Your landlord has died and a rent increase has arrived: what now?

A rent increase is unsettling at the best of times. A rent increase that lands after your landlord has died is something else again. Alongside the usual worry about money, you are suddenly dealing with questions an ordinary Section 13 notice never raises: who is even sending this, who should I be paying, and is this notice actually valid when the person who used to be my landlord is no longer here?

The reassuring news is that the law has clear answers, and they tend to favour the tenant who slows down and checks rather than the one who panics and pays. This walkthrough is for tenants in England on a periodic assured tenancy whose landlord has died and who have received, or expect to receive, a rent increase. It explains what happens to your tenancy, who you pay, who can validly raise the rent, how to check the notice, and what to write.

Your tenancy does not die with your landlord

Start from the most important fact: the death of your landlord does not end your tenancy. It carries on exactly as before. The terms are unchanged, including how much rent you pay and the notice you are entitled to receive. Nobody can force you out simply because the landlord has died, and you do not have to do anything to keep the tenancy alive.

What changes is who occupies the landlord's side of the relationship. The property and the tenancy fall into the landlord's estate, and someone becomes responsible for managing it while the estate is dealt with. That person is the personal representative. Where there is a will, it is usually the executor named in it. Where there is no will, a personal representative has to be appointed through the estate process before anyone can lawfully act as your landlord.

Until that person is identified and has authority, the landlord's side is effectively on hold. Your right to stay, and your existing rent, are not.

Who do you pay in the meantime?

This is the question that causes the most anxiety, and the answer is practical.

If you know who is managing the tenancy, pay them as you normally would. That might be a letting agent who is still acting, or a personal representative who has been in touch to introduce themselves.

If you genuinely do not know who to pay, do not simply stop paying and spend the money. Set it aside, keep it safe, and try to find out who the personal representative is. The reason matters: if there is no will, nobody can lawfully take the rent until a personal representative is appointed, so paying the wrong person is a real risk. Keeping the money ready means you can hand it over to the right person once they are confirmed, and you are not in arrears through no fault of your own.

The short rule: keep paying if you know who to pay, and keep the money safe if you honestly do not.

Who can raise the rent after a death?

Here is where the rent increase comes back into focus. A personal representative who has the authority to act for the estate steps into the landlord's shoes. That includes the power to serve a Section 13 notice to increase the rent on a periodic assured tenancy.

But, and this is the part that protects you, the death gives the estate no extra power. A rent increase served by a personal representative must follow exactly the same rules as one served by a living landlord:

• It must use the correct prescribed form.
• It must give at least the minimum notice period.
• It must respect the once-a-year limit, so the rent cannot be increased more often than the law allows.
• It cannot increase the rent in the first year of the tenancy.
• It must propose a valid start date.

So the estate cannot raise the rent faster, by more, or with less notice just because the original landlord has died. If anything, a notice served after a death deserves closer scrutiny, not less, because you are entitled to be satisfied that the person serving it actually has authority to act as your landlord.

How to check the notice

There are two separate things to check, and a notice has to pass both.

The first is authority. Ask a simple question: who is serving this, and in what capacity? A properly served notice should make clear it comes from the personal representative or executor of the estate. You are entitled to ask them to confirm that authority, for example confirmation that they are the ones dealing with the estate. If a notice arrives from the old landlord's name with no explanation of who is now acting, that is a fair thing to query.

The second is procedure. Even with full authority, the notice still has to meet every ordinary Section 13 requirement listed above: the right form, the right notice period, the once-a-year limit, no first-year increase, and a valid start date. A notice that is defective in form is no more effective because it came from an estate.

A notice that fails on either front, served by someone without authority, or procedurally defective, may not be effective at all.

What if nobody has authority yet?

There is a particular gap worth naming. If the estate has not been sorted out and no personal representative has authority yet, there may be nobody who can lawfully serve a valid rent increase or even take the rent.

In that situation, a Section 13 notice claiming to come from the estate could be premature. Keep your rent money set aside so you can pay the right person once they are identified, and do not feel pressured to accept an increase from someone who cannot show they have the power to act. This is exactly the kind of scenario where a notice can be challenged, so do not assume it is valid just because it looks official.

What to write

Keep it calm and factual. You are not being difficult; you are asking the questions any tenant is entitled to ask. Here is a template you can adapt:

Dear [name or agent],

I understand that [landlord's name] has died. I want to make sure I deal with the tenancy and any rent correctly.

Please confirm who is now responsible for managing the tenancy and in what capacity, for example as personal representative or executor of the estate, and how I should pay my rent going forward.

I have also received a notice dated [date] proposing a rent increase. Please confirm the authority on which this notice has been served, as I would like to be satisfied it has been served by someone with authority to act as my landlord.

In the meantime I will continue to meet my rent obligations and keep any payments ready for the correct recipient.

Yours, [name]

The short version

When your landlord dies, your tenancy and your existing rent carry on unchanged. Pay whoever properly manages the tenancy, and if you do not know who that is, keep the money safe rather than stopping or spending it. A personal representative with authority can serve a Section 13 increase, but it must follow the same form, notice period and once-a-year rules as any other notice. Check both authority and procedure before the deadline, and do not assume a post-death notice is valid.

If you are unsure whether the notice is valid, who served it, or whether the proposed rent is above the market rate, it is worth getting it checked before you decide what to do.