How to serve Section 13 notices (quickly and compliantly)

Originally published: 1 July, 2025

Serving a Section 13 notice is one of several ways landlords can raise the rent under the Housing Act of 1988. But when the Renters’ Rights Act becomes effective, that’s going to change.

The shift away from fixed-term and towards periodic tenancies means that Section 13 notices will be the only mechanism landlords can use.

This will increase the pressure on letting agents managing the process for their clients.

However, there are a couple of ways to ensure your team isn’t mired in paperwork and at risk of non-compliance.

In this blog, we’ll reveal what they are and explore the implications of the reforms.

• What is a Section 13 notice?
• How can you serve a Section 13 notice? A step-by-step guide
• How else can landlords currently raise the rent?
• How will Section 13 change under the Renters' Rights Act?
• How can agencies strengthen their Section 13 processes?
• Conclusion
• FAQ

What is a Section 13 notice?

A Section 13 notice is a legal document that notifies tenants in a periodic tenancy of a rent increase. From 1 May, 2026, you may use a Section 13 notice only once per year.

Any rent increases proposed in a Section 13 notice must align with local market rates. Tenants can dispute rent increases through the First-tier Property Tribunal if they think that the increase is unfair.

In Goodlord’s State of the Lettings Industry 2025 report, our data found that 1 in 5 tenants (22%) would always dispute a rent increase, regardless of whether they considered it fair. This clearly illustrates the importance of having a robust Section 13 process.

How can you serve a Section 13 notice? A step-by-step guide

Serving a Section 13 notice is a formal legal process that must be handled carefully. While the mechanics are straightforward, accuracy, timing, and record-keeping are critical, especially under the Renters’ Rights Act.

Mishandling a Section 13 notice will invalidate your claim and cost you thousands of pounds in lost revenue and legal fees.

Here’s a step-by-step overview of how landlords, or letting agents on behalf of landlords, can serve a Section 13 notice.

Step 1: Check that the Section 13 notice can be legally served

Before preparing a notice, confirm that:

• The rent has not been increased in the last 12 months
• The proposed rent increase reflects the local market rate

If these conditions aren’t met, the notice may be invalid from the outset.

Step 2: Fill out Form 4

A Section 13 notice must be served using Form 4, available on the Government website. The form requires the following details:

• Tenant’s name and address
• Landlord/letting agent’s name, correspondence address, and contact number
• New proposed rent and the frequency it’ll be charged (week/month/year)
• Existing rent and the frequency it’s charged (week/month/year)
• The first date when rent increased (unless the tenancy is new)
• Starting date for the new rent increase (must not be earlier than 52 weeks after the date the last time rent increased)
• Current and updated council tax, water, and fixed service charges (if included in the rent)
• Landlord's or agent’s signature
• Date

Note that even minor errors or omissions on the form can invalidate the notice, so accuracy matters.

Step 3: Allow the correct notice period

Always check the original tenancy agreement to confirm the exact date the tenancy began. Getting this wrong can invalidate the notice and delay the rent increase by several months.

Let’s look at a practical example. Suppose your tenant pays rent on the 10th of each month, and you served a Section 13 notice on 15 August.

Under the Renters’ Rights Act, landlords must give at least two months’ notice before a rent increase can take effect. This means the new rent must begin on the earliest rent date that is at least two months after the notice is served. In our example, the earliest lawful start date would be 10 November, not 10 October.

Choosing an earlier date, even if it appears close to the two-month mark, would invalidate the notice. This is why it is essential to check the original tenancy start date and rent due date before serving a Section 13 notice.

Step 4: Serve the notice and keep clear records

Once completed, the notice must be formally served on the tenant(s). Just as importantly, landlords and agents should retain clear records showing:

• When the notice was issued
• Which tenancy it relates to
• The proposed new rent and effective date

This documentation is vital if the tenant later challenges the increase or if the notice is reviewed as part of a wider dispute.

How else can private landlords currently increase rent?

Before 1 May, 2026, landlords can increase the rent in a few ways beyond Section 13 notices. These include:

• Rent review clauses - Landlords can include these in fixed-term contracts so they can raise the rent during the tenancy
• Renewed fixed-term tenancies - Landlords can increase the rent in a new fixed-term contract with the same tenants
• Written agreements - During a tenancy, the landlord and tenant can mutually agree to a rent increase with a written record of that agreement

Each of these avenues gives landlords the flexibility to raise rents at different intervals. In other words, they can respond quickly if their costs rise.

Goodlord's Managing Director of Insurance, Oli Sherlock, and leading property lawyer, David Smith, discuss Section 13 rent increases and a wide range of other Renters' Rights Act topics ☝️

How will Section 13 change under the Renters' Rights Act?

When the Renters’ Rights Act becomes effective, periodic tenancies will replace all fixed-term tenancies. Put simply, this means that landlords will only be able to raise the rent through Section 13 notices.

Previously, landlords only needed to give one month’s notice of a rent increase in a Section 13 notice. Under the new legislation, however, they must provide two months’ notice.

Why is the Government proposing reform to rent increases?

In its Guide to the Renters Rights Act, the Government says its core motivation for proposing these changes is to “prevent unscrupulous landlords [from] using rent increases as a backdoor means of eviction while ensuring rents can be increased to reflect market rates.”

According to Goodlord’s State of the Lettings Industry report, the proposed changes align with tenant sentiment. For example, 57% described their rent increases as “significant,” and 59% of those felt they were “unfair.”

In theory, the Government’s changes help level the playing field between landlords and tenants and simplify the process of raising rents. But some are concerned that increased tenant flexibility could turn the sector into “Airbnb Lite”.

When will the Renters’ Rights Act changes be implemented?

The Renters’ Rights Act will be introduced in phases, rather than taking effect all at once. Changes affecting rent increases will be introduced as part of Phase 1, effective 1 May, 2026.

This phase brings in some of the most significant reforms to the private rented sector, including the abolition of Section 21 “no-fault” evictions, the move away from fixed-term tenancies, and a ban on rental bidding wars.

From this point, Assured Periodic Tenancies (APTs) will replace Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) as the default, and rent increases will no longer be permitted through informal or competitive methods.

How will these changes impact letting agents?

These changes are likely to impact letting agents in a few important ways.

First, more Section 13 notices mean more administrative work for agents. ​​As a result of the new legislation, agents will also need to notify a tenant’s guarantors of the increase, further complicating matters.

Secondly, as landlords can only raise rent on a single date each year, agents need a scalable way to track them. After all, missing these intervals could leave your landlords out of pocket.

Finally, letting agents need to do everything possible to safeguard their landlords against rent appeals. This is because court backlogs are likely to increase exponentially due to the Renters’ Rights Act.

There are also no plans to backdate rent increases, even if the courts deem them fair. Industry experts fear this incentivises tenants to appeal, as it guarantees lower rents for longer. The government has said that they reserve the right to backdate rent increases if the First-tier Tribunal becomes overwhelmed with cases.

These three factors make it essential that your agents are:

• Confident of serving Section 13 notices
• Enabled with the right technology

How do Section 13 notices work with Section 8 notices?

A Section 13 notice doesn’t operate in isolation. It sits alongside other key legal routes landlords use to manage tenancies, particularly Section 8.

While a Section 13 notice is used to change the rent, a Section 8 notice is used to evict a tenant who has breached the tenancy agreement, for example, by falling into rent arrears.

So how do these routes interact in practice? If a Section 13 notice is valid, the tenant is expected to pay the increased amount. If they continue paying the old rent, arrears may begin to build. Once those arrears reach the relevant threshold, you may have grounds to serve a Section 8 notice on ground 8. At that stage, the issue is no longer the rent increase itself, but non-payment of rent.

However, the government has been clear that Section 13 is intended to provide a fair and transparent way to adjust rent, not a pressure tactic to force tenants out. A landlord cannot use an inflated rent increase to deliberately price a tenant out and then rely on the resulting arrears as grounds for eviction. Doing so would undermine the protections being introduced and risk being treated as a backdoor eviction.

How can agencies strengthen their Section 13 processes?

Compliance-first software can help you adapt to the Renters’ Rights Act.

“When we spoke to letting agents, we found that they had a couple of key issues with Section 13 notices. Firstly, they take up a lot of administration time, and secondly, they’re easy to throw out if they’re not compliant,” Goodlord’s Product Lead, Phil Noble says.

To address this, Goodlord created a solution that automates manual tasks and supports agents and landlords to serve compliant Section 13 notices.

Here’s how we can help your agency before, during, and after you serve Section 13 notices:

• Serve Section 13 notices within the Goodlord platform - Maintain clear audit trails to hand in case you encounter challenging situations.
• Automatic Section 13 notifications - Our platform alerts you when tenancies are coming up for renewal, allowing you to serve Section 13 notices punctually and ensure that your landlords aren't out of pocket.
• Protection from tenant rent increase appeals - While tenants won't pay backdated rent even if the courts judge an increase to be fair, we'll pay the difference until a decision is made.

Conclusion

The Renters’ Rights Act fundamentally reshapes how rent increases work in the private rented sector. By removing fixed-term tenancies and informal rent review routes, it turns Section 13 from a backup option into the only lawful mechanism for increasing rent.

For landlords, that means less flexibility and more reliance on a single, tightly regulated process. For letting agents, this means significantly higher administrative burden, greater compliance risk, and far greater consequences when something goes wrong. A missed date, a small error on a form, or a poorly evidenced increase can now cost months of lost income.

At the same time, tenant appeal rates are likely to rise, court backlogs will grow, and the financial risk of getting Section 13 wrong will increase.

This article is intended as a guide only and does not constitute legal advice. For more information, visit gov.uk.

FAQs

Q1 - Can landlords increase rent without a Section 13?

No. Once the Renters’ Rights Act comes into force on 1 May, 2026, all rent increases must be made using a Section 13 notice. Fixed-term renewals, rent review clauses, and informal methods such as bidding wars will no longer be permitted.

Q2 - How often can rent be increased using a Section 13 notice?

Rent can only be increased once every 12 months using a Section 13 notice. This applies even if the tenancy has recently moved from a fixed term to a periodic tenancy. Serving a notice earlier than permitted will automatically invalidate it.

Q3 - Does Section 13 allow landlords to increase rent to any amount?

In theory, yes. Ideally no. Any increase proposed through a Section 13 notice must reflect the local market rate. If a tenant believes the new rent is above market level, they have the right to challenge it in the First-tier Property Tribunal, which will determine the market rent.

Q4 - What evidence do landlords need to justify a rent increase?

While evidence is not submitted with the Section 13 notice itself, landlords should be prepared to justify the proposed rent if it is challenged. This typically includes:

• Comparable local rental listings
• Market appraisals or valuations from letting agents
• Evidence of similar properties achieving the proposed rent

Having this information ready can significantly reduce the risk of a successful tenant appeal.

Q5 - Can a landlord evict a tenant for challenging a rent increase?

No. The government has been clear that rent increases must not be used as a backdoor means of eviction. A tenant has a legal right to challenge a Section 13 rent increase notice. Taking eviction action purely because a tenant exercised that right could be considered retaliatory and unlawful.

Q6 - What is Section 13 Form 4?

Form 4 is the prescribed legal form landlords use to propose a rent increase under a Section 13 notice. Landlords and agents should always ensure they are using the most up-to-date version of the form.

Q7 - What is Section 13 Form 6?

Form 6 is the prescribed form tenants use to challenge a rent increase proposed under a Section 13 notice. The First-tier Tribunal will then assess whether the proposed rent reflects the local market rate and determine the lawful rent.