When can you raise the rent?
Since May 2026, a Section 13 notice is the only lawful way to increase rent in England. One with the wrong dates is void and can’t be amended: you re-serve, and the increase slips by at least two months. Two questions and you’ll know your dates.
I built this for my own two rentals in Berkshire and use it every month. The dates come from a published rule set with citations, not from a blog post.
Inside
Add a property and the obligations appear, dated, with what counts as evidence and the law behind each one.
An example, not real data.
Why this exists
I let two houses in Berkshire. My agent finds the tenants and collects the rent. Everything else is mine to remember: the gas certificate, the electrical report, proving the tenants actually received them, the rent increase. I kept it in a spreadsheet and a slowly worsening feeling.
The rules also changed underneath me: the Renters’ Rights Act, deposit compliance now gating possession, EPC C by 2030, Awaab’s Law heading for private rentals. Landlord number one here is me, and every rule Wellkempt applies is one I need applied to my own houses.
What it does
- Tells you what’s due, and when
- Gas, electrics, EPC, deposit protection, right to rent, the written statement. All generated from a versioned rule set with citations and a public last-verified date, not a checklist that rotted quietly. Read the rules it applies.
- Proves the tenant received it
- Holding a certificate isn’t compliance. Serving it is. Wellkempt records what went to whom, when and how, keeps the proof attached, and packages the lot as a zip when a solicitor asks.
- Handles the rent increase properly
- Checks every date, fills in the official Form 4A, lets you sign it on screen, records service, and emails you before the window closes next year.
What it costs
The compliance spine is free, permanently: obligations, reminders, evidence, service records, the calendar feed, tax records, evidence packs. So is the date checker above.
Pro is £2.99 a month and adds the work-saving parts: reading your certificates and agreements automatically, a private address to forward documents and BCC tenant emails to, and rent increases on every property every year. You get one rent increase and two document reads free, so you can see them work before deciding.
Cancel any time. You keep everything you’ve recorded and the free tier carries on working. See what’s in each.