Rent Rise Check: key findings, 21 Oct 2026

Figures computed from the database on 21 Oct 2026; the data was last updated from GOV.UK on 21 Oct 2026. Each figure carries its n.

- When tenants in England challenged a rent increase at the tribunal, the tribunal set the rent below the landlord's figure in 75% of cases: 1,426 of 1,891 published decisions since 2018 where the landlord's figure and the decided rent can be compared (as at 21 Oct 2026).
- The typical rise landlords asked for was +20.8%; the typical rise the tribunal decided was +10.5% (medians per decision, n=1,843).
- Under the Renters' Rights Act rules (notices served on or after 1 May 2026), the tribunal set the rent below the landlord's figure in 64% of the 85 comparable decisions published so far, all decided July to September 2026. Old-rules decisions decided in the same months, with the same filters: 77% of 189. Typical rise proposed +10.5% under the new rules against +16.7%, decided +5.3% against +7.7% (n=85 and 188). Small numbers so far: decisions are published weeks or months after they are made, and the first new-rules cases may not be typical of those to come.
- A rent increase challenge took a median of 91 days from the tenant's application to the decision (n=2,415 decisions stating both dates); London is the slowest tribunal region at 139 days (n=808) and Southern the quickest at 69 days (n=669). For decisions made in the last six months the median was 82 days (n=642), against 128 days a year earlier (n=205).
- 79% of rent repayment order applications with a known outcome ended in an order (1,212 of 1,539 published decisions since 2015).
- Since the Upper Tribunal set out how the amount is fixed (Acheampong v Roman, 5 September 2022), the typical rent repayment ordered was £3,158 per applicant (median, n=579) and £6,110 per decision (n=585), typically 65% of the maximum the tribunal could have ordered (n=334).
- Letting a shared house without the licence it needed is the commonest ground: 1,079 of the 1,629 published rent repayment order decisions, 83% of which ended in an order (862 of 1,044 with a known outcome).
- Applications for eviction or harassment succeed less often than for an unlicensed HMO (83%): illegal eviction: 52% ended in an order (33 of 64 with a known outcome, all years), 37% since 5 September 2022 (15 of 41); harassment: 25% ended in an order (15 of 59 with a known outcome, all years), 9% since 5 September 2022 (3 of 35). The tribunal has to be sure beyond reasonable doubt that the offence happened.
- A rent repayment order application took a median of 237 days from application to decision (n=1,113).
- No published rent repayment order decision yet concerns an offence on or after 1 May 2026, when the maximum rose from 12 to 24 months' rent.

Left out of the percentages: housing association and affordable rents, rooms in shared houses, rents including bills, register-only entries and figures not yet checked by hand. These are only the increases tenants challenged, so they are not typical of all rent increases, and past decisions are not a prediction for any one case.

How to cite: "Rent Rise Check analysis of First-tier Tribunal decisions published on GOV.UK", 21 Oct 2026, https://rentrisecheck.uk/press
The decisions are Crown copyright, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Method: https://rentrisecheck.uk/accuracy · Contact: hello@rentrisecheck.uk