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Tenants can now challenge any Section 13 rent increase. Learn what counts as evidence of open market rent and how to defend it during a section 13 tribunal.
Written by
Ryan Green
PUBLISHED ON
April 28, 2026
UPDATED ON
April 28, 2026
READ TIME
0 min
Until now, a tenant challenging a Section 13 rent increase at the First-tier Tribunal (the housing and property court in England and Wales that decides Section 13 rent disputes) was a relatively rare event. Most tenants accepted the increase, negotiated, or moved out. Tribunal hearings were the exception, not the rule.
That's about to change.
From 1 May 2026, the Renters' Rights Act makes Section 13 the only lawful way to increase rent. As Logan Ransley, co-founder of Landlord Studio, summarised in our recent UK landlord webinar:
"Rent increases are now limited to once a year and any rent review clauses in your existing tenancy agreements become invalid from May 1st 2026. Going forward, all increases follow the same process. You need to serve your tenant a formal notice. It's called a Form 4A, giving at least two months' written notice before the increase kicks in."
At the same time, the Act tilts the playing field toward tenants.
This means the Tribunal can only confirm the rent you proposed (or reduce it) — it cannot increase the rent above the figure in your Section 13 notice, even if it thinks market rent is higher. Because the Tribunal can no longer raise the rent above the amount in your notice, tenants face less downside in challenging, so most legal commentators expect applications to rise sharply.
This guide walks through what actually counts as evidence of open market rent, and how to build a defensible case before you ever serve the notice.
When a tenant challenges a Section 13 notice, the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) doesn't decide whether the increase is "fair" in any subjective sense.
It decides one specific thing: what the open market rent for that property would be if it were let today on a new assured periodic tenancy.
The Tribunal then sets the rent at that figure. From 1 May 2026, two important changes apply to that decision:
Both changes shift risk onto landlords. If you propose £1,400 and the Tribunal decides market rent is £1,500, your rent stays at £1,400. If you propose £1,400 and they decide it's £1,250, you get £1,250 — and you've lost months of the higher rent during the dispute.
As Logan put it directly in the webinar:
"The increase must be no higher than the open market rent. Tenants can actually challenge anything they think is above that at a tribunal."
The implication is straightforward: get the figure right and evidence it properly, the first time.
Tribunals look for evidence that's comparable, current, and credible. Anecdotes and assertions don't carry weight.
What does:
Rightmove, Zoopla, OpenRent and SpareRoom listings for similar properties in the same area, advertised in the same period as your Section 13 notice. The closer the match on bedrooms, condition, location and tenancy length, the stronger the evidence.
Three to five strong comparables are generally more persuasive than ten weak ones.
A written market appraisal from a local letting agent carries real weight, particularly if the agent has lettings under management on similar properties.
Aim for two independent valuations rather than one.
If you (or other landlords you can identify) have let a comparable property in the area in the last 6-12 months, the agreed rent is strong evidence.
Listing prices show what landlords are asking - achieved rents show what tenants are actually paying. Government tribunal guidance specifically notes that evidence from actual agreed lettings is stronger than asking prices.
ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) data shows annual rental growth by region. This won't establish the absolute level of market rent, but it's a useful context for showing your proposed increase is consistent with broader market movement.
Photographs, condition reports, EPC ratings, and details of any improvements you've made (new kitchen, double glazing, etc.) all help justify why your property sits at the higher or lower end of the local range.
This sounds basic, but it's where most landlords trip up. A Tribunal won't accept a printout of a Rightmove search result with no date stamp.
When you save listings as evidence:
Listings get removed from portals once they are let. If you don't capture them at the time you serve the Section 13, they may be gone by the time the Tribunal hearing happens.
The biggest mistake landlords make is treating evidence-gathering as something you do after a tenant challenges. By then, comparables have moved on and the original market context has shifted.
The right approach is to build the evidence file before you serve the Section 13. This also matters for timing - as Logan flagged in the webinar:
"Think about your timing. If you want a rent increase in July, you need to be serving that notice in May. So definitely get ahead of it if you do have those planned."
A simple workflow:
Pull and save 5-8 listings of similar properties in the immediate area. Take dated screenshots of each.
Email is fine - you don't need a formal report. Ask for a market appraisal in writing for a periodic assured tenancy, with a brief justification.
Recent photos, EPC certificate, gas safety certificate, and any improvement records.
This is where digital record-keeping pays off - if a Tribunal hearing happens 6-9 months after you serve the notice, you don't want to be hunting for emails and files. This is where digital tools like Landlord Studio can help.
A simple one-page document listing your proposed rent, the comparable rents you found, the agent valuations, and a brief justification of where your property sits in the local range.
If you do all this and the tenant still challenges, you walk into the Tribunal with a complete, dated, organised file. That alone changes the dynamic.
Tribunals also look at the size and reasonableness of the increase relative to where the rent currently sits.
A jump from £900 to £1,500 (67%) is going to attract scrutiny even if £1,500 is genuinely market rent, because the Tribunal will ask why the rent was so far below market for so long.
Your evidence should address both questions:
The second is often answered by inflation, neglect of historic rent reviews, or below-market starting rents on long-running tenancies.
None of these are weaknesses — they just need to be explained. A property let on a friendly basis at £900 in 2019 isn't unreasonably being moved to £1,400 in 2026 if everything around it now lets at £1,400.
But you need to say that, and evidence it.
If you serve a Form 4A (a Section 13 notice) and the tenant applies to the First-tier Tribunal, you'll receive notice from the Tribunal with a deadline for submitting your evidence. The process is paper-heavy but generally not adversarial.
A few practical tips:
Building a defensible Section 13 case is fundamentally a record-keeping problem.
You need dated comparable evidence, professional valuations, condition records, and a clear paper trail showing when each step happened.
Tools like Landlord Studio let you store rent comparison evidence, agent valuations, photos, EPCs and notices in one place against each tenancy. Notes against each property let you record the rationale for each rent increase.
If a Tribunal hearing comes 6 months after you served the notice, your file is intact and ready to submit.
For landlords with multiple properties, that single audit trail is what turns a stressful Tribunal challenge into a routine paperwork exercise.
This article expands on questions that came up in our recent UK landlord webinar with Logan Ransley on the Renters' Rights Act Phase 1 changes.
To watch the full replay - covering the end of Section 21, fixed-term tenancies, rent in advance bans, pets, and anti-discrimination rules - head to our UK webinars page.
Three to five strong comparables (genuinely similar properties, recent listings, in the same immediate area) is usually more persuasive than ten loose ones. Quality over quantity.
There's no legal "fair" percentage — what matters is whether the new figure reflects open market rent. A 5% increase that brings the rent in line with local comparables is defensible. A 5% increase that takes the rent above local comparables is challengeable. The percentage matters less than the absolute level relative to similar properties locally.
There's no legal cap on how much rent can be increased in a single jump - what matters is whether the new figure reflects open market rent. A 33% increase is large enough that a tenant is very likely to challenge at the Tribunal. The increase will only stand if you can evidence that the new rent matches comparable properties locally. Large jumps are usually a sign that historic rent reviews were missed - which is fine, but needs to be explained and evidenced.
Only if the local market is genuinely comparable. A "neighbouring" postcode that happens to be more or less desirable can hurt your case. Stick to the immediate area unless you can specifically justify why a wider catchment is appropriate.
Not necessarily, but two written letting agent appraisals will significantly strengthen your case. A formal RICS valuation is rarely needed for a residential rent dispute and is usually disproportionate to the amount at stake.
This is common in rural areas or for unusual property types. In these cases, lean more heavily on letting agent valuations, recent let evidence (if you can get it) and ONS regional rental growth data. The Tribunal will accept that perfect comparables aren't always available.
Not after 1st May 2026. The Tribunal can only set the rent at the proposed figure or lower. This is a deliberate change in the Renters' Rights Act and one reason why challenges are expected to increase.
The Tribunal sets a new rent (which will be at or below your proposed figure). You're bound by that decision. The increase takes effect from the date of the Tribunal's decision, not the original Section 13 effective date. There is a limited right of appeal on points of law only.
No. Tribunals can see through inflated proposals and it weakens the credibility of your evidence. Propose what you can genuinely defend with comparables, plus a small reasonable margin if you wish.
The information in this article is general guidance and should not be relied on as legal advice. Section 13 challenges are fact-specific and the post-Renters' Rights Act Tribunal procedure continues to develop.
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