The deadline that ends your challenge

The date

Your application has to reach the tribunal before the date the new rent is due to take effect. That date is stated on the notice.

It is not "within a month of receiving it" and not "before you pay the new amount". It is before the day the increase starts. After that, the increase is the rent.

Work it out now, not later

Find the notice. Find the date it says the new rent begins. Put that date somewhere you will see it, and work backwards: everything else — gathering evidence, deciding whether to challenge, filling the form in — has to fit before it.

If the date has already passed, the tribunal can no longer change this increase. That is worth knowing quickly rather than after a week of preparation.

The other timing rules

Two more that go the other way, and can help you.

• The rent on an assured periodic tenancy can normally only be increased once in twelve months.
• You must be given at least the minimum notice before the new rent starts — check what the notice itself states.