Referring a rent increase to the tribunal

If you think a proposed rent is more than the property would let for, you can ask the First-tier Tribunal to decide.

Who this is for: tenants.

Your answer to the notice: accept or refer.

What you are deciding

Whether to refer the notice, given what the tribunal can do and how long it takes.

Your options

• Refer. The tribunal decides the rent. It cannot set more than your landlord proposed. Its application fee is £47.00, paid to the tribunal.
• The tribunal agrees with the proposal. The proposed rent applies from the date in the notice if the tribunal decides before then; otherwise from the first rent day on or after the decision. It is not backdated.
• The tribunal sets a lower rent. That rent applies from the same date: the date in the notice, or the first rent day on or after the decision if that is later.
• The increase would cause hardship. The tribunal can set a later start date, within two months of its decision.

How to do it

1. Open the notice and choose Refer to the tribunal, then confirm. This records your referral and tells your landlord or agent.
2. Apply on the tribunal's own site and pay its fee. Abide.Rent does not apply for you.
3. Keep the acknowledgement Abide.Rent gives you, and anything the tribunal sends.

A worked example

Nia refers a notice proposing £1,325.00 against her current £1,250.00. She applies on Thursday 19 November 2026. The typical wait for a decision is 82 days, and 84 days in London, so a decision around late February 2027 would not be unusual. If the tribunal set the rent at £1,300.00 on Tuesday 23 February 2027, she would pay £1,250.00 until that day and £1,300.00 from it. The most the tribunal could set is £1,325.00.

What Abide.Rent does for you

• Records your referral with the date and time.
• Keeps the notice on hold and marks it as referred, so your landlord can see it.
• Keeps your copy of the notice and your acknowledgement.

If something goes wrong

• “You have already given your answer to this notice.”
  What to do: Your answer is recorded.
• “Only a named tenant can accept, query or refer”
  What to do: Each named tenant answers from their own portal.
• You want to refer it
  What to do: Apply to the tribunal on its own site and pay its fee there; then record the referral in your portal.

Common mistakes

• Thinking the tribunal might set a higher rent than the notice. It cannot.
• Stopping at the button here. The application is made to the tribunal.
• Paying the proposed rent early by mistake. Your current rent carries on until the decision.

What to do next

• Read your notices and letters
• What the tribunal can and cannot do
• Understanding a rent increase notice and your options