Blog
Expert guides on tenant rights, rent increases, and the Section 13 process in England.
Subject access request to your landlord or letting agent: the tenant walkthrough for pre-tribunal disclosure (UK GDPR, 2026)
The renter has had a Form 4A rent increase notice. They have decided to challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal. Their bundle is half-written. What they do not have - and what would meaningfully strengthen their case - is the landlord's own paperwork: the internal email where the agent told the landlord the increase was 'punchy but probably worth a try', the rent-comparison spreadsheet, the referencing report. The renter has a free, no-reason-needed legal right to ask for a copy of all of it - a subject access request under Article 15 of the UK GDPR. Five document categories, the letter template, and how the disclosed pack lands in a tribunal bundle as exhibits 5 to 10.
The bidding war ban under the RRA: the tenant walkthrough for rejected-bid evidence and the GBP 7k civil penalty route
A renter walks into a viewing and the agent says, casually, 'we have a few people interested, so we are taking best and final offers by Friday'. The advert listed GBP 1,650. The renter offers GBP 1,650, gets a polite 'sorry, you have been unsuccessful', and watches the property re-appear two weeks later at GBP 1,750. From 1 May 2026 that is a civil penalty case under the new bidding war ban - up to GBP 7,000 per breach via local council Trading Standards. This walkthrough covers what counts as evidence, the three patterns we are seeing, the complaint template, and the parallel routes via redress scheme and PRS Ombudsman.
Right to Rent on the new periodic tenancy: the re-check trap and Ground 7B tenant defence (RRA, 2026)
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 did not amend the Immigration Act 2014 but it changed the tenancy architecture around it. Fixed-term renewals are largely gone. Tenancies just continue. The landlord's Right-to-Rent re-check obligation does not stop at the fixed term - it carries on perpetually. And Ground 7B (a no-right-to-rent Home Office notice) is a mandatory 2-week ground that survived the RRA reforms unchanged. This walkthrough covers the new re-check reality, what documents the landlord can and cannot ask for (the data-minimisation point), the three failure patterns appearing in early-RRA cases, the Subject Access Request route to evidence whether a Home Office notice actually exists, and the procedural letter that gets a defective Ground 7B withdrawn.
The agent is sitting on your holding deposit: the 7-day rule tenant walkthrough (2026)
A holding deposit is the small payment - capped at one week's rent - that a renter hands over to a letting agent to take a property off the market while referencing runs. In a clean transaction it rolls into the first month's rent. In a messy one, the deal falls through and the agent goes quiet. This walkthrough covers the two clocks (the 15-day deadline for agreement and the 7-day refund clock), the four lawful retention categories under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, the three patterns that drive most unlawful retentions, the chase letter template, and the three escalation routes (Trading Standards, small claims, redress scheme).
An N5 possession claim has landed: the tenant walkthrough through the 14-day defence window (RRA, 2026)
An N5 dropping through the letterbox is not an eviction - it is the start of a legal process the tenant gets to take part in. The court has sent the tenant a copy because the tenant has a right to be heard. This walkthrough covers the 14-day defence clock from the date of service, how to read the N5 for the substantive ground and the procedural validity strands, the three failure patterns appearing most often in early-RRA cases (Ground 1A inside the 12-month bar, Ground 8 arrears bundled with a defective Form 4A, missing deposit protection), how to fill in the N11R defence form section by section, the witness-statement skeleton, and what to bring to the hearing.
Living in an EPC F or G property: the tenant enforcement walkthrough (MEES + RRA, 2026)
An EPC of F or G has been an unlawful let since 2020. Maximum penalty is now GBP 30,000 per breach. The tenant walkthrough - EPC register check, landlord letter, and the council enforcement route.
RRO for an unlicensed HMO under the new 24-month window: the tenant walkthrough (RRA, 2026)
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 doubled the rent repayment order maximum from 12 to 24 months. The tenant walkthrough on how to claim, with the evidence pack and the Form RRO1 process.
Your guarantor was released on 1 May 2026: the tenant walkthrough (RRA, 2026)
Most tenancy guarantors signed before 1 May 2026 were quietly released on that date. Most renters and most guarantors do not know. The tenant walkthrough that puts a stop to chasing letters.
Form 4A served during the 12-month rent-increase freeze: the tenant procedural-challenge walkthrough (RRA, May 2026)
Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 a landlord cannot increase rent in the first 12 months of a new assured tenancy, and cannot increase rent more than once in any 12-month period thereafter. A Form 4A served inside that freeze window is invalid on its face - no need to involve the First-tier Tribunal, no need to argue market rent. A single procedural-challenge letter ends it. This walkthrough covers the 12-month rule, how to spot the freeze breach in three checks, and the one-letter response template.
Council tax under the Renters' Rights Act periodic-by-default regime: when does the bill move? The tenant walkthrough (May 2026)
Historically, a tenant on a statutory periodic tenancy who moved out before the notice end date stopped being liable for council tax the day they vacated - the empty-property charge fell on the landlord. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 has reversed that. Tenants are now liable for council tax until the end of the notice period they served, even if they leave the property earlier. This walkthrough covers the new rule, the timing maths, the leave-early scenario that catches tenants out, and how to evidence the vacate date if the council pushes back.