The Renters’ Rights Act has given us greater protections when challenging a rent increase. Landlords can only increase our rent once every 12 months and must use a Section 13 notice.
Before the Act, renters were able to challenge a Section 13 by applying to the First-Tier Tribunal, but landlords didn’t have to serve one. Under the Act, the Tribunal still adjudicates rent challenges, but new protections mean that:
- All legal rent rises can be challenged at the Tribunal
- If the Tribunal determines a higher rent, it will no longer be backdated.
- The Tribunal can no longer set a rent higher than the landlord originally proposed.
- The end of Section 21 evictions may also give renters greater confidence to challenge increases without the fear of a retaliatory eviction.
However, challenging an increase requires renters to complete Form MR1, a 22-page document asking for detailed information about their home, tenancy and proposed rent.
Tenants must pay a £47 application fee unless they receive certain benefits or are on a particularly low income. The evidence they provide helps the Tribunal decide what a reasonable market rent would be.
How easy is it for renters to challenge a rent increase?
We asked our Renters’ Panel to review the new Form MR1 and its accompanying guidance. We wanted to understand how easy it is for renters to complete the form and gather the information it asks for.
Our findings suggest that, while most respondents felt reasonably confident about understanding and completing the form, gathering the necessary evidence was much more difficult. Some renters found the form overwhelming and time-consuming and were unsure what evidence to provide to support their proposed rent. Finding comparable properties posed as another challenge where they found that advertised rents varied widely, and in some areas, there were too few similar rental properties to make a meaningful comparison for the Tribunal.
Read more about our Renters’ Panel’s experiences and our recommendations to government here.
Based on this research, we have put together some practical tips to help you prepare if you’re considering challenging a rent increase.
Tips for challenging a rent increase
If you’re thinking about challenging a rent increase, here are some things to consider when putting together your application.
1. Check whether your rent increase notice is valid
If you have received a Section 13 notice of a rent increase, first check whether your landlord/letting agent has followed the correct process. For a Section 13 notice to be valid, it should:
- Have been given to you with at least two months’ notice.
- Not be given within 52 weeks of the last rent increase
- Start the increase on the correct date
- Include your correct details, such as your name and address
- Be on the correct form and signed by your landlord
If you think the notice you have received is invalid, you can raise this with the Tribunal.
2. Decide whether you want to challenge a rent increase
Rent increases can make rent unaffordable for tenants and put financial pressures on households. The Renters’ Rights Act provides better protections for renters challenging a rent increase, so it is often worth doing as there is a chance you could end up paying a lower rent than your landlord wants. The Tribunal could even reduce your rent, as this renter in Manchester found recently. Use this free tool to help you decide whether to challenge your rent increase at the First-Tier Tribunal.
3. Gather the evidence required to support your application
To start, make sure you have:
- A copy of your tenancy agreement
- The name, address and contact details of your landlord
- A copy of the landlord’s Section 13 notice
- If you’re eligible to get help with the application fee, your help with fees reference number
The Tribunal determines what your property could reasonably be rented for on the open market. Evidence about your home and similar properties can help you explain why you think the proposed rent increase is too high.
For example, you could:
- Compare similar properties: Look for homes in your area with similar features and conditions, and note their advertised rents.
- Document your property: take photographs of each room and the outside of your property. The form asks for your room dimensions as well. If this is an issue, the square meterage of your home is often stated in its EPC certificate.
- Keep records of repair problems: If your landlord has failed to address any issues in your home, keep copies of any correspondence with your landlord or letting agent about repair requests as evidence.
Important: There are some differences between what we might consider as fair justifications for lower rent and the factors that the Tribunal will take into account when determining a property’s market rent.
Reasons that would not in themselves justify a lower market rent:
- Affordability: being unable to afford the proposed rent increase, including for pensioners and people on low incomes.
- Housing benefit limits: the amount you receive in housing support restricting what you can afford to pay.
- Being a good tenant: believing that paying rent reliably and looking after the property should entitle you to a lower rent.
- Length of tenancy: feeling that as a long-standing tenant you should not pay the same rent as someone moving into the property.
Unfortunately, the Tribunal is determining what rent the property would fetch if listed on the open market, rather than what the current tenant can afford to pay, which is why affordability is omitted from being an influencing factor.
That said, you can still ask the tribunal to consider your hardship based on your financial situation, which could delay the start date of the increased rent, and save you some money in the short term.
Reasons that could support a lower market rent:
Factors that are more directly related to the property’s condition and rental value are valid reasons that could support a lower market rent determination.
These include:
- Poor property conditions: disrepair, inadequate maintenance or a home that has not been kept in decent condition by the landlord.
- Lower rents for comparable properties: evidence that similar homes in the local area are advertised at lower prices.
- Outdated interiors: décor or features that have not been modernised for decades.
- The history of failure by the landlord to respond to repairs and maintenance: evidence that a tenant has complained about an issue in their home but not had this sorted by their landlord/letting agent.
- Noise and antisocial behaviour: concerns about the surrounding area that could affect the property’s rental value.
Their relevance to a rent determination ultimately depends on the circumstances and the evidence available, but could see the Tribunal adjust the rent downwards if the landlord would struggle to match the rent achieved on similar properties nearby.
Better protections must work in practice
The Renters’ Rights Act gives tenants greater protection when challenging rent increases. But those rights will only make a meaningful difference if renters can complete the process and feel confident in doing it.
Our research found that the current form and guidance risk making this unnecessarily difficult. The Government should use renters’ experiences to simplify the process, improve accessibility, and provide clearer explanations of the evidence needed.
Read our full analysis and Government recommendations here
Have you recently received a rent rise from your landlord? Read our guidance on what to do here.
If you’d like to get involved in future projects like this, sign up to be part of our Renter’s Panel here
