Form 4A referral

The application that takes a disputed rent increase out of your landlord's hands and into the tribunal's. Here is what it involves, what evidence matters, and why the risk of applying is smaller than most tenants assume.

What is Form 4A used for?

Form 4A is the prescribed application a tenant uses to refer a Section 13 rent increase notice to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), asking the tribunal to determine what rent is actually payable instead of the figure the landlord proposed.

When do I need to submit Form 4A?

Before the effective date shown on your Section 13 notice — the date the new rent is due to start. Once that date passes without a referral, the increase takes effect automatically and the right to challenge it under that notice is lost permanently.

What evidence should I include with Form 4A?

Evidence of comparable rents for similar properties in your area is the most important element — listings, local letting agent data, or a rental index for the area. A short written statement setting out why you consider the proposed rent too high, and a copy of the Section 13 notice itself, should also be included.

Can the tribunal decide the rent should be higher than proposed?

No. The tribunal cannot set a rent above the figure your landlord originally proposed in the Section 13 notice. It can only confirm that figure or set a lower one based on the open market rent for comparable properties.

What happens after I submit Form 4A?

The tribunal notifies your landlord and sets a timetable for both sides to submit evidence. Many straightforward cases are decided on the papers without a hearing; more contested cases, or those with significant sums at stake, may be listed for a short hearing where both parties can present their comparables evidence.

Is there a fee to submit Form 4A?

Tribunal fees are set by HMCTS and can change, so check the current fee on GOV.UK before applying. There is no cost to check whether your Section 13 notice is valid before deciding whether to refer it.

Renters' Rights · Glossary

Last reviewed: July 2026

Renters' Rights track

is the application a tenant uses to refer a Section 13 rent increase notice to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), asking it to determine the actual rent payable rather than accepting the figure the landlord proposed.

Where this comes from

Housing Act 1988, section 13(4)

— the tenant's right to refer a proposed rent increase to the tribunal.

First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)

— the tribunal that receives and determines Form 4A applications.

Renters' Rights Act 2025

— amended the rent-increase framework from 1 May 2026, including capping the tribunal's decision at the landlord's proposed figure.

When a landlord serves a valid Section 13 notice proposing a new rent, the tenant is not required to accept it. Form 4A is how that challenge is formally made: it asks the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the open market rent for the property and decide what should actually be payable, rather than the figure the landlord chose. The application must be made before the effective date stated on the Section 13 notice — once that date passes, the proposed rent takes effect automatically and the right to refer that particular notice is lost for good.

The tribunal's assessment is not a negotiation and does not consider the landlord's costs, mortgage payments or personal circumstances. It looks specifically at what a landlord could reasonably expect a new tenant to pay for a comparable property in the same area, based on the open market at the relevant date.

What to include in your application

The strength of a Form 4A application usually comes down to evidence. You will need a copy of the Section 13 notice itself, details of the property and tenancy, and — most importantly — evidence of comparable rents for similar properties nearby: current listings, local letting agent valuations, or published rental index data for the area. A short written statement explaining why you consider the proposed rent above the market rate helps the tribunal understand your position quickly. Photographs showing the property's actual condition can also matter, particularly if disrepair affects what a reasonable market rent would be.

Once submitted, the tribunal notifies the landlord and sets a timetable for both sides to exchange evidence. Straightforward cases, especially where the comparables evidence is clear and largely undisputed, are often decided on the papers without either party attending. More contested cases, or those involving larger sums, may be listed for a short hearing.

Why there is little downside to applying

Under the current rules, the tribunal

cannot set the rent higher than the figure your landlord originally proposed

in the Section 13 notice. At worst, if your comparables evidence does not persuade the tribunal, the proposed rent is simply confirmed — you are no worse off than if you had accepted it without challenge. At best, the tribunal reduces the rent based on genuinely comparable evidence in the area. This asymmetry is deliberate and is one of the more tenant-favourable features of the amended Section 13 process.

How Form 4A differs from a normal court claim

Unlike a county court money claim, a Form 4A referral is not adversarial in the same sense — there is no claimant suing a defendant for a fixed sum. Instead, both you and your landlord are effectively asking the tribunal to determine a single question: what is the open market rent for this property today? That framing changes how the tribunal approaches the evidence. It is less concerned with blame or fault and more concerned with objective comparables, so evidence-gathering should focus on similar properties actually being let nearby, rather than on your relationship with your landlord or the history of the tenancy.

Because of that focus, a Form 4A application usually moves faster than a contested money claim, and many are resolved within a matter of weeks rather than months, particularly where the comparables evidence on both sides is clear and not seriously disputed.

The application must be made before the effective date on the notice. There is no route to challenge the amount once that date has passed.
Submitting without comparables evidence.
An application that simply asserts the rent is too high, without evidence of what similar properties actually let for, gives the tribunal little to work with.
Confusing Form 4A with challenging the notice's validity.
If a Section 13 notice itself is defective — wrong form, insufficient notice period, served too soon — that is a different issue from disputing the amount, though both may need addressing in the same situation.
Assuming the tribunal considers the landlord's costs.
The tribunal looks at the open market rent for the property, not what the landlord needs to cover their own expenses.

What happens after the tribunal decides

Once the First-tier Tribunal reaches a determination, that figure becomes the rent payable from the date set out in the decision — it does not apply retrospectively to rent already paid before that date. If the tribunal sets a lower rent than your landlord proposed, you simply pay the lower figure from then on; there is no separate enforcement step needed on your part for that to take effect.

A tribunal decision on one Section 13 notice does not permanently fix your rent. Your landlord remains free to serve a further Section 13 notice once 12 months have passed since the last increase, following the same process and subject to the same limits, including the rule that the tribunal can never set a rent above whatever figure is proposed in that new notice.

If your circumstances change materially between the referral and the decision — for example, you reach an informal agreement directly with your landlord — you can usually withdraw the application, though it is worth confirming the tribunal's process for doing so rather than simply not attending. An unexplained failure to engage with your own application can result in it being struck out or decided against you on the papers.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

Housing Act 1988, section 13
(legislation.gov.uk)
Challenge a rent increase
First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)
Renters' Rights Act 2025

Thinking about challenging a rent increase?

Start My Claim checks your Section 13 notice and helps you build a Form 4A referral backed by comparable rents near you.

Last reviewed: July 2026.

References checked against the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, in force from 1 May 2026.

This page is explanatory only and is not legal advice. Start My Claim is self-service software, not a law firm — its tools help you build and run your own case.