Blog
Expert guides on tenant rights, rent increases, and the Section 13 process in England.
Your landlord's lender has stepped in: who do you pay rent to, and can they put it up?
A letter arrives on letterhead you do not recognise. Your landlord's mortgage lender has appointed a receiver of rent, or the lender is taking possession, and you are told to pay your rent somewhere new. It is unsettling, and it raises real questions. Do you have to pay this new party? Is your tenancy still safe? And if a rent increase turns up from a receiver or a lender, is it even valid? This walkthrough explains who a receiver of rent is, who you should be paying, how a Section 13 rent increase works when a lender is involved, and the steps that protect you from paying the wrong person or accepting an increase you did not have to. England only, periodic assured tenancies.
Your landlord has withdrawn the rent increase after you applied to the tribunal: what now?
You stood your ground, applied to the First-tier Tribunal to challenge the rent increase, and then the landlord blinks: a message arrives saying they are withdrawing the increase, or simply backing off. It feels like a win, and often it is. But a few practical questions matter now. Does your rent go back to the old figure? What happens to your tribunal application, do you have to do anything to close it? And can the landlord just serve a fresh notice next month and start the whole thing again? This walkthrough explains what a withdrawn or abandoned Section 13 actually means once you have referred it, how to lock the position in writing, and how to protect yourself against a quiet re-run. England only, periodic assured tenancies.
Your landlord put the rent up without a Section 13 notice: do you have to pay?
A message lands: the rent is going up next month. No formal notice, no Form 4A, just a text, an email, or a line on your rent statement. Do you have to pay the new figure? On a periodic assured tenancy in England, the answer is usually no. A rent increase you have not agreed to can only be imposed through a valid Section 13 notice on the prescribed form, and an informal demand is not that. This walkthrough explains when an informal increase is unenforceable, the one situation where it does count, what to do the moment the message arrives, and the two-line reply that protects your position. England only, periodic assured tenancies.
Do I pay the old or the new rent while my challenge is at the tribunal?
You have referred your rent increase to the tribunal, and now the most practical question of all hits you: which rent do I actually pay each month while I wait? The old figure or the new one the landlord asked for? Get this wrong and you can drift into technical arrears, or hand over money you may never see again. The answer depends on whether your notice was served before or after 1 May 2026, and the safe method is simpler than most tenants fear. This walkthrough explains exactly which figure to pay, how to protect yourself from arrears, and what to do if you have already paid the new amount by mistake. England only, periodic assured tenancies.
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.