Quick answer
At least two months. A Section 13 rent increase on an assured periodic tenancy in England cannot start until two months after the notice is treated as served. It also cannot start until 52 weeks after the rent last changed. Whichever date is later applies, moved forward to the start of a rent period. The rent can go up at most once every 52 weeks.
The two-month rule
The two months run from deemed service, not from the day you sign the notice.
By hand, the notice is treated as served the same day. By first-class post or by email, treat it, conservatively, as served on the second working day after it goes. Email only counts if the tenant agreed in writing to email service.
The 52-week rule
A new rent cannot start until 52 weeks after the rent last changed. That is the last Section 13 increase, a tribunal-set rent, or the start of the tenancy.
The 52 weeks run from when the last increase took effect. Selling the property does not restart them. Nor does a change of agent.
Then the rent day
Take the later of the two dates. Then move it forward to the start of the next rent period. If the rent is due on the 1st, the new rent starts on a 1st.
A weekend that delays deemed service can push the date past a rent day. That costs a whole month.
A worked example
Rent is due on the 1st. The rent last changed on 1 December 2025. The notice goes in the post on Monday 12 October 2026.
- Deemed service: Wednesday 14 October 2026, the second working day after posting.
- Two months later: 14 December 2026.
- 52 weeks after the last change: 30 November 2026.
- The later date is 14 December 2026. The next rent day is 1 January 2027.
- Earliest new rent: 1 January 2027. The tenant can apply to the tribunal up to 31 December 2026.
Had the rent changed in late January 2026 instead, the 52-week line would have set the date, not the notice.
Run your own dates through the free Section 13 rent increase calculator. It shows which rule is binding.
Notices are not interchangeable
Ground 8, the rent arrears possession ground, uses four weeks’ notice. A Section 13 rent increase needs at least two months. They are different notices with different forms.
Form 4A is the prescribed form for a Section 13 rent increase (SI 2026/354). Abide.Rent uses the current GOV.UK version.
Too early is the expensive mistake
A notice that never took effect can be served again. You lose the two months’ notice — and longer if nobody spots the defect until the tribunal.
And if the tenant does go to the tribunal and it decides after the date on your notice, the new rent starts from the first rent day on or after the decision. There is no backdating.
Notice-period checklist
- Date the rent last changed, from the file, not from memory.
- Rent day.
- Service method, and the tenant’s written consent if you are using email.
- Deemed service date, allowing for weekends and bank holidays.
- Later of the two floors, moved to the rent day.
- Tribunal deadline: the day before the new rent starts.
For the whole rent review — figure, approval, form, service — get the Section 13 rent review playbook.
Where Abide.Rent fits
Abide.Rent keeps proof of service on the property file: how the notice went, when, and when the tenant confirmed. The next allowed date is written back on the property, so it survives a sale or a change of agent.
Notices that failed — and one that survived
| Case | What was wrong | Result |
|---|---|---|
| MAN/00BS/MRA/2026/0001 | Start date neither a rent day nor 52 weeks from the tenancy start; not signed by the joint landlords; no landlord contact details | Struck out |
| MAN/00CG/MRA/2026/0063 | Dated 5 May, received 5 July, for a 1 August start — less than two months | Invalid under s.13B |
| LON/00BH/MRA/2026/0003 | The agent decided its own first notice was invalid and served another mid-case | Rent set below the current rent |
| HAV/00HB/MRA/2026/0010 | Wrong tenancy start date on the form | Survived — a reasonable tenant would understand it |
Count the two months from when the tenant receives the notice, not the date on the form. Check every date against the tenancy before you serve.
Source: Abide.Rent analysis of 846 First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) market-rent decisions published on gov.uk between 1 March and 12 October 2026, 79 of them under the rules in force from 1 May 2026.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Abide.Rent tracks this for every property you manage. Free for a month, no card.
Not legal advice.
More from the blog
Can a tenant challenge a rent increase? The tribunal explainedYes. A tenant can refer a Section 13 increase to the First-tier Tribunal before it starts. What the tribunal can and cannot do, and what the 2026 figures show.
Section 13 notice: how to raise the rent in 2026How a Section 13 rent increase works in England since 1 May 2026: the two-month notice, the 52-week rule, service, and what happens if the tenant goes to the tribunal.
Achieved rents, not asking rents: what wins at the rent tribunalTribunals set the rent from what similar homes actually let for. Asking prices, portal guides and area averages carry little weight. How to gather evidence that holds up — and why the tribunal can still go below today’s rent.