Section 13 notice
In a tenancy which falls under the Housing Act 1988 there are statutory processes for increasing the rent. This is provided by section 13 of the Act and the accompanying notice.
It is important to understand the purpose of the section 13 procedure. It is intended to allow landlords to have a means of increasing rent during periodic tenancies. It is not available to use during the fixed term of the tenancy. It was envisaged that this would be important as the Housing Act 1988 specifically allows for periodic tenancies to occur and continue for substantial time periods. However, the process is specifically subject to certain controls to prevent landlords getting rid of tenants by massively increasing the rent. This control process is the right for the tenant to refer the rent proposed by the section 13 notice to a Rent Assessment Committee (RAC) for them to determine whether that rent is a fair market rent for the property. A notice under section 13 has a prescribed form and must be filled in accurately. The notice must give the tenant not less than one month's notice (or one period of the tenancy if this is longer). The notice must also expire at the beginning of a period of the tenancy, which should be the day the rent is due.
The link below is to a Word document of the prescribed form available from Communities and Local Government. The form is titled 'Form No.4B: Landlord's notice proposing a new rent under an Assured Periodic Tenancy of premises situated in England'.