Raising rent without Section 21: the Section 13 route in practice

Under fixed terms, most landlords never used Section 13. The rent went up at renewal, agreed in a conversation, and the statutory route sat unused in the background.

Fixed terms are gone. There is no renewal conversation to attach an increase to, which means the mechanism most English landlords have never operated is now the only one they have.

Here is how the Section 13 route actually works, what the tribunal referral means in practice, and why evidence has quietly become the deciding factor in a process that used to be a negotiation.

Why Section 13 became the default

When every tenancy is periodic, there is no expiry, no renewal and no natural moment to renegotiate. Since 1 May 2026 that describes every assured tenancy in England, as our post on periodic by default sets out.

What is left is the statutory procedure. Section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 lets a landlord propose a new rent for a periodic tenancy by serving the prescribed notice, and it is now the ordinary route rather than the fallback.

For landlords used to agreeing increases informally, this is a genuine change of habit. An informal agreement is still possible, but if the tenant does not agree, the notice is the only mechanism.

How the notice works

You serve the prescribed form proposing a new rent, with a minimum notice period, and the increase takes effect from the date stated unless the tenant refers it to the tribunal.

The rent proposed should be a market rent for the property. Section 13 is not a percentage cap regime, which is the fundamental difference from Ireland: there is no 2 per cent ceiling and no index. The constraint is that the figure must be defensible as market rent, and the test of that is the tribunal.

You can use the route once in any 12 month period.

The tribunal referral, and the asymmetry in it

A tenant who thinks the proposed rent exceeds market rent can refer it to the First-tier Tribunal. The tribunal determines the market rent for the property.

The asymmetry worth understanding: the tribunal can set the rent lower than you proposed, or confirm it, and the process costs you time either way. Referral is therefore a risk that runs in one direction, which is a reason to propose a figure you can evidence rather than an optimistic one you cannot.

In practice, a well evidenced proposal at genuine market rent is rarely worth a tenant’s effort to challenge. An aspirational one invites the challenge and can end below where a realistic figure would have landed.

Evidence without a register

England has nothing equivalent to the RTB Rent Register, so there is no official dataset of registered tenancy rents to cite. Evidence is assembled from the market: comparable advertised and let properties, of similar size, type and condition, in the same area.

That makes documentation a habit rather than a task. Landlords who keep a rolling note of local comparables can propose confidently and defend quickly. Landlords who start looking the week they serve are building a case under time pressure.

The PRS Database, when it arrives, is a register of landlords and properties rather than a rent register, so it will not fill this gap. Our readiness checker covers what it does do.

How different Ireland is

Worth stating plainly for anyone letting in both jurisdictions, because the instinct to apply one regime to the other is strong and wrong.

England: Section 13, once a year, to a market rent, challengeable at tribunal, comparables advisory. Ireland: a hard cap of 2 per cent or CPI whichever is lower, once every 12 months, with a notice that must reach the tenant and the RTB on the same day and carry 3 comparables from an official register drawn from tenancies begun in the last 3 months.

Those are not variations on a theme. They are different systems with different failure modes, and software built for one usually models the other badly. Our rent review software page covers handling both.

How Rentalize handles this

Rentalize generates the Section 13 notice with the correct notice period and keeps the comparables you relied on attached to it, so a tribunal referral months later is answered from the file rather than from memory.

The same system handles the Irish route, which works on entirely different rules, across landlord software and letting agent software.

If you would like to see the notice and its evidence bundle produced together, you can book a 20 minute walkthrough.

Frequently asked questions

How does a landlord raise rent in England now Section 21 is gone?

Through a Section 13 notice proposing a new rent for the periodic tenancy, usable once in any 12 month period, or by agreement with the tenant. With fixed terms abolished there is no renewal moment to attach an increase to.

Is there a cap on rent increases in England?

No percentage cap. The proposed rent should be a market rent, and the constraint is that a tenant may refer it to the First-tier Tribunal, which determines the market rent for the property.

Can the tribunal raise the rent above what I proposed?

No. The tribunal determines the market rent and can set it at or below your proposal. Referral therefore carries risk in one direction for the landlord.

What evidence supports a Section 13 notice?

Comparable properties of similar size, type and condition in the same area. England has no official rent register, so evidence is assembled from the market rather than cited from a database.

Do the same rules apply in Ireland?

No. Ireland caps increases at 2 per cent or CPI, whichever is lower, and requires a notice served on the tenant and the RTB the same day with three comparables from the RTB Rent Register.