Is the Section 13 notice checker legal advice?

No. It is an indicative check that grades the common reasons a Section 13 notice is void against the dates you enter. It does not replace advice from a solicitor or the First-tier Tribunal, and three of the six checks rely on your own answers because the tool cannot see your form or evidence of service.

What does the checker actually look at?

Six independent rules: the 52- or 53-week minimum interval since the last increase, the two-month minimum notice period, whether the effective date falls on the first day of a rent period (the Mooney v Whiteland alignment rule), whether the current prescribed Form 4A was used, whether the rent figures are stated correctly, and whether the notice was validly served. The first three are calculated from your dates; the last three are self-declared.

Why does the effective date matter so much?

Under section 13(2)(a) of the Housing Act 1988 the new rent must start on the first day of a new tenancy period. An effective date that falls mid-period — a Friday on a tenancy whose periods begin on a Monday, for example — is the error that voided the notice in Mooney v Whiteland [2023] EWCA Civ 67.

Tool · Section 13

Check My Section 13 Notice: Is It Valid?

Updated 20 June 2026 · England only

If you have already served a Section 13 notice and want to know whether it is at risk, enter the details below. The checker grades the six independent rules that most often make a rent-increase notice void, and tells you which look fine and which need a closer look.

This is an indicative check, not legal advice. Three of the six rules are based on your own answers — the tool cannot see your form or your proof of service. For a notice you have not served yet, use the notice generator instead, which aligns the dates for you.

Section 13 · Notice checker

England

The tenancy

Rent frequency

Rent day (1–28)

Tenancy start date

Last increase (if any)

First increase after 2003

The notice you served

Date served

Effective date on notice

Current rent

Proposed rent

Things we can't see — your answers

Did you use the current Form 4A?

Are the rent figures stated correctly?

Was it served by a valid method, with proof?

This notice is at risk

This is an indicative check, not legal advice. It grades each rule below — three are based on your own answers because we can't see your form or service evidence.

52/53-week intervalAt risk
Clears 52 weeks, but the 53-week drift rule can't be confirmed.
Your effective date is on or after the 52-week point (21 April 2026). Without the date of the first post-2003 increase (Form 4A question 4.4) we can't check whether the 53-week rule pushes that out by a week. Confirm that date before relying on this.
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Two-month notice periodValid
At least two months' notice was given.
Served on 22 June 2026, the two-month notice period ends 22 August 2026. Your effective date of 1 September 2026 is on or after that.
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Effective-date alignmentValid
The effective date falls on the start of a rent period.
Your effective date of 1 September 2026 lands on the start of a tenancy period, as s13(2)(a) requires.
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Current Form 4Aself-declaredAt risk
You're unsure which form version was used.
A Section 13 increase must be served on the prescribed Form 4A in force at the date of service. The wrong or an out-of-date form is void. We can't see your form, so this reflects your own answer — check it against the current template.
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Figures stated correctlyself-declaredAt risk
You're unsure the figures are stated correctly.
The current and proposed rent must be entered accurately and unambiguously on the form, with the right amounts in the right boxes. We can't see your form, so this reflects your own answer — re-check the figures against the tenancy.
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Valid serviceself-declaredAt risk
You're unsure the notice was validly served.
The notice must reach the tenant by a valid method, with evidence, and deemed-service timing must be allowed for. We can't verify how you served it, so this reflects your own answer — keep proof of service.
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Serving fresh? Generate a Form 4A with the dates aligned for you, so the timing and alignment rules can't catch you out.

Generate a correct Section 13 notice

The six ways a Section 13 notice fails

A Section 13 rent increase can be void for reasons that have nothing to do with the amount. The checker looks at each one independently, because a notice only has to fail once to be void:

The 52/53-week interval. The rent generally cannot rise more than once every 52 weeks, and on some long-running tenancies a 53-week rule applies.
The two-month notice period. The effective date must be at least two months after service — and deemed service can shorten that margin if the notice was posted.
Effective-date alignment. The new rent must start on the first day of a rent period. This is the trap in Mooney v Whiteland.
The current Form 4A. The increase must be served on the prescribed Form 4A in force at the date of service.
The figures. The current and proposed rent must be entered accurately and unambiguously.
Service. The notice must reach the tenant by a valid method, with proof.

Want the full reasoning on whether your increase is challengeable? Read is my Section 13 rent increase invalid?

Related guides

Is My Section 13 Rent Increase Invalid?

The full checklist of what makes a rent increase challengeable, and what to do next.

Mooney v Whiteland [2023]

The Court of Appeal case on effective-date alignment that voids Section 13 notices.

Section 13 Notice Period in 2026

The two-month minimum notice period and how to count it from deemed service.