Challenging a rent increase
If your landlord has served notice of a rent increase and you think it is more than the property is worth, you can ask the First-tier Tribunal to decide the rent instead. Applying costs £47.00 where the notice was served on or after 1 May 2026, and nothing at all before that.
The deadline comes first
You must apply before the date the new rent is due to start. Miss it and the increase takes effect, however strong your case would have been. Check the date on the notice before anything else.
What the tribunal decides
It sets the rent the property would command on the open market, using comparable local properties. It does not consider what you can afford, and it is not a negotiation with your landlord.
Under the Renters’ Rights Act the tribunal cannot set a rent higher than the one your landlord proposed. In the decisions we hold, that has held without exception since the Act came into force.
Your rent also does not change while the tribunal is deciding. You carry on paying what you pay now, and the rent it sets starts from its decision rather than being backdated to the date on the notice. Taken together, the worst outcome of applying is the rent your landlord had already asked for, starting later than it otherwise would.
What helps your case
- Local rents for homes of your size and type — the figures on your results page.
- What the tribunal has decided for comparable properties near you.
- Your home’s floor area and condition against those comparables.
- Disrepair, or anything the rent is being charged for that you do not have.
How we can help you apply
You can do all of this yourself, and the links below are where to start if you would rather. What we add is the form.
- Check whether your notice is even valid — five minutes, and it needs nothing but the notice itself. If it is defective the increase fails on its own terms, and the tribunal never reaches the question of what your home is worth.
- The tribunal’s application form, MR1, runs to 69 questions across seven sections. We ask them one at a time in plain English, and fill in what we already know — from the answers you have already given us, and from your tenancy agreement and notice if you upload them.
- Your figures and the comparable decisions go in with it, in the form the tribunal asks for.
Preparing and sending the application costs £11.98. The tribunal’s own fee of £47.00 is separate and paid to them, and you can apply for help with it. You see the whole form and check it before anything is sent, and you pay at that point, not before.
Where to go for advice
You can apply directly through GOV.UK housing tribunals. For free advice on your own tenancy, talk to Citizens Advice or Shelter.
RentCompare shows published statistics and published tribunal decisions. It is not legal advice and we are not your adviser. If your home or your tenancy is at stake, speak to one of the services above before you act.