How to Increase Rent Under the Renters' Rights Act: Form 4A Explained

Update 2026-04-16: GOV.UK has now published a watermarked preview of Form 4A (as of 20 March 2026) on the assured-tenancy-forms-for-privately-rented-properties-from-1-may-2026 page. The preview is for familiarisation only and cannot yet be used to serve a rent increase — the usable versions publish on 1 May 2026 (Phase 1 commencement). Use Form 4 until then.

Q: Where do I download Form 4A?

Form 4A is the prescribed notice for rent increases under RRA 2025 s.6 (amending HA 1988 s.13) from 1 May 2026. The usable form publishes on GOV.UK's assured-tenancy-forms page on 1 May 2026. A watermarked preview is already available on the same page. Until the usable version publishes, serve rent-increase notices on the existing Form 4 for tenancies with an effective date before 1 May 2026. You can also grab our free Form 4A starting-wording template (Word format, no signup) to draft alongside the official GOV.UK publication.

Q: Is there a Word version of Form 4A?

The government usually publishes prescribed forms as PDFs; Word versions are not guaranteed. For an editable draft, use our free Form 4A Word template (starting wording aligned with the Section 13 statutory requirements — verify against the final GOV.UK form before serving), or complete GOV.UK's PDF with a PDF editor. You can also use the RentersActReady Rent Increase Calculator to compute the key fields (earliest valid notice date, earliest effective date, 12-month minimum) and paste them into the published form when it goes live.

Q: When must I serve Form 4A?

At least 2 months before the effective date, and no more than once every 12 months. The tenancy must be at least 12 months old. The Rent Increase Calculator works both dates out from the tenancy start or last increase date.

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From 1 May 2026, the only way to increase rent on any assured tenancy in England is the Section 13 process using Form 4A. Informal agreements, rent review clauses, and fixed-term renewal increases all become invalid. If you're a landlord or letting agent, here's exactly how the new process works and what you need to prepare.

What is Form 4A?

Form 4A is the new prescribed notice form for rent increases under Section 13 of the Housing Act 1988, as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. It replaces the current Form 4.

What changes on 1 May 2026

Rule	Before 1 May 2026	From 1 May 2026
Prescribed form	Form 4	Form 4A
Minimum notice period	1 month (monthly tenancy)	2 months (all tenancies)
Frequency	Once per year for periodic tenancies	Once per year (all tenancies are now periodic)
Rent review clauses	Valid if in the tenancy agreement	Invalid — cannot be used to increase rent
CPI/RPI indexation clauses	Valid if agreed	Void — automatic increases based on any index are prohibited
Informal agreements	Technically possible	Not permitted — only Form 4A counts

The change from 1 month to 2 months' notice is significant. If a tenancy started on 1 May 2026, the earliest you could increase the rent is 1 May 2027 (12-month minimum), and you'd need to serve the Form 4A by 1 March 2027 at the latest (2 months' notice).

The Form 4A process only applies to statutory periodic tenancies — every existing AST converts on 1 May 2026. See AST-to-periodic conversion on 1 May 2026 for the full rules. For the broader phasing (including Phase 2 and 3 expected dates), see when the Renters' Rights Act comes into effect.

The step-by-step Section 13 process under the RRA

Step 1: Check eligibility

Before serving a Form 4A, verify:

• 12-month minimum: At least 52 weeks must have passed since the tenancy began or since the last Section 13 rent increase — whichever is later
• No recent increase: The rent has not been increased by Section 13 in the previous 12 months
• Notice validity: The notice must be in the prescribed Form 4A, correctly served, with the right dates and amounts. A tenant can challenge the notice's validity at the First-tier Tribunal via the new HA 1988 s.13B (inserted by RRA 2025 s.6). Separately, a tenant can refer the proposed rent to the tribunal on market-rent grounds under HA 1988 s.14/s.14ZA
• Compliance gaps do not block a Form 4A at the tribunal — but they bite elsewhere. The Deregulation Act 2015 ss.33–38 "prerequisite" regime (Gas Safety, EICR, deposit protection, Written Statement) applied only to s.21 notices and is in any event repealed by RRA 2025 Sch 2 para 73 (verbatim: "In the Deregulation Act 2015 … omit sections 33 to 41"). The tribunal cannot refuse a Form 4A rent increase on those grounds. Compliance failures still expose you to civil penalties, a possession-order bar where a deposit is unprotected (HA 2004 s.215), and council enforcement — so the readiness check still matters

Step 2: Determine the new rent

The rent you propose must reflect market rent for the property in its current condition. The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) will assess this if the tenant challenges, and they'll compare your proposed rent to similar properties in the same area.

Factors the tribunal considers:

• Comparable rents for similar properties in the locality
• The condition of the property (including any improvements the tenant has made — these are disregarded)
• The terms of the tenancy
• The age, character, and locality of the property

Practical tip: Before proposing a rent increase, check current asking rents for comparable properties on major listing portals. Keep screenshots as evidence in case of a tribunal challenge.

Form 4A sets the process — for the substantive test ("is this actually a fair figure?") see what counts as a fair rent increase under the RRA.

Step 3: Serve Form 4A

Once Form 4A is available on GOV.UK, complete it with:

• The current rent amount
• The proposed new rent amount
• The date the new rent takes effect (at least 2 months from the date of service)
• Your name and address (or your agent's details)

Serve it on the tenant. Keep a copy and proof of service (recorded delivery, or a signed acknowledgement).

Step 4: Wait for the tenant's response

The tenant has three options:

1. Accept — they pay the new rent from the specified date
2. Negotiate — you can agree a lower amount than proposed (Section 13(4)(b) of the Housing Act 1988, as amended). This agreed amount becomes the new rent.
3. Challenge at the First-tier Tribunal — the tenant can refer your notice to the FTT before the increase takes effect

Step 5: If the tenant challenges at tribunal

The FTT determines the market rent for the property. The outcome can be:

• The proposed rent is confirmed — the tenant pays the new amount
• The rent is reduced — if the FTT finds the proposed rent exceeds market rate, they set a lower amount
• The increase is delayed — the FTT can delay the start date by up to 2 months in cases of undue hardship

The tenant risks nothing by challenging. Under the RRA, the tribunal cannot set a rent higher than the amount the landlord proposed. This is a deliberate change to encourage tenants to challenge — previously, the tribunal could set a higher rent than proposed, which deterred challenges.

What happens to existing rent review clauses?

Any pre-authorised rent review clause in an existing tenancy agreement — whether it references CPI, RPI, a fixed percentage, or a formula — is of no effect from 1 May 2026. The statutory phrase lives in new HA 1988 s.13(4A) (inserted by RRA 2025 s.6(7)): "any provision of [the tenancy] … is of no effect so far as it provides that the rent for a particular period of the tenancy must or may be greater than the rent for the previous period otherwise than by virtue of a notice, determination or agreement". The clause remains in the agreement text, but it cannot operate to raise the rent.

This means:

• You cannot increase rent based on an agreed formula, even if the tenant signed the clause
• Any rent increase agreed under a rent review clause before 1 May 2026 that takes effect after 1 May 2026 is not permitted (per government transition guidance)
• You must use the Section 13 / Form 4A process (or a s.13(4)(b) agreement that follows a valid s.13 notice, or a s.14 tribunal determination followed by a downward agreement) for all future rent increases

Note — what is preserved. New HA 1988 s.13(4B) (also inserted by RRA 2025 s.6(7)) expressly preserves the parties' general right to vary other terms (including by mutual rent reductions or non-rent-term changes) by agreement. Rent increases by pre-authorised escalation are what is disapplied; consensual variation remains available. Contemporaneous mutual upward variation by genuine agreement is a narrow grey area — take solicitor advice on the specific fact pattern if you are relying on it.

If you have a rent review date coming up between now and 1 May 2026, serve the increase under the current Form 4 before 1 May 2026 to lock it in. If the increase takes effect before 1 May 2026, it stands.

How this affects your cash flow

The new rules create predictable constraints on rental income increases:

• Year 1: No increase possible. You set the asking rent at the tenancy start.
• Year 2 onwards: One increase per year, with 2 months' notice.
• Tribunal risk: Every increase can be challenged, and the tenant has no downside to challenging. Budget for the possibility that increases are delayed by 2-4 months.

If you manage multiple properties, stagger your tenancy start dates so rent reviews don't all cluster in the same month. This smooths your cash flow and spreads your administrative workload.

What to prepare now

1. Set up a rent review calendar. For every tenancy, record: start date, current rent, date of last increase, and earliest date for next increase (start date + 12 months or last increase + 12 months).
2. Gather comparable evidence. Start collecting screenshots of asking rents for similar properties in your area. This is your defence if a tenant challenges at tribunal.
3. Update your processes. Remove any automatic rent review clauses from your standard tenancy agreement templates. Replace with a simple statement that rent will be reviewed in accordance with Section 13 of the Housing Act 1988.
4. Consider your pricing strategy. Since increases are limited to once per year and can be challenged, your initial asking rent matters more than ever. Price accurately at the start — you can't easily correct a below-market rent for 12 months.

For help calculating your next valid rent increase date and notice requirements, try the free Rent Increase Calculator. Looking for where to download the form itself? See Form 4A template download: where to get it.

For the full list of compliance requirements across all Phase 1 areas, see the landlord compliance checklist. For all Phase 1, 2, and 3 deadlines, see the key dates timeline or use the RRA Deadline Tracker.

This guide applies to assured tenancies in England only. It does not constitute legal advice. For specific questions about rent increases or tribunal proceedings, consult a solicitor or the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).

Information is current as of the date shown above. We will update this guide when Form 4A is published on GOV.UK.