Rent increase tribunal: how to challenge a rent increase

Can I challenge the rent I agreed when I moved in?

Yes, in the first 6 months of the tenancy. If you think the starting rent is more than the home would let for on the open market, you can apply to the same tribunal for £47. It can leave the rent as it is or lower it, not raise it, and any new rent starts no earlier than the date you apply.

Step 1: Check the notice is valid

Before anything else, check the increase is allowed at all. It must be on Form 4A, give you at least two months’ notice, and come at least a year after the tenancy started and a year after any last increase. An invalid notice doesn’t change your rent, so you may not need the tribunal.

How to tell whether a rent increase notice is valid.

Step 2: Decide whether the new rent is above the market rent

The tribunal doesn’t ask whether the increase is fair, affordable or a big jump. It decides what a landlord could expect to get for the home if it were let today on the open market. So the question to answer first is what similar homes nearby rent for. If they rent for about what your landlord is asking, a challenge is unlikely to bring the rent down.

Average rent by postcode gives the official figure for your area and size of home, and the rent increase calculator shows what the increase costs you a month and a year.

Step 3: Apply on form MR1 before the new rent starts

Fill in form MR1, “Apply for a determination of an open market rent”, and email it with the documents on its checklist, including a copy of the Form 4A notice, to marketrents@justice.gov.uk. If you can’t email, post it to the tribunal’s market rents team in Leicester; the address is on the form. Send your landlord a copy of the form and everything with it too. The application must reach the tribunal before the start date in the notice: once that date has passed, the new rent applies and the tribunal can no longer decide it.

Form MR1 and the tribunal’s contact details are on GOV.UK. Apply as early as you can; don’t wait until the week before the start date.

How much does it cost?

The application fee is £47. If you have a low income or little in savings, or get certain benefits, you can apply for Help with Fees to pay less or nothing. The fee is waived for a notice dated before 1 May 2026. You don’t need a solicitor.

Apply for Help with Fees on GOV.UK.

Step 4: Gather your evidence

The most useful evidence is the rent for similar homes nearby: the same size and type, in the same area, let or advertised now. Compare like with like, because bedrooms, condition, furnishings, parking, outdoor space and whether bills are included all move the figure. The home’s condition counts too, so include photos and messages about repairs your landlord hasn’t done.

• Screenshot adverts with the date, rent, address or street, and number of bedrooms. They disappear when the home is let.
• An advert shows what a landlord asked for, not what a tenant agreed to pay. Several adverts, and how long they stayed up, tell the tribunal more than one.
• Photos of disrepair, with dates, and your messages asking for repairs.
• Improvements you made yourself with permission, such as a kitchen or appliances you paid for. They shouldn’t count towards the rent, so say what they are.

Step 5: What happens after you apply

Your landlord has 28 days to send you and the tribunal their response, on form MR2. If they respond, you have 14 days to reply on form MR3, which the tribunal sends you when it contacts you, and you must copy your reply to your landlord. The tribunal then considers everything and contacts you with its decision. It may visit the home first, so it can see its condition for itself.

Will there be a hearing?

Not always. Many rent cases are decided on the papers, from the forms and evidence alone. You or your landlord can ask for a hearing, and the tribunal decides whether one is needed. Hearings are often held by video, and they are less formal than a court.

How long does it take?

Allow several months, and expect three to five from applying to the decision. The forms alone take six weeks if both sides use their full time. After that, a case decided on the papers usually gets its decision within about four to six weeks; a hearing, if there is one, can add more time while a date is found.

What can the tribunal decide?

It sets the open market rent for the home. It can’t set a rent higher than your landlord proposed in the notice, so challenging an increase can’t leave you paying more than you were asked for. It can agree with your landlord’s figure, or set a lower one.

When does the new rent start?

The decided rent starts on the date in the notice or, if the tribunal decides after that date, from the next rent day after its decision. It isn’t backdated. If paying from that date would cause you undue hardship, you can ask the tribunal to delay it by up to two more months.

What do I pay while I wait?

Keep paying your existing rent, in full and on time. Challenging the increase doesn’t pause the tenancy, and stopping or underpaying creates arrears, which your landlord can use as a ground for possession. Keep a record of every payment.

Can my landlord evict me for challenging it?

Not for that reason. Since 1 May 2026 landlords can’t use section 21 no-fault evictions: to end a tenancy they need a legal ground, such as selling or serious arrears, and a court order. If your landlord threatens to evict you because you applied, get advice straight away.

What replaced section 21, and the grounds a landlord needs.

Can I appeal the decision?

Not because you think the figure is wrong. You can appeal if the tribunal got the law wrong, treated you unfairly in how it ran the case, or didn’t properly explain how it reached the rent. First ask the same First-tier Tribunal for permission to appeal, in writing, within 28 days of the date on its decision. Get advice before you do.

Free advice: Shelter or Citizens Advice.

Is it worth challenging?

It is worth it when the rent is clearly above what similar homes nearby let for, and you have the adverts or figures to show it. The risk is low, because the tribunal can’t raise the rent above your landlord’s figure, but it takes time and the £47 fee unless Help with Fees covers it. If the new rent is close to the market rate, compare the cost of staying with the cost of moving instead.

How much rent can I afford? · The money you’d need upfront to move