Your landlord has died and a rent increase has arrived: what now?
When a landlord dies, the tenancy does not die with them. It carries on, and so does the rent. But a rent increase that arrives after a death raises questions an ordinary Section 13 notice does not: who has the authority to serve it, who you should actually be paying, and whether the notice is even valid if the estate has not been sorted out yet. Get this wrong and you could pay the wrong person or accept an increase served by someone with no power to serve it. This walkthrough explains who can validly raise the rent after a landlord dies, who to pay in the meantime, how to check the notice, and what to write. England only, periodic assured tenancies.
Your landlord put the service charge up in the Section 13 notice: can they do that?
Plenty of Section 13 rent increase notices quietly do two jobs at once: they put the rent up, and they put the service charge up. Tenants assume both stand or fall together. They do not. A variable service charge, the kind that changes year to year to reflect actual costs, cannot legally be increased through a Section 13 notice at all. If your landlord has rolled a service charge rise into the rent increase, part of that notice may be unenforceable, and spotting it can change what you actually owe. This walkthrough explains how to tell which kind of service charge you have, what Section 13 can and cannot touch, how to challenge the part that does not belong, and what to write to your landlord. England only, periodic assured tenancies.
Reasonable adjustments and interpreters at a rent tribunal hearing: how to ask and what you can get
If a disability, a health condition, or a language barrier would make a rent tribunal hearing harder for you, the tribunal can adjust how it runs. You have to ask, and ask early, but the support is there: interpreters, documents in larger print or other formats, extra breaks, more time, a different hearing format, or help for a hearing or sight impairment. This walkthrough explains what reasonable adjustments the First-tier Tribunal can make for a rent challenge, how to request them, and how to ask for an interpreter, with a request template. England only, Section 13 rent challenges.
Can the tribunal set my rent higher than the landlord asked? The rule that changed on 1 May 2026
The single biggest reason tenants never challenge a rent increase is the fear it could backfire and leave them paying more than the landlord asked for. Under the old rules that was a real risk. Since 1 May 2026 it is not: the First-tier Tribunal can no longer set your rent above the figure your landlord proposed. This walkthrough explains exactly what changed, why the old deterrent existed, what the worst case is now, and how to check which rule applies to your notice. England only, Section 13 rent challenges.
The landlord served a fresh Section 13 after the first one was defective: what now?
Spotting a defect in a Section 13 rent increase notice is a win, but landlords often respond by simply serving a corrected one. This walkthrough explains whether a landlord can re-serve, what happens to the once-a-year limit and the notice period when they do, how a withdrawn notice differs from a defective one, and what a tenant should check on the second notice. England only, Section 13 rent challenges.
Your rent tribunal hearing is by video: how to join and prepare for a remote CVP hearing
More rent tribunal hearings now happen by video rather than in a hearing room, and the notice you get can be light on detail. This walkthrough explains how a remote First-tier Tribunal hearing works, how to join a CVP or Teams hearing, what to have ready on screen, how to ask for a reasonable adjustment or an in-person hearing, and what to do if your connection drops on the day. England only, Section 13 rent challenges.
A second Form 4A lands while your tribunal challenge is still undecided: the tenant walkthrough (RRA, 2026)
A renter does everything right - spots the procedural problem in a Form 4A, applies to the First-tier Tribunal in time, and waits for a hearing. Then, while that application is still undecided, a second Form 4A arrives. The renter who withdraws the live application because 'there's a new notice now' has thrown away a challenge that was already running. The renter who quietly starts paying the second figure has, by conduct, agreed a rent they never had to. This walkthrough covers why landlords serve a second notice mid-challenge, the 12-month gap rule and how the pending application bears on it, the three-category decision tree, what to do and what not to do, the holding letter to the landlord, and the letter to the tribunal.
The written statement of terms is missing, late, or wrong: the tenant walkthrough (RRA, 2026)
A renter signs for a new flat in May 2026, gets a tenancy agreement and keys, but never gets a separate document headed 'written statement of terms'. That is not a paperwork triviality. From 1 May 2026, section 12 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 makes the written statement of terms a compulsory document the landlord must provide before the tenancy is entered into - and a failure carries a civil penalty of up to GBP 7,000 from the local authority. This walkthrough covers what the statement must contain, the three failure modes (never provided, provided late, provided but wrong), what each one means, the request-letter template, the council complaint route, and how a missing statement interacts with a later rent increase or possession claim.
Rent repayment order when your deposit was never protected: the tenant claim walkthrough (RRA, 2026)
A renter moves out after three years, asks for the deposit back, and discovers the GBP 1,500 they handed over at the start was never protected in any scheme. Most renters think their only route is a small claim for the deposit plus the statutory penalty. But a landlord who failed to protect a deposit has committed a qualifying offence for a rent repayment order - an order from the First-tier Tribunal to repay up to twelve months' rent, sitting alongside the deposit claim, not instead of it. This walkthrough covers which deposit failures qualify, the five-document evidence pack, the two-year time limit for offences on or after 1 May 2026, the beyond-reasonable-doubt standard, the application and bundle, and how an RRO sits next to a small claim.
Section 8 Ground 14 (anti-social behaviour) defence: the tenant evidence walkthrough (RRA, 2026)
Ground 14 is the anti-social behaviour ground for possession. It is discretionary - the judge has to decide it is reasonable to evict before any order is made. That word - reasonable - is the entire defence. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 left Ground 14 unchanged but tightened other grounds, so landlords who would previously have reached for Section 21 are pushing more cases onto Ground 14. This walkthrough covers what Ground 14 says, the proportionality test the judge applies, the seven evidence categories that swing the hearing, the N11A defence form section by section, and the witness-statement skeleton. A suspended order on terms is the realistic and acceptable outcome.