What changed for rent reviews on 1 May 2026?

Since 1 May 2026, a rent review on a private tenancy in England means one thing: a Section 13 notice served on Form 4A, giving at least two months' notice, taking effect no more than once every 52 weeks, and open to challenge at the First-tier Tribunal before it starts.[1][2]

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, and its core tenancy reforms took effect for the private rented sector on 1 May 2026.[3][1] From that date, every private assured tenancy in England is periodic. Fixed terms and assured shorthold tenancies are abolished, and existing tenancies converted automatically.[3][2]

The Act kept section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 and amended it, rather than replacing it. A Section 13 notice is now the only lawful route to a rent increase: government guidance is explicit that rent increases by any other means, such as rent review clauses, are not permitted.[4][2] And with fixed-term renewals gone, there is no renewal moment at which to agree a new rent. The annual Section 13 cycle is now the rent review process for your whole managed book.

Two adjacent rules arrived the same day: you cannot ask for, encourage, or accept offers above the advertised rent, and you cannot require more than one month's rent in advance.[5] All of this applies to England only; Scotland and Wales have separate regimes.[3]

What is a Section 13 notice (Form 4A)?

A Section 13 notice is the statutory notice a landlord, or their letting agent, serves to propose a new rent on a private assured tenancy in England. Since 1 May 2026 it must be served on prescribed Form 4A.[4][6]

Form 4A replaced Form 4 for the private rented sector on 1 May 2026; Form 4 now applies to social tenancies only. The form is free to download on GOV.UK and cannot be substituted with a letter.[6][7]

It asks for more than the old form did: tenant names, landlord details, a dedicated agent section, the current rent and payment frequency, the tenancy start date, the dates of previous increases, the proposed new rent and its start date, and a table of any charges included in the rent. Electronic completion and signature are expressly allowed.[7] We break the form down field by field in What is a Section 13 notice (Form 4A)?

How much notice does a rent increase need?

At least two months from the date the notice is served, double the old one-month minimum, and the new rent must start on the first day of a rent period.[4][7][15] A third test sits alongside those: at least 52 weeks must have passed since the tenancy's first period began, or since the last increase took effect, with a 53-week adjustment that stops review dates drifting earlier each year.[7] The timing rules are covered in depth in How much notice must a landlord give? and How often can a landlord increase rent?

How do you evidence a proposed rent?

The statutory benchmark is the open market rent, so the strongest support is evidence of what similar nearby properties actually let for, alongside official rent-index context and a clear record of your reasoning.[8][9]

If a tenant refers the figure to the tribunal, the tribunal determines the open market rent: what the property might reasonably be expected to let for on the open market by a willing landlord.[8] Government guidance tells challenging tenants to gather evidence from similar nearby properties of similar size, features, and location. The same discipline serves you before a notice ever goes out.[9] Three kinds of support do most of the work:

  • Local comparables. What similar properties near yours actually let for. This speaks most directly to open market rent; see what evidence supports a rent increase.[9]
  • An indexed reference. The ONS Price Index of Private Rents tracks average private rents down to local-authority level, its finest published geography in England. In the 12 months to July 2026, average private rents in England rose 3.8% to £1,451 a month (ONS, August 2026 release; the latest months are provisional).[10] It measures the whole stock of tenancies, not just new lets, so it shows average movement across an area, not the value of an individual property.[11]
  • Condition and history. Form 4A tells tenants the tribunal can consider factors like the condition of the property, so record condition, improvements, and the rent history behind your figure.[7]

Source: ONS, Private rent and house prices, UK (Price Index of Private Rents), 12 months to July 2026 (August 2026 release)

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The Free Rent Indexation Tool turns a postcode, property details, and the current rent into an indexed reference range based on ONS data. No account needed.

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Section 13 notice vs rent review clause: which applies now?

Only the Section 13 route applies. Rent review clauses in private tenancy agreements in England have had no effect since 1 May 2026, including clauses in agreements signed before the Act.[4][2]

Before 1 May 2026 rent could rise several ways: a contractual review clause, a renewal at a higher figure, an informal agreement, or a Section 13 notice.[15] The Act closed every route except the notice. Once one has been served, you and the tenant can agree in writing to vary what it proposed: a rent lower than the figure on the notice, no change at all, or a later start date, never a higher figure. The agreement has to be recorded in writing, or the rent on the notice takes effect regardless.[4] Social housing is the exception: relevant low-cost tenancies sit outside Section 13 for now, with reforms reaching the social sector in 2027.[4][5] There is more on void clauses in Are rent review clauses still legal?

What changedBefore 1 May 2026From 1 May 2026
Route to an increaseSeveral: a review clause, renewal at a higher rent, mutual agreement, or a Section 13 noticeOne: a Section 13 notice on Form 4A. Review clauses have no effect[2][4]
Minimum notice1 month on monthly and weekly tenancies[15]At least 2 months, in every case[4]
FrequencyOnce a year via Section 13, but review clauses could provide otherwiseOnce every 52 weeks, or 53 in some years under the anti-drift rule, and never within the tenancy's first 52 weeks[4][7]
Tribunal powersCould set the rent higher than the landlord proposed[15]Determines the open market rent and cannot go above the notice figure[12]
BackdatingIncreases could be backdated to the notice date[15]Never backdated. The old rent is payable until the decision[12][7]
Challenge deadlineApplication before the start date in the notice; no feeApplication received before the start date; £47 fee, with Help with Fees available[9]

What does an evidence-led rent review process look like?

Validate the dates, serve the prescribed form in a way you can prove, and document every step. The review then ends one of three ways: acceptance, a written agreement, or a tribunal referral.[7][4]

The date tests come first: at least two months from service, at least 52 weeks since the tenancy's first period began or since the last increase took effect, and a start date on the first day of a rent period.[4][7] Then serve Form 4A in a way you can evidence. The form's own guidance: use a service method agreed in the tenancy agreement, or hand it to the tenant, leave it at the tenant's address, or send it by registered post.[7]

Three outcomes follow. The tenant accepts and pays from the start date. Or the parties agree in writing to vary what the notice proposed: a rent lower than the figure on the notice, no change at all, or a later start date, never a higher figure. The agreement has to be recorded in writing, or the rent on the notice takes effect regardless. Or the tenant refers the rent to the First-tier Tribunal, with the application received before the start date and a £47 fee.[7][9] A referral cannot raise the figure above your notice, the old rent stays payable until the decision, the increase is never backdated, and the tribunal can defer it by up to two months for undue hardship.[12][7] Tenants can also refer the starting rent on a new tenancy to the tribunal within its first six months, judged against the same open market rent test.[8] The full challenge route is in What happens if a tenant challenges a rent increase at tribunal?

Why does record keeping matter if a review is challenged?

Because the tribunal record shows weak figures getting cut. In comparable published decisions under the previous rules, tribunals set the rent below the private landlord's notice figure in 75% of cases (MarketRent analysis of 667 published First-tier Tribunal decisions; published decisions are a subset of all applications, and extracted values carry a residual error rate of around 2-3%).[13] Waiting is expensive too: the median gap from application to decision was 124 days (604 cases stating an application date), and decisions landed a median of 89 days after the notice's proposed start date (1,017 cases).[13] Increases are no longer backdated, so under the new rules that delay is income your landlords never recover.[12]

Capacity pressure is real as well: the Property Chamber's total open caseload (across all case types, not rent reviews alone) rose from 5,028 in March 2022 to 11,069 in March 2026, although part of that jump reflects a Ministry of Justice case-management system change.[14] Too few decisions on post-1-May-2026 notices have been published to say how tribunals are treating the new regime yet.[13] The practical lesson stands either way: propose a defensible figure and keep the evidence and the process record behind it.

What should letting agents do next?

Map the review dates across your portfolio, standardise one evidence-led Form 4A process, and keep a complete record of every review from proposal to outcome.

Start with dates. Every tenancy now runs on a 52-week cycle with a minimum two-month lead, so review dates need managing across the whole book; a late notice is a delayed increase, and a delayed increase is rent your landlords never get back.[4][12] Then make evidence routine: comparables, an indexed reference, and condition notes assembled before each notice, not after a challenge arrives.

MarketRent runs this process end to end for letting agents in England. It builds the evidence pack with comparables, PIPR indexation, and EPC data, generates and sends the Section 13 notice, blocks dates that fail the 52-week rule, the rent-period start date, or the notice length, and documents every step from proposal to outcome. For a quick, data-backed starting point, try the Free Rent Indexation Tool, or go deeper with the question-by-question guides below.

Sources

  1. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/421)
  2. Guide to the Renters' Rights Act, GOV.UK (MHCLG)
  3. Renters' Rights Act 2025 (c. 26), legislation.gov.uk
  4. Housing Act 1988, section 13 (as amended), legislation.gov.uk
  5. Implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025: roadmap for reforming the private rented sector, MHCLG
  6. Assured tenancy forms, GOV.UK
  7. Form 4A: landlord's notice proposing a new rent for assured tenancies in the private rented sector, GOV.UK
  8. Housing Act 1988, section 14 (as amended), legislation.gov.uk
  9. Apply for an open market rent determination, GOV.UK
  10. Private rent and house prices, UK (Price Index of Private Rents), ONS, August 2026 release
  11. Price Index of Private Rents: quality and methodology information, ONS
  12. Renters' Rights Act 2025, section 7 (challenging amount or increase of rent), legislation.gov.uk
  13. MarketRent analysis of published First-tier Tribunal rent decisions (GOV.UK residential property tribunal decisions corpus)
  14. Tribunal Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026, Ministry of Justice
  15. Challenging a rent increase: the rules and what's changing, Shelter professional resources

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