Guides

What the law allows, what the tribunal actually decides, and what to do about a notice you think is too high. Written from the legislation and from the tribunal’s own published decisions.

• How much can my landlord increase my rent?

  There is no legal maximum. What the law controls is the way an increase is made — and what a tribunal will accept if you ask it to decide instead.

• Is my rent increase notice valid?

  A notice that gets one of these wrong may not bind you at all — and that is a stronger answer than arguing about the market rent, because it does not depend on evidence.

• What is a Section 13 notice?

  Section 13 is the part of the Housing Act 1988 that lets a landlord propose a new rent on an assured periodic tenancy — and the part that lets you refer it to a tribunal.

• The deadline that ends your challenge

  There is one date that matters more than everything else on your notice, and missing it ends the matter regardless of how good your case was.

• Can the tribunal put my rent up?

  This is the question that stops most people applying. Under the Renters’ Rights Act the answer is no — the tribunal cannot set a rent above the one your landlord proposed.

• What makes a rent too high?

  The tribunal is answering one question: what would this property let for now. Knowing what counts towards that answer — and what does not — is most of the work.

• How to fill in the MR1 form

  The MR1 is the application that asks the tribunal to decide your rent. It is long, but most of it is description rather than argument.

• What happens after you apply to the tribunal

  Most cases are decided on the papers without anybody attending anything. Here is the sequence, and how long it really takes.