notice is invalid. The checker below works out the earliest date you can lawfully use and tells you which rule is holding it back. Free, no signup.
When can the new rent actually start?
Three separate rules bind the start date at the same time, and a date that breaks any one of them makes the notice invalid. Fill in the tenancy details and the checker works out the earliest date you can lawfully use — and tells you which rule is holding it back.
Leave blank if the rent has never been increased.
Enter the service date and the date the tenancy began to see the earliest lawful start date.
Change
+5.6 %
Difference per month
+£50.00
Over a year
£10,800.00 → £11,400.00
Covering letter to send with Form 4A
Form 4A is the legal notice and you must serve it. This letter goes with it, in plain English, so the tenant understands what is happening and what their options are.
Dear Tenant, Re: proposed new rent — [property address] I am writing to let you know that I am proposing a new rent for the property, and to explain what happens next. Enclosed with this letter is Form 4A (Landlord's notice proposing a new rent for assured tenancies in the private rented sector), which is the notice required by section 13(2) of the Housing Act 1988. The formal notice is the enclosed Form 4A — this letter is only a covering note and does not replace it. Current rent: £900.00 per month Proposed rent: £950.00 per month New rent starts: [date from the checker above] If you agree with the proposed rent, you do not need to do anything. The new rent will start on the date above, and I will confirm the new payment amount before then. If you do not agree, you must act before that date. You can either agree a different figure or a later date with me in writing, or apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a determination of the market rent. The tribunal must receive your application before the start date shown above. You will not be required to pay more than the rent I have proposed, and you do not have to pay the new amount until the tribunal has decided. If you have any questions, or you are worried about being able to pay, please contact me — I would much rather talk it through early. Yours sincerely, [Your name] [Contact details] [Date]
Nothing you type here leaves your browser. This tool checks dates and drafts a letter — it is not the notice itself, and it is not legal advice.
What changed on 1 May 2026
Form 4 is no longer the private landlord’s form. The notice for an assured tenancy in the private rented sector is now Form 4A, headed “Landlord’s notice proposing a new rent for assured tenancies in the private rented sector” and marked for use in England only. Form 4 has not been abolished — it became the social rented sector form. That distinction is the single most likely thing to be wrong in a template you find elsewhere, because nearly all of them were written while Form 4 was the private-sector form.
The notice period is a flat two months. Form 4A puts it plainly: the notice must be served on the tenant at least two months before the new rent can start. Before the reform the minimum tracked the tenancy period, so a monthly tenancy needed only a month’s notice. If your habit is “a month should do it”, that habit now produces an invalid notice.
Section 13 applies even when the tenant has agreed. The government’s landlord guidance says you need to follow the section 13 process every time you increase the rent, even if you have already agreed the increase with your tenants. For a small landlord who has always settled the annual increase over a cup of tea, this is the change most likely to bite. And an increase agreed before 1 May 2026 that takes effect after it does not apply — it has to be proposed again on Form 4A.
Fixed terms are gone, so there is no rent-review clause to fall back on. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 made all assured tenancies periodic (a new section 4A of the Housing Act 1988) and abolished assured shorthold tenancies outright. Section 13 is the route.
The three start-date requirements
These are set out in section 13(2) of the Housing Act 1988, as amended by the Regulatory Reform (Assured Periodic Tenancies) (Rent Increases) Order 2003 and the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, and are restated in Note A of Form 4A itself. All three bind at once.
- Two months. In all cases the notice must be served at least two months before the new rent can start.
- 52 weeks — sometimes 53. The first increase cannot start until 52 weeks have passed since the tenancy began, and any further increase must normally be at least 52 weeks after the previous one. But the new rent date cannot fall more than 6 days before the anniversary of the first increase given after 11 February 2003 — if it would, you wait an extra week, making 53. This exists because 52 weeks is slightly shorter than a calendar year, so unadjusted dates creep earlier every year.
- The beginning of a tenancy period. The new rent must start at the start of a period. If a monthly tenancy began on the 20th of April, the new rent must start on the 20th day of the month. If a weekly tenancy began on a Monday, it must begin on a Monday.
Official source: Assured tenancy forms for privately rented properties from 1 May 2026 (GOV.UK) — download Form 4A there. See also GOV.UK guidance on rent increases for landlords and section 13 of the Housing Act 1988.
If the tenant challenges it
The tenant can refer the proposed rent to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), which decides what rent could reasonably be expected if the property were let on the open market on the same terms. The tribunal must receive the application before the start date given in the notice, and it can take the condition of the property into account.
Two things landlords should know. The tribunal’s figure might be higher or lower than the one you proposed, but the tenant cannot be required to pay more than the rent you first proposed — so there is no upside to the tribunal for you, only a ceiling. And the tenant does not have to pay the new amount until the tribunal has decided, so a referral delays the increase as well as capping it. That is a good reason to propose a defensible, evidenced figure rather than an optimistic one.
England only
Everything on this page is England. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 applies to England, and Form 4A is marked for use in England only. Wales has its own system of occupation contracts under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, Scotland uses private residential tenancies with a different rent-increase procedure, and Northern Ireland is different again. If your property is not in England, none of the forms or deadlines here apply.
Questions
Is it still Form 4 for a rent increase?
Not for a private landlord. From 1 May 2026 the notice for an assured tenancy in the private rented sector is Form 4A — “Landlord’s notice proposing a new rent for assured tenancies in the private rented sector”. Form 4 still exists, but it is now the social rented sector form. Using the wrong one is a real risk, because most templates and guides online were written when Form 4 was the private-sector form and have not been updated.
How much notice do I have to give for a rent increase?
At least two months before the new rent starts, in all cases. Form 4A states this as the first of the three requirements. This is a change worth noting: previously the minimum notice tracked the length of the tenancy period, so a monthly tenancy needed only one month. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 replaced that with a flat two months, so a notice period that was valid before 1 May 2026 may be too short now.
Do I still need to serve a section 13 notice if my tenant already agreed to the increase?
Yes. The government’s guidance for landlords is explicit that you need to follow the section 13 process every time you increase the rent, even if you have already agreed the increase with your tenants. This catches out a lot of small landlords with good tenants, where an increase has always been settled by a friendly conversation or an email. Without the Form 4A notice, the increase is not valid however clearly it was agreed.
I agreed an increase before 1 May 2026 that starts later — does it stand?
No. The guidance states that if the increase was agreed before 1 May 2026 but takes effect after 1 May 2026, the increase will not apply. You need to propose it again through the section 13 process using Form 4A. A notice properly given on the old Form 4 before 1 May 2026 is treated differently — the notice period and increase stated in it still apply even if the new rent starts after that date.
How often can I increase the rent?
Once a year, and not at all during the first year of the tenancy. In the statute this is measured as 52 weeks: the first increase cannot start until 52 weeks have passed since the tenancy began, and any further increase must be at least 52 weeks after the previous one. There is one wrinkle — because 52 weeks is slightly shorter than a calendar year, the date would otherwise drift earlier each year, so if the new date would fall more than 6 days before the established anniversary you must wait 53 weeks instead.
When exactly can the new rent start?
The start date has to satisfy three requirements at once: at least two months after you serve the notice, at least 52 weeks after the tenancy began or after the last increase, and it must fall at the beginning of a tenancy period. That last one is the most-missed: if a monthly tenancy started on the 20th, the new rent has to start on the 20th of a month; if a weekly tenancy started on a Monday, it has to start on a Monday. The checker on this page works all three out together.
What happens if my tenant challenges the increase at the tribunal?
The tenant can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a determination of the market rent, and the tribunal must receive the application before the start date given in the notice. The tribunal decides what rent could reasonably be expected on the open market on the same terms, and that figure might be higher or lower than the one you proposed. Two points matter for landlords: the tenant will not be required to pay more than the rent you first proposed, and they do not have to pay the new amount until the tribunal has decided.
Does any of this apply in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. Assured tenancies and the section 13 procedure described here are England only, and the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 applies to England. Wales runs a separate system of occupation contracts under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016; Scotland uses private residential tenancies with their own rent-increase procedure; Northern Ireland is different again. Do not use Form 4A or this checker outside England.
Keep the rent record straight all year
A section 13 notice is only as good as the dates behind it — when the tenancy started, when you last increased the rent, what was actually paid and when. LandlordHub keeps that in one place for small portfolios, with a tenant portal and rent tracking, so the next increase is a two-minute job rather than an archaeology project.
Try it freeStill working from an old tenancy agreement? Assured shortholds were abolished on the same date — see what replaced the AST and the written statement you now have to give. More free tools for landlords in England: the UK toolbox · all countries on the tools hub.