Start My Claim

Everything that happens under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, in plain English — which situation is yours, are you still in time, what the Property Chamber actually costs, and where people trip up. No card, no catch.

Do I need a solicitor to bring a Rent Repayment Order or defend a possession claim?

No. The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) is built for people without lawyers, and for Rent Repayment Orders and rent-increase referrals it’s largely a no-costs jurisdiction — win or lose, each side generally pays its own costs. That makes paying a solicitor by the hour hard to justify for most of these claims.

What happened to Section 21 notices?

Since 1 May 2026 the Section 21 “no-fault” eviction route no longer exists. Every tenancy that was fixed-term became a rolling periodic tenancy, and the only lawful route to possession is a Section 8 notice citing a specific ground.

How much can a Rent Repayment Order actually pay?

Up to 24 months’ rent, doubled from 12 months by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. The tribunal decides the real figure from your landlord’s conduct rather than defaulting to the maximum, and you must apply within 12 months of the landlord’s last offence — there’s no extension.

My landlord raised my rent by text message. Do I have to pay it?

No. Since 1 May 2026, the only valid way to increase rent on a periodic tenancy is a Section 13 notice on the prescribed Form 4A, giving at least two months’ written notice, and not more than once every 52 weeks. An informal letter or text isn’t a valid increase.

What if I’m being illegally evicted right now?

This moves faster than the rest of this guide. Do not leave — you have the right to return. Call the police (999 if threatened, 101 for non-emergency illegal eviction), contact your council’s housing team, and consider an urgent county court application for re-entry. Compensation, including a Rent Repayment Order, comes after you’re safely back.

Can Start My Claim help with an unprotected deposit?

Not through our renters’ rights tools directly — a deposit claim runs through the small claims track of the county court, not the property tribunal, so it uses our Small Claims tools instead. If your deposit wasn’t protected within 30 days, a court can order it returned plus a penalty of one to three times its value.

What about damp, mould, or a landlord who won’t fix things?

Disrepair sits outside our tools currently. A damages claim usually needs expert evidence, such as a surveyor’s report, and runs through the county court. Start with your council’s environmental health team, who can take enforcement action now. Whatever the disrepair, don’t withhold rent — it isn’t a legal remedy in England, and it hands your landlord a mandatory ground for possession.

Does Start My Claim represent me at the hearing?

No. Start My Claim is self-service software, not a solicitor, a letting agent, or a claims management company. We don’t act on your behalf, negotiate with your landlord, or receive your money. You stay in control of the case and attend the hearing yourself — the software builds the documents in the format the tribunal or court expects.

What kind of case do you actually have?

Renters’ rights disputes aren’t one situation — they’re several, and the right next step depends on which one is yours. Start My Claim has three fixed-fee products, each built for a different route.

This guide covers England — Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run different systems for renting. This is general information, not legal advice about your individual case.

A Section 8 notice has arrived — the only lawful route to possession since Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026. Check it’s valid, and build a defence if you want to stay. Matches Possession Defence, £229.

A Section 13 notice on Form 4A proposes a higher rent. You can refer the amount to the tribunal — but only before the effective date passes. Matches Rent Increase Challenge, £89.

Landlord broke the rules

Unlicensed letting, illegal eviction, harassment, a banning-order breach, an ignored improvement notice, or re-letting within 12 months of a Ground 1 or 1A eviction. You may be able to claim back up to 24 months’ rent. Matches the RRO Pack, £269.

Three situations our tools don’t cover

Deposit not protected.

A different Act, a different route — this runs through the small claims track, not the property tribunal.

Illegal eviction, right now.

Locks changed, belongings removed. This needs faster action than this guide’s pace — skip to the checklist below, then call the police.

Damp, mould, a landlord who won’t fix things — real, but on different rules, usually needing expert evidence.

More than one box ticked? Common. Deal with the most urgent situation first, then come back for the rest.

Are you still in time?

Unlike a lot of legal processes, renters’ rights doesn’t run on one clock. Each situation has its own deadline, and some are unforgiving.

The Rent Repayment Order deadline is the one people misjudge most: it’s

, not 12 months to wait around. Once applied for, the tribunal can then award up to

— two different clocks, easily confused. If you’re close to any deadline, act on it first and gather the rest of your evidence afterwards.

Every situation above has its own path — this maps the fullest one, a Rent Repayment Order, start to finish. Defending a notice or challenging a rent increase follows a similar shape, just shorter.

Worked example — Priya’s rent repayment order

Priya rented a room in a three-bedroom shared house in Leeds for

a month. Sixteen months in, a free Landlord Check flagged that the property sat inside the council’s selective licensing area — and the Licence Checker confirmed her landlord had never held the required licence. Her evidence: sixteen months of bank statements, her tenancy agreement, and written confirmation from the council that no licence had been granted. She filed her RRO1 two months after moving out, well inside the 12-month window.

Maximum possible award: £650 × 16 months = £10,400. The tribunal isn’t obliged to award the maximum — it weighs conduct, and here awarded 10 months’ rent, £6,500. After the £269 Start My Claim fee and roughly £300 in tribunal fees, Priya’s net recovery was £5,931 — five months after her first free Landlord Check.

Every one of these steps strengthens your position, and none commits you to anything. If a notice has just arrived, this matters more, not less — the 14-day defence clock doesn’t wait for you to feel ready.

What it actually costs

These are tribunal and court fees — paid to HM Courts & Tribunals Service, whoever helps you with your case. They are not Start My Claim charges; our own pricing is further down this page.

RRO figures are First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) standard fees, correct as of August 2026. Fee remission may be available on a low income or certain benefits. Tribunal and court fees change; verify the current figure on gov.uk before filing.

Two facts worth knowing. Defending a possession claim costs you nothing in court fees — your landlord pays to issue it, not you. And a Rent Repayment Order application costs roughly

in combined tribunal fees, which can matter for a short tenancy or a low rent — work the arithmetic before you file.

Why paying for a solicitor rarely makes sense here

For a Rent Repayment Order or a rent-increase referral, the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) is, like the small claims track, largely a no-costs jurisdiction — each side generally pays their own costs, win or lose, and costs orders are reserved for genuinely unreasonable conduct (Tribunal Procedure Rules 2013, rule 13). That changes the economics of paying someone else.

Typical rates run £150–£300 an hour. A few hours easily outweighs what you’d recover, and you can’t claim those fees back.

A letting-dispute or claims company

Usually paid as a share of whatever you recover — a quarter or more isn’t unusual — and the case stops being yours to control.

Entirely by yourself

Free, and plenty of tenants do it. The risk is procedural: missing the 12-month window, an incomplete evidence bundle, or the wrong form.

One fixed fee per product — £89 to £269 — no hourly clock, no percentage of your award, every form in the format the tribunal or court expects. This is self-service software, not a solicitor acting for you.

Is self-representation right for you?

The previous section compares cost. This one is about fit — four honest questions worth asking before you decide how to go about this.

None of this is pass or fail

Free, and thousands do it well. The risk is the procedural traps covered under Five Mistakes below.

Alone, with Start My Claim.

You stay in control of every decision; the software builds the documents in the format expected, and helps you catch deadlines and mistakes before they cost you anything.

Worth genuinely considering for a disrepair claim, several linked issues at once, or a landlord who’s already instructed one — a real cost-benefit call, not a failure to cope on your own.

Anatomy of your application or defence

Whichever of the three routes is yours, the tribunal or court wants the same shape: a clear claim, dated evidence, a document in the format it expects.

Rent Repayment Order

Rent Increase Challenge

This is the part our application builder handles from your case details — the right form, the witness statement, and the evidence bundle, in the format the tribunal expects.

When the landlord or agent responds — or doesn’t

Your landlord may submit a defence, or say nothing. Either way, the tribunal sets a timetable and the case moves forward without needing their cooperation.

Rent increase referral

One thing many tenants don’t expect: the tribunal can only set the rent at or below what your landlord asked for, never above. Referring a fair notice costs you nothing but the paperwork.

File your defence on time and the court fixes a hearing where both sides attend. Do nothing, and you risk a possession order made without you there to put your case.

Hearing day and what happens after

You could end up in either of two rooms, depending on your situation — and they don’t work the same way.

First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)

For Rent Repayment Orders and rent-increase referrals. A tribunal judge, sometimes with a valuer member, less formal than court. Bring your evidence bundle and answer questions. Decisions usually follow in writing within a few weeks.

For defending a possession claim, and for a deposit-protection claim. A district judge, more procedural but still navigable without a solicitor. The judge decides whether the ground is made out and, for discretionary grounds, whether possession is reasonable.

In both rooms, the same habits help: three copies of everything, a dated chronology, and a written statement that answers the specific ground. Winning at the tribunal is half the job — if your landlord doesn’t pay an RRO, it’s enforceable in the county court like any unpaid judgment.

Five mistakes that sink renters’ rights claims

Is it worth pursuing?

Three questions, answered honestly, save a lot of wasted fees.

Two yeses and a maybe? Usually worth proceeding. Three nos? Sometimes the bravest decision is to walk away from the tribunal fee — better to know that now than after you’ve paid it.

Renters’ rights, decoded — the words you’ll meet along the way, in plain English.

The full plain-English glossary lives at

What it costs to do it with us

Everything above is the map — the tools do the driving, if you want them to. Three fixed-fee products for three different situations. One-off payments, no subscription, and this is self-service software, not a solicitor acting on your behalf.

A Form 4A notice audit and referral builder, plus a comparable-rents checklist.

A Section 8 notice audit and N11R defence statement, plus tribunal and hearing preparation.

The full RRO1 application, witness statement and evidence bundle, plus unlimited Case Companion questions.

Every plan includes the free Landlord Check, Licence Checker, Notice Doctor and RRO estimator. If your situation changes — a rent increase turns into a possession notice, say — you buy the second product at its own price; there’s no bundling across routes yet.

Section 8 notice — your rights and how to defend it

Building a Rent Repayment Order

Form 4A rent increase notice

Run the free Landlord Check