Rent increase notice template for UK landlords: Section 13 notice explained

For a statutory periodic tenancy (the tenure type that now covers almost all private lets in England following the Renters' Rights Act), rent can be increased only once in any twelve-month period. If you increased the rent on 1 March 2025, the earliest your next increase can take effect is 1 March 2026.

The tenant must be given at least two months' written notice before the new rent takes effect. That notice period cannot be shortened by agreement. If you serve the notice on 1 January, the earliest the new rent can start is 1 March.

You must use the official prescribed form: Form 4, known as the 'Section 13 notice' (named after Section 13 of the Housing Act 1988). A letter or text message stating a new rent is not valid unless it meets all the form's requirements. Most landlords find it safer to use the official form directly.

The prescribed form requires: the landlord's name and address, the tenant's name, the full address of the property, the current rent (including the rent period, e.g. monthly), the proposed new rent, and the date from which the new rent is proposed to take effect.

Template wording (adapt as needed): 'I, [Landlord Name], of [Landlord Address], give you notice under Section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 that I intend to increase the rent of the property at [Full Property Address] from [Current Rent] per [period] to [New Rent] per [period] with effect from [date at least two months from date of service].' Sign and date the notice, and serve it by a method that creates evidence of delivery: recorded post, email with read receipt, or hand-delivery with a witness.

Keep a copy of the signed notice and your proof of service. If the tenant later disputes the date, your proof of service is your defence.

Once served with a valid Section 13 notice, the tenant has three choices: accept the increase and pay the new rent from the start date; negotiate a lower amount with you directly (if you agree, put the agreed rent in writing); or refer the notice to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) before the increase takes effect.

Referring to the Tribunal does not prevent the increase automatically, but it does pause it while the Tribunal assesses the open-market rent for the property. The Tribunal can set a rent equal to, higher than, or lower than your proposed figure. In practice, Tribunal referrals are rare: most landlords pitch increases at or below market rate, so tenants rarely have grounds to challenge.

If the tenant simply does not pay the increased amount and does not refer to the Tribunal, you are entitled to recover the difference as rent arrears and to serve notice to seek possession once the arrears threshold is met.

Using the wrong notice period is the most frequent error. Two months is the minimum for a periodic tenancy with a monthly rent period. If your tenancy is weekly, the minimum is four weeks. You cannot serve a notice taking effect in six weeks for a monthly tenancy even if the tenant agrees in advance.

Trying to increase more than once in twelve months renders the second notice void from the outset. Some landlords attempt a mid-year increase by claiming the first was consensual rather than a Section 13 notice. The legislation does not permit this: any agreed variation within twelve months of a previous change still counts against the one-per-year allowance.

Serving a notice that takes effect during the first twelve months of the tenancy is not permitted. If the tenancy started in January 2026, the earliest a Section 13 notice can take effect is January 2027.

Failing to use a fixed-date start is another trap. The notice must state a specific calendar date on which the new rent begins, aligned to the first day of a new rent period (for example, if rent is paid on the 15th of each month, the notice must take effect on a 15th).

Under the Renters' Rights Act, new assured fixed-term tenancies are no longer permitted in England. All assured tenancies are now statutory periodic. However, some legacy fixed-term agreements made before the legislation took effect may still be running.

If a rent-review clause in an existing fixed-term agreement is clearly stated and provides a specific mechanism for increase, you may use it instead of the Section 13 route during the remaining fixed term. Once the fixed term ends and the tenancy becomes periodic, the Section 13 process applies to all future increases.

Whatever the clause says, you cannot increase rent more than once in twelve months and the two-month minimum notice still applies to any rent-review clause that requires notice.