If you've got a tenant who pays on time, looks after the property and never causes you a moment's bother, the idea of raising their rent can feel risky. Nobody wants to be the reason a good tenant starts looking elsewhere. But not reviewing rent regularly is one of the quietest ways landlords lose money, and it happens so gradually that most don't notice until they compare their rent to what similar properties are actually achieving nearby.

We speak to landlords every week who are two or three years behind the market without realising it. This isn't about squeezing every last pound out of a tenancy. It's about keeping your investment properly aligned with reality, and doing it in a way that doesn't put a good relationship at risk.

Why landlords put off rent reviews

The most common reason is simple: the tenant is good, and landlords worry that raising the rent will make them leave. That's a fair concern, but it's usually based on a false choice. A well-handled rent review rarely causes a good tenant to leave. What causes tenants to leave is a sudden, badly explained increase that feels unfair or comes out of nowhere.

There's also a practical reason landlords delay reviews: it takes admin, a conversation, and sometimes paperwork. So, it gets pushed back another year, then another. By the time it'saddressed, the gap between current rent and market rent has grown so large that any increase feels dramatic to the tenant, even though it's simply catching up.

How often you should actually be reviewing rent

A yearly review is sensible for most tenancies. That doesn't mean a yearly increase, but it does mean you should be checking where the rent sits against comparable local properties at least once a year. If the market has moved and your rent hasn't, that's a decision you're making by default, whether you meant to or not.

For tenants who are on a periodic tenancy rather than a fixed term, the same principle applies. Just because there's no renewal date forcing the conversation doesn't mean the review shouldn't happen.

Doing it properly makes all the difference

The way you raise rent matters more than the amount, in most cases. A tenant who receives a short, clear letter with a fair explanation and reasonable notice will usually accept an increase without much friction. A tenant who feels blindsided, or senses the increase is arbitrary, is far more likely to push back or start looking elsewhere.

A few things make a genuine difference here:

Give proper notice. Rushing a rent increase with a fortnight's warning puts tenants on the back foot and invites resistance. Several weeks' notice, ideally longer, gives them time to process it without feeling cornered.

Explain the reasoning, briefly. You don't need to justify yourself at length, but a line explaining that the rent is being brought in line with the local market, alongside rising costs of maintaining the property, goes a long way. Tenants are far more accepting of an increase they understand than one that just appears.

Have the evidence ready. If a tenant questions the figure, being able to point to what similar properties are currently letting for locally makes the conversation straightforward rather than personal. This is one area where working with someone who tracks the local market daily is genuinely useful, because guessing at comparable rents is one of the easiest ways to either overreach or undersell yourself.

Consider a phased approach for long-standing tenants. If a tenant has been in place for several years and the gap to market rent is significant, moving the full amount in one go can feel punitive even when it's fair. A smaller increase now, with another planned for the following year, is often better received and still gets you back to where you should be within a reasonable timeframe.

What landlords often overlook

A rent increase isn't just a number change. Depending on the tenancy type and how the increase is proposed, there are correct routes to follow, and using the wrong one can make an increase invalid or unenforceable. Landlords who serve informal requests by text or verbal conversation, rather than the correct written route, sometimes find themselves unable to enforce the new rent if a tenant later disputes it.

There's also a financial angle that's easy to miss. An unreviewed rent doesn't just cost you the difference between what you're charging and market rent. It quietly reduces the resale value of your investment when calculated on a yield basis, and it can affect remortgaging conversations if a lender is assessing rental income against the loan.

What to do next

If you can't remember the last time you reviewed the rent on one of your properties, that's usually a sign it's overdue. Before you do anything, get a proper comparison of what similar properties are currently achieving in your local area, so any conversation with your tenant is grounded in fact rather than guesswork.

Getting a rent review right protects the relationship with your tenant just as much as it protects your income. Done properly, it rarely causes friction. Done carelessly or left too long, it becomes one of the most common reasons good tenancies break down.

We'd love to have a chat with you about how the new legislation will affect your decisions and investment properties going forward.