How much can a landlord increase rent — and how

• Agreement. The tenant agrees the new figure in writing. Cleanest route: record the new rent, the start date and both signatures, and keep it with the tenancy file.
• A rent review clause. Only if the tenancy agreement contains one and you follow it exactly. The Renters' Rights Act removes this route for assured tenancies.
• A statutory section 13 notice. The default route for a periodic assured tenancy, served on prescribed Form 4 in England.

Whichever route you use, do it deliberately. A rent that simply drifts upwards without documentation is the thing that unravels later — usually in an arrears claim, when the true contractual rent has to be proved.

The legal ceiling is not a percentage — it is open market rent for that property, in that condition, in that location. If the tenant refers your notice to the First-tier Tribunal, that is the question the tribunal answers, using comparable local lettings.

So build the increase from evidence: three or four genuinely comparable current listings, allowing for size, condition, furnishing and EPC rating. An increase you can justify with comparables is one you can defend; a round number chosen because costs went up is not.

Weigh the commercial side too. A month's void, re-letting costs and referencing usually outweigh a small increase, and a reliable tenant paying slightly under market is often the better yielding outcome. Model it in the rental yield calculator before you serve.

• One increase in any twelve-month period on the statutory route.
• Historically one month's minimum notice for monthly (or shorter) periodic tenancies, six months for yearly ones; the Renters' Rights Act moves to two months for assured tenancies.
• The new rent must start at the beginning of a rental period.
• Allow deemed service time on top of the minimum — do not serve on the last possible day.

Notice periods are one of the things the Renters' Rights Act changes on commencement, so confirm the rule in force on the day you serve. Our Renters' Rights Act guide tracks the staged changes.

• Use the current prescribed Form 4 for England.
• Name all tenants exactly as they appear on the tenancy agreement.
• State the new rent, and the date from which it applies — the first day of a rental period.
• Check the twelve months since the last increase or the start of the tenancy have elapsed.
• Serve as the tenancy agreement permits, and keep dated proof of service.

A defective notice does not raise the rent. If the tenant later stops paying the difference, the shortfall is not arrears — and any possession claim built on it fails with it.

The tenant can refer the proposed rent to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) before the start date on the notice. The tribunal determines the open market rent, which can land below your figure — and, historically, could land above it.

Take a challenge as a documentation exercise: comparables, photographs of condition, the EPC rating, recent works and improvements, and the tenancy history. Landlords lose these on absence of evidence far more often than on the merits.

• Review annually on a fixed date rather than reacting to cost shocks.
• Tell the tenant informally before the formal notice arrives — it materially reduces disputes.
• Keep the notice, proof of service and the comparables you relied on in the property file.
• Update the rent in your ledger from the correct start date, not the date you remembered.
• Re-check the deposit cap and, separately, that your certificates are in date — see the compliance checklist.