Rent increase notice period: how much notice is needed?

The minimum rent increase notice period in England is two months: Form 4A must be served at least two months before the new rent starts. The start date must also fall on the first day of a rent period and at least 52 weeks after the tenancy began or the last increase, so the real notice is often longer than two months.

How much notice to increase rent in the UK?

In England, a landlord must give at least two months' notice of a rent increase on a private assured tenancy, using Form 4A. The form must be served "at least two months before the new rent can start". The Renters' Rights Act 2025 replaced "the minimum period" with "two months" in section 13(2)(a) of the Housing Act 1988, so the same two-month minimum now applies whatever the rent period.

Two months is only the first of three tests. The start date must pass all of them:

Test	Rule
Notice	At least two months after the date of service
Once a year	At least 52 weeks after the tenancy began or the last increase took effect (53 weeks in some cases)
Rent day	The first day of a tenancy period

The rest of the UK is different: Wales (Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016), Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules. This page covers England only.

Counting the two months

Count from service, not from signing. One of the mistakes that can make a Section 13 notice invalid is counting from the date the form was signed rather than the date of service.

Use the same date two months later. Served on 1 November, the two months end on 1 January. Served on 15 March, they end on 15 May.

Watch month ends. Where there's no matching day two months later, for example a notice served on 31 December, our calculator moves to the 1st of the following month (1 March) to stay on the safe side.

Allow for the post. If you post the form, count from the day the tenant is likely to receive it, and add a margin. Hand delivery fixes the date with no guesswork. Keep a record of how and when you served it.

Why the start date must be the first day of a rent period

The new rent must start on the first day of a tenancy period (Form 4A Note A). GOV.UK gives two examples:

• a monthly tenancy that started on the 20th must have the new rent start on the 20th;
• a weekly tenancy that started on a Monday must have it start on a Monday.

So the earliest start date is the first rent day on or after the two-month date. On a monthly tenancy that can add almost a month to the notice.

Worked example. A monthly tenancy began on 20 March 2024 and has had no increase. You serve Form 4A by hand on Sunday 1 November 2026.

1. Two months after service: 1 January 2027.
2. 52 weeks after the tenancy began: 19 March 2025, long passed.
3. The first rent day on or after 1 January 2027: Wednesday 20 January 2027.

The tenant gets 80 days' notice, although the legal minimum is two months.

Rent increase notice periods by rent period

Each example assumes no increase in the last 52 weeks.

Rent period	Tenancy began	Served	2-month date	Earliest start
Monthly	20 March 2024	Sunday 1 November 2026	1 January 2027	Wednesday 20 January 2027
Weekly	Monday 1 January 2024	Friday 6 November 2026	Wednesday 6 January 2027	Monday 11 January 2027
Fortnightly	Friday 5 July 2024	Monday 9 November 2026	Saturday 9 January 2027	Friday 15 January 2027
Four-weekly	Thursday 1 August 2024	Monday 2 November 2026	Saturday 2 January 2027	Thursday 14 January 2027

For fortnightly and four-weekly rent, count periods in 14-day or 28-day blocks from the date the tenancy began. Rent periods must be 28 days or shorter, or monthly; longer periods have been treated as monthly since 1 May 2026. If your tenancy used to be quarterly or yearly, read periodic tenancy rent increases to find your rent day.

When the notice period is longer than two months

The once-a-year rule can push the start date well beyond the two-month mark.

• First year of the tenancy. A monthly tenancy that began on 1 June 2026 can't have an increase start before 1 June 2027, even if you serve Form 4A in July 2026.
• A recent increase. If the last increase took effect on 1 April 2026, including one under a rent review clause before 1 May 2026, the next can't start before 1 April 2027 on a tenancy due on the 1st.
• The 53-week rule. On weekly and fortnightly tenancies, the 52-week date drifts earlier each year. If it would fall more than six days before the anniversary of the first increase after 11 February 2003, wait 53 weeks.

Read how often rent can be increased for worked dates on each of these.

What to do next

• Let us fill in Form 4A with the start date checked, free with a ValidNotice account: go to the Section 13 notice page.
• Follow the how to fill in Form 4A walkthrough to complete the rest of the form.