A rent increase from start to finish

A rent increase has six stages. Each one has a date that the next depends on, so it pays to see them together before you start.

Who this is for: letting agencies and landlords.

Rent reviews: each proposal with its risk and approval.

A served notice with its service record.

What you are deciding

What rent to propose, when it should start, and how the notice will be served.

Your options

• Propose a figure your own lettings support. The tribunal cannot set a rent higher than the one proposed, and in 60% of published decisions it set a lower one. A careful figure matters more than an ambitious one.
• Choose a start date with room to spare. The new rent cannot start until at least two months after the notice is served, on the first day of a rent period, and at least 52 weeks after the tenancy began or the last increase took effect.
• Serve by hand or courier. The day it is handed over, once recorded, is the day it counts as served.
• Serve by post. It counts as served on the second working day after posting. Weekends and bank holidays are not counted.

The six stages

1. Market evidence. Set the figure against your own recent lettings. See Using tribunal decisions to sense-check a proposed rent.
2. Propose. Start a rent review with the figure and the start date.
3. Landlord approval. Where the agreement asks for it, the landlord approves before a notice is generated.
4. Form 4A. Generate the notice from the approved review, check it against the official form and sign it.
5. Serve and record. Serve it yourself and record how it was served.
6. The tenant's reply. The tenant accepts, asks a question or says they are referring it to the tribunal. See What happens if the tenant goes to the tribunal?

A worked example

A tenancy began on Saturday 1 March 2025 at £1,250.00 a month, with rent due on the 1st. The agent proposes £1,325.00, an increase of 6%. The landlord approves on Friday 30 October 2026. Form 4A is posted first class on Monday 2 November 2026 and counts as served on Wednesday 4 November 2026. Two months from service is Monday 4 January 2027, and rent periods begin on the 1st, so the new rent can start no earlier than Monday 1 February 2027. The 52-week check is already met: 52 weeks after the start of the tenancy was Saturday 28 February 2026.

What Abide.Rent does for you

• Checks the start date three ways before the notice can be generated, and says which check a date fails.
• Works out the date a posted notice counts as served, skipping weekends and bank holidays.
• Carries the approved rent from the review into Form 4A, so the two cannot differ.
• Shows the tenant the notice only once service is recorded.

If something goes wrong

• “Generate the notice from an approved review before recording service.”
  What to do: Have the landlord approve, then generate the notice.
• “Form 4A is generated. Sign it before anyone records service.”
  What to do: Open the notice and sign it.
• “Record service of this notice before applying the increase.”
  What to do: Record how and when it was served.

Common mistakes

• Choosing a start date exactly two months after the day you post. A posted notice counts as served two working days later, so the start date moves.
• Picking a start date that is not the first day of a rent period.
• Generating the notice before the landlord has approved the figure.
• Serving the notice and not recording it. The tenant cannot see or answer it until service is recorded.

What to do next

• Start a rent review
• See your rent reviews
• Section 13 rent increase notices (Form 4A)
• Why is my notice date being rejected?