Your landlord has withdrawn the rent increase after you applied to the tribunal: what now?

You did the hard part. The rent increase notice arrived, you read it carefully, you decided it was not fair or not valid, and instead of just swallowing it you applied to the First-tier Tribunal to challenge it.

Then the landlord blinks. A message arrives: they are withdrawing the increase, or they are quietly dropping it, or they suddenly want to "have a chat" about leaving things as they are.

It feels like a win, and very often it is one. But a withdrawal raises its own set of practical questions, and getting them right now saves you trouble later. Here is what a withdrawn or abandoned Section 13 actually means once you have referred it to the tribunal, and exactly what to do.

What "withdrawn" actually means

Start with the basic mechanics, because they make everything else make sense.

A Section 13 notice is only a proposal. It does not change your rent by itself. Your rent only goes up if one of three things happens: you accept the increase, the start date on the notice passes without a valid challenge, or the tribunal sets a figure after you have applied.

If the landlord withdraws the notice before any of those things have happened, the proposed increase simply falls away. There is nothing to pay, because there was never an enforceable increase, only a proposal that has now been dropped. Your existing rent continues exactly as before.

That is the heart of it. A withdrawal is not the landlord doing you a favour you owe them for. It is the landlord stepping back from a proposal they were entitled to make and you were entitled to challenge.

Which rent you pay now

In the ordinary case, where the increase had not yet taken legal effect when you applied, the answer is simple: you keep paying your existing rent, the old figure.

So, very plainly:

• You do not start paying the proposed higher figure.
• You do not pay some compromise amount unless you have actively agreed one in writing.
• You pay the old rent, on time, every month, exactly as you did before the notice arrived.

This matters more than it looks. If you start paying the higher figure "just to be safe", you risk handing the landlord an argument later that you accepted a variation of the rent by conduct. Do not do their work for them. The old rent is the rent until something lawful changes it.

The one scenario to check carefully is if the new rent had already taken legal effect before you got your challenge in. That is a different situation, and it is worth getting a careful look at where exactly you stand before you assume the old rent simply resumes.

Tidy up your tribunal application, do not just let it drift

Here is the step people most often miss.

The landlord telling you they are withdrawing is not the same as the tribunal knowing the matter is over. Your application is a live file until someone tells the tribunal otherwise. If you simply go quiet, you may get chased for directions, or for a hearing date, on a case you no longer want to run.

So do it properly, and in this order:

1. Get the withdrawal in writing from the landlord. A text or email is fine, as long as it clearly says the rent increase is withdrawn and the existing rent continues. If they only said it on the phone, write back and confirm it: "Thank you for confirming that the rent increase is withdrawn and that my rent stays at the current figure."
2. Then tell the tribunal in writing. Once you have the landlord's confirmation, write to the tribunal to say the matter is resolved, the increase has been withdrawn, and you do not wish to continue. Ask them to close the file.
3. Keep copies of both. Save the landlord's confirmation and your note to the tribunal together. This is the paper trail that protects you if the landlord later tries to claim the increase is still on foot.

A clean close-out costs you five minutes and removes any ambiguity about what was agreed.

Can they just try again next month?

This is the question that takes the shine off the win, so let us be honest about it.

In most cases, yes, a landlord can serve a fresh Section 13 notice in future, just as they could re-serve a corrected notice after a defective one. Withdrawing this notice does not permanently bar them from proposing an increase later.

But there are real limits, and they work in your favour:

• The roughly once-a-year rule. There is generally a minimum gap of around 52 weeks between Section 13 increases. A landlord cannot withdraw a notice and then fire off a new one a fortnight later to wear you down.
• A new notice starts a new clock. Any fresh notice has to give the proper minimum notice period before it can take effect, and it opens a brand new window for you to challenge it at the tribunal. You are not in a weaker position next time; you start clean.
• The same validity rules apply. A new notice has to be on the right form, with the right dates, the right names, and proper service. Everything you would check on a first notice, you check again on the next one.

So a withdrawal is genuine breathing room, and often a genuine saving for the year. It is just not always the last word. Treat the next notice, if one ever comes, on its own merits.

A withdrawal is not the same as winning at the tribunal

It is worth being clear about what you have, and have not, got.

If the tribunal decides your case, you end up with a binding figure on the record, a determination that fixes the rent. If the landlord withdraws, there is no determination at all. The proposal simply disappears and your old rent carries on.

For most tenants the withdrawal is the better short-term outcome: it costs nothing further, it keeps your existing rent, and it avoids the small risk that comes with any contested hearing. What it does not give you is a ruling that settles the question for good. That is precisely why the written confirmation in the step above matters so much: without a tribunal decision on the record, your protection is the paper trail you keep.

When the landlord says "withdrawn" but acts otherwise

Sometimes the words and the conduct do not match. The landlord says they are dropping the increase, then the next rent demand still shows the higher figure, or the standing-order request does not change.

When that happens, treat the conflict head on and in writing:

"I understand the Section 13 rent increase has been withdrawn. On that basis I am continuing to pay the existing rent of [amount]. Please confirm in writing that no increase applies. If the increase is not withdrawn, please tell me, as I have an active tribunal application."

Then keep paying the old rent. Do not pay the higher figure to keep the peace, for the same reason as before: repeated payment of the higher amount can be argued to be acceptance of a variation. And keep your tribunal application alive until the position is genuinely clear, because that application, or a fresh challenge to any new notice, is your backstop.

The bottom line

A landlord withdrawing the rent increase after you applied to the tribunal is usually a good result, and a sign that standing your ground worked. The increase falls away, you keep paying your existing rent, and you have not had to run a hearing.

Just finish the job properly: get the withdrawal confirmed in writing, tell the tribunal so your file is closed cleanly, and keep the paper. Remember it is not a permanent ban on a future notice, so check the next one carefully if it ever arrives, and never start paying the higher figure on a notice that has been dropped.

If you want a second pair of eyes on the original notice, or on any new one that turns up, that free check is the quickest way to get clear, calm answers about where you actually stand.