Rent increase notice invalid after 1-day date error

PCM means per calendar month. Non-monthly rents are converted to monthly equivalents for comparison. The assessed market rent can exceed the landlord’s proposal. New Rent is the payable amount after any statutory cap. A strike-out is not a rent determination; a new rent shown for a struck-out case is the rent the parties agreed, not a figure set by the tribunal.

Landlord’s position and arguments

The landlord served a notice of increase in the prescribed form dated 1 May 2026 proposing to increase the rent from £2,390 to £2,584 per month from 30 June 2026. In two MR2 responses it disagreed with the tenant's application and stated different dates on which it said the rent should take effect, 1 August 2026 and 2 August 2026. No written representations were submitted in response to the tribunal's directions.

Tenant’s position and arguments

The tenants referred the landlord's notice of increase to the tribunal by application dated 12 June 2026. No representations were submitted in response to the tribunal's directions.

Tribunal reasoning and decision

The tribunal found that 30 June 2026 was a material date error that could not be cured under the reasonable-recipient approach, particularly because the landlord had supplied two different corrected dates. It held that the proposed increase could not commence earlier than 1 July 2026 and that the notice was invalid. The application was struck out under rule 9(2)(a) for lack of jurisdiction. No new rent was determined.

Original sources

• Read the decision on GOV.UK
• Tribunal document 1 (PDF)