How much of a Section 13 rent increase will a tribunal approve

The short answer

In most published cases, landlords get all of it. Property lawyer David Smith reviewed 25 published decisions covering notices served since the new Renters’ Rights Act regime began. Half of the 24 cases in which a rent was determined gave landlords the full increase they requested, and the median award was 92.4% of the proposed uplift. The other half shows the risk. Six landlords received 25% or less of what they sought, and two secured no increase above the existing rent. Smith’s own summary: “There is not much middle ground.”

Why the new rules change the maths

Since 1 May 2026 the only way landlords can increase rent on an assured periodic tenancy in England runs through the Section 13 process and Form 4A. Rent review clauses became void on the same date. A tenant who disagrees pays a £47 application fee, with no hearing fee. Two rules decide the economics. The tribunal cannot set a rent above the landlord’s proposed figure, and the determined rent takes effect from the rent period after the decision. The tribunal can also go below the current rent. In one London case, a tenant paid £2 066 and the landlord asked for £2,475. The tribunal determined the rent at £1,950.

What separated full awards from small ones

Evidence decided most outcomes. Only two landlords produced achieved-rent evidence, and both received the figure in their notices. Ten provided no comparable rent evidence or little more than a general assertion about the market. Most of the rest relied on advertised listings, often without naming the portal. The Skylark Point case in London shows the pattern. The landlord proposed raising a two-bedroom flat from £3,102.82 to £3,180 a month. The tenants offered four advertised listings between £2,995 and £3,110. The landlord supplied nine recently agreed tenancies in the same development, between £3,205 and £3,292.60.

The tribunal preferred rents tenants had actually agreed to pay and confirmed £3,180. Note where the landlord pitched the ask. 0.8% below the lowest achieved comparable. Size of rise mattered too. The 4 cases with proposed rises above 10% produced results ranging from full acceptance to substantial reductions. Procedure caught others out. The tribunal struck out a Sheffield case where a notice served on 5 July set the new rent from 1 August, short of two months.

What an inflated notice costs: a worked example

Take a two-bedroom flat let at £1,200 a month. Three dated agreed lets nearby put market rent at £1,290, a 7.5% rise. Landlord A serves £1,290 with that evidence. Landlord B serves £1,400, a 16.7% rise, backed by portal adverts. If the tenant accepts, B earns £110 a month more than A, or £1,320 a year. If the tenant challenges, B gains nothing from the higher figure, because the tribunal sets open market rent at most. Weak evidence also puts B at risk of a low award. Assume the decision takes four months and B receives 25% of the uplift, £50 a month. B collects £400 in the first year. A, with strong evidence, most likely gets the full £90 and collects £720. A keeps £480 a year more from then on. And at £47, a challenge costs the tenant less than one month of B’s proposed rise.

What changes next

The government plans to move rent challenges from the First-tier Tribunal to HMRC’s Valuation Office, with the same rules for landlords and tenants. No date exists yet, and tenants must use the tribunal until the switch. Advisers expect the new body to lean even harder on paperwork, so landlords should build a file when they set the figure. The early data also carries a caveat. Smith calls the sample small and expects September and October decisions to add cases from notices served later in the summer. Tenants also test the hardship route, which has recieved little success so far: fourteen claimed undue hardship, and only two secured a postponement.

A Section 13 checklist

Price the notice at or just under your lowest achieved comparable. Collect three to five dated agreed lets with address, size, letting date and rent. Keep dated photos, the inventory and repair invoices, since these help show whether a comparable genuinely matches your property. Count two full months to a rent day before you date the new rent. Keep the rise under 10% unless your evidence clearly supports more. And talk to the tenant before you serve notice, because a challenge costs them £47 and costs you months of the increase.

Where Torquity fits

The cases point to one skill: knowing what similar homes actually let for. Torquity estimates rent from comparable lettings with a confidence range, so a landlord can see where a proposed figure sits before serving notice. For new purchases, we underwrite at the lower end of that range, since Section 13 now caps how fast a weak starting rent can catch up

How we wrote this

Liza Herman, marketing specialist of Torquity, wrote this analysis with AI assistance in drafting. It draws on David Smith’s review of 25 tribunal decisions as reported by Property118 on 16 September 2026, the TDS analysis of the Skylark Point decision published by the NRLA on 19 October 2026, and the published Skylark Point panel decision on GOV.UK. The worked example uses Torquity’s own assumptions and does not constitute legal advice.