Section 13 rent increase pack

The Section 13 notice without evidence is a tribunal invitation. Send both.

How a comparable evidence pack turns a rent increase from a dispute trigger into a settled conversation.

Kieran Slinger · Propalt · For letting agents

Since the Renters' Rights Act 2025, Section 13 is the only legal way to raise rent on a periodic tenancy. And the rules came with teeth: twelve-month minimum intervals, two months' notice, and a tribunal that can't leave the tenant worse off than the figure you proposed.

So a notice with nothing behind it is an open invitation. The tenant pays nothing to challenge it. You end up at a First-tier Tribunal – or paying a solicitor to be there – trying to prove the rent reflects the market. Can't prove it? The tribunal sets the figure, often lower than you asked.

The agent who makes evidence-based notices standard for every landlord is selling real legal protection. Name it, explain it, charge for it.

What a tribunal-ready Section 13 pack contains

The evidence standard the First-tier Tribunal applies is the open market rent for the property on the relevant date – what would the property let for if it went to market today? That question is answerable from comparable let data, but only if the data is current, geographically appropriate, and comparable in property type and condition.

A tribunal-ready evidence pack typically contains five elements: the Form 4A Section 13 notice correctly completed; a comparable rental evidence schedule of at least three recent lets of similar properties in the same area; a statement of the open market rent position with commentary; a summary of local market conditions relevant to the increase; and a plain-English cover letter for the tenant explaining the basis for the proposed rent.

The proposed rent of £2,100 per month sits exactly at the area average for comparable properties and within the range of direct comparables. A tribunal presented with that evidence would have no basis for setting a lower figure. The tenant who receives the pack alongside the Form 4A has the same information the tribunal would see. Most tenants, faced with that clarity, do not refer.

Making evidence-based review the standard, not the exception

The Propalt Section 13 Rent Increase Pack generates the comparable evidence schedule, open market commentary and tenant cover letter for any rent review, pulling live rental data for the property type and location. The agent completes the Form 4A, attaches the pack, and sends. The landlord is protected. The tenant is informed. And the process that most agents handle informally becomes a documented, defensible procedure that reflects the new legal reality.

In the era of the Renters' Rights Act, this is not optional best practice. It is the standard that protects landlords and the agents who advise them.

The tenant who can read their rent increase evidence before they decide to challenge it rarely challenges it. That is the point.

Build a tribunal-ready evidence pack for every Section 13 rent review.

Try the Section 13 Rent Increase Pack → propalt.ai

Section 13 requirements reflect the Renters' Rights Act 2025 as applied in England from May 2026. Comparable rental data sourced via the Propalt intelligence layer. This article is general information and does not constitute legal advice.