There’s no legal cap on how much a landlord can increase rent on a private tenancy in England. That said, there are a few important rules you’ll want to keep in mind before putting the rent up.
Exactly how you go about this depends on the type of tenancy in place and what’s set out in the agreement. It’s always worth checking the paperwork so you know where you stand.
The rules around rent increases can vary depending on the type of tenancy you have and what’s written in your agreement, so it’s worth staying on top of the details.
Here you’ll find the ways you can increase rent, what many landlords take into account when deciding what’s fair, and the changes you can expect once the Renters’ Rights Bill passes into law.
- How often can a landlord increase rent?
- Increasing rent for periodic and fixed-term tenancies
- What is a fair rent increase for existing tenants in 2025?
- What does the Renters’ Rights Bill say about rent increases?
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How often can a landlord increase rent?
One of the first questions landlords often ask is how frequently they can raise the rent. For assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs), the general rule is that rent increases usually happen once a year.
However, this can vary depending on the type of tenancy (fixed-term or periodic), whether there’s a rent review clause in the agreement, and whether the tenants agree to the change.
Can I increase the rent more than once a year?
When renewing a six-month fixed-term tenancy, it’s possible to increase the rent at each renewal by providing a new agreement with the updated amount. This allows you to make smaller, gradual adjustments rather than a single larger jump.
If you choose this approach, it’s best to be transparent with your tenants and explain that spreading the increase is intended to make the change easier to manage.
The same approach can work for periodic tenancies, but only with the tenant’s agreement. Many landlords use this method to gradually bring the rent in line with current market rates.
Increasing rent for periodic and fixed-term tenancies
The rules for raising rent can differ depending on whether your assured shorthold tenancy (AST) is fixed-term, periodic, or if you have a lodger agreement in place. In the sections below, we’ll break down exactly what landlords need to know for each type.
Fixed-term tenancies
If your property is let on a fixed-term tenancy, there are usually only two ways you can increase the rent during that period:
- Activating a rent review clause (if your agreement has one)
- Reaching a mutual agreement with your tenants to amend the tenancy terms
Most rent review clauses allow for a review once a year. If you’re relying on one, you’ll need to notify your tenants in line with what the agreement says. OpenRent’s standard AST doesn’t include a rent review clause by default, but you can add one if you want that option.
If your tenancy doesn’t have such a clause, the only other route is to agree the increase directly with your tenants. This can be done in writing, for example, a simple letter signed by both parties stating that the rent will go up to £X (an increase of Y%) from Z date, ideally timed with the regular rent payment date. Once tenants start paying the higher rent, the increase is confirmed.
If neither option is possible, then you’ll need to wait until the fixed term ends. At that point, you can negotiate a higher rent as part of a renewal, apply it once the tenancy becomes periodic, or serve a Section 13 notice.
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Periodic tenancies
There are two types of periodic tenancy, contractual and statutory, and each comes with its own rules when it comes to increasing the rent.
Contractual periodic tenancies
These tenancies usually follow directly from a fixed term, with the tenancy agreement stating that it will continue as a periodic tenancy once the fixed term ends.
When it comes to raising the rent, the rules are much the same as with fixed-term tenancies. You can either use a rent review clause, if your agreement includes one, or reach a mutual agreement with your tenants to amend the terms of the tenancy.
Statutory periodic tenancies
With statutory periodic tenancies, the rules around rent increases work a little differently. Rent review clauses don’t apply here, so you can’t rely on one even if it was in the “original” fixed-term agreement.
You can still look to reach a mutual agreement with your tenants on a rent increase. If that’s not possible, your other option is to serve a Section 13 notice.
This can only be done once every 12 months and requires at least one month’s notice. For a step-by-step guide on how to do this properly, take a look at our detailed Section 13 guide.
Lodger agreements
If you’re a live-in landlord, the rules for raising a lodger’s rent – or more accurately, the licence fee – work a bit differently compared to ASTs. Lodger agreements can be either fixed-term or periodic, much like ASTs, but the approach to rent increases varies.
For a fixed-term licence, you can rely on a rent review clause if one is included. OpenRent’s lodger agreements let you add a custom clause if you want that option.
If your lodger is on a rolling agreement, you have the flexibility to increase the rent at any time.
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What is a fair rent increase for existing tenants in 2025?
There’s no single right answer, but most landlords start by checking what similar properties are renting for locally.
You can do this quickly with our Rent Calculator, which pulls together a huge amount of data and shows you the average rent by postcode in seconds. If your current rent is noticeably below market level, that may be a good reason to increase it.
Another common approach – often used alongside market comparisons – is to link rent increases to wage growth. This way, the rise is more likely to be affordable for tenants and less likely to cause payment issues.
For example, ONS figures showed annual pay growth (excluding bonuses) of 5% between April and June 2025. On that basis, a rent increase of around 4-4.5% in mid-2025 could be seen as fair, since it’s in line with average wage inflation.
What does the Renters’ Rights Bill say about rent increases?
Once the Renters’ Rights Bill comes into force, the only way landlords will be able to raise the rent for existing tenants is by serving a Section 13 notice once every 12 months.
Any informal agreements or rent review clauses will no longer have any legal effect. They’ll be null and void, leaving Section 13 as the only way to make an increase enforceable.
You can read more about the changes the Bill is set to bring in our detailed explainer.
You REALLY need to check facts about this. Most of what you said does NOT apply in Scotland. Your landlord clients in Scotland could be inadvertently breaking the law if they follow your advice here.
This applies to England only.
Yes Mark, and the article needs to make that clear.
Hello,
Hope someone can advise accordingly.
We have rented our property for 19 years, we maintain all issues and pay for all emergency repairs.
We’ve done lots of renovations and made it our life time family home.
We have a good relationship with our landlord and both parties never mither.
Over the 19 years our landlord has always wanted cash for his rent each month and our arrangement suited both parties.
He’s always kept the rent to a minimum on the understanding we MAINTAIN the house.
He’s now asking for a £500 increase per month but here is the issue, we don’t have a tenancy agreement in place… we only had one for the first year and everything just continued verbally.
The £500 increase we cannot afford on top of paying for emergency and maintenance insurance plans ??
What shall I suggest??
Kind Regards
A tenancy agreement becomes periodic at the end of the original fixed term so you will have a tenancy agreement in place, it just rolls on.
I also offer tenants lower tham market rents where they look after more maintenance than a typical tenant, but there is a limit to how much under market rates is viable from a landlords perspective, and landlords remain legally responsible for maintenance and with renters reform bill increasing responsibilities this sort of arrangement can cause issues.
I think if you are looking after maintenance and have been there 19 years a discount of around 20% below market rates is reasonable so you could offer that. It’s upto landlord though and after 19 years he may just be looking to sell unless he can get a high income.