By the end of this guide you will have taken one tenancy through a complete rent review in MarketRent: evidence built, landlord instructed, Section 13 notice served where needed, and the agreed rent applied.

Every rent review in MarketRent runs through the same eight steps. The Next Steps tab keeps each one on track: it separates the steps that block progress from optional suggestions, and links straight to where each is completed. The order matters because the law leaves no informal route. Since 1 May 2026, rent on a private assured tenancy in England can only be increased through a Section 13 notice served on prescribed Form 4A.[1][2][3] The statutory rules are covered in our complete guide to rent reviews. This guide covers running one review in the platform, end to end.

  1. Open the review

    In the Rent Reviews tab, find the property by address search or postcode filter. Reviews whose next review date has passed surface automatically under Rent reviews due, so your queue is already built for you.

  2. Check the tenancy and property details

    Confirm the current rent, the rent and tenancy dates, the tenancy type, and the property features. These drive the statutory date checks and the like-for-like comparison later, so fix any gaps now. The Next Steps tab shows exactly what is missing.

  3. Add the landlord and tenant records

    Add every landlord and every tenant to the review, each person as their own entry. A joint tenancy with Jane Sample and Robert Sample needs two records, not one. Every tenant is named on the drafted Section 13 notice and emailed individually.

  4. Build the evidence pack

    Add comparables, rent indexation, and the EPC before you propose, because the evidence pack locks once you do. Where comparables come from covers the five sources MarketRent draws on.

  5. Send the proposal to the landlord

    Propose a rent, or ask the landlord for instructions. They receive an email with a secure link to review the figure and the evidence behind it.

  6. Record the landlord's instruction

    The landlord can accept, counter, decline, hold the review with a reminder, or close it, or you can act on their behalf. Their instruction sets your negotiating room: Settle to instructed rent fixes the figure, while Allow settlement to amount lets you agree with the tenant up to a set limit.

  7. Serve the Section 13 notice

    If the rent is changing, enter the new rent and its start date. MarketRent enforces the statutory date constraints and blocks invalid dates: at least two months' notice, at least 52 weeks since the tenancy began or the last increase took effect (53 weeks in some years, under the anti-drift rule), and a start date at the beginning of a rent period, so a monthly tenancy that began on the 20th increases on a 20th.[4][5] The statutory checklist is covered in how to serve a Section 13 notice.

  8. Complete the review and apply the new rent

    Once the outcome is agreed, apply the new rent to complete the review. It moves to awaiting next review and resurfaces automatically the following year, based on your review offset.

Three checks before anything goes out

  • Preview what the other side sees. Demo links show the landlord and tenant views at every stage, so open them before you send.
  • Sent documents cannot be edited. A re-issue creates a new document instead. That is the audit trail working as intended.
  • The Section 13 notice pulls your agency details from your company address settings, so complete those in Settings before your first review.

Go deeper

For the rules behind the process, read the complete guide to rent reviews. And for a quick indexed reference point on any property, try the Free Rent Indexation Tool.

Next in the setup path: How to serve a Section 13 notice (Form 4A).

This article is general information for letting agents in England, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. Guide to the Renters' Rights Act (MHCLG, gov.uk)
  2. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/421)
  3. Assured tenancy forms (gov.uk)
  4. Housing Act 1988, section 13 (as amended)
  5. Form 4A: landlord's notice proposing a new rent for assured tenancies in the private rented sector (GOV.UK)