Understand the system / Read figures carefully
Four rents.
Four different questions.
What a landlord asks, what someone agrees, what a tribunal decides and what a household can afford are different things. Keeping them separate makes your case stronger.
01 / Name the rent
Name the rent
- Proposed rent
- The amount a landlord wants to charge from the date in the notice.
- Agreed rent
- What parties actually agreed for a letting. Compare the date, property and tenancy terms.
- Determined rent
- The figure an independent tribunal decides, applying the relevant legal test.
- Affordable rent
- A judgement about what a household can pay while meeting other needs. Here we mean affordability generally, not the specific “Affordable Rent” social-housing product.
02 / What a reduction means
What a reduction means
| Comparison | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Determined versus proposed | Whether the tribunal reduced the landlord’s request. |
| Determined versus existing | Whether the renter’s bill will rise, stay the same or fall. |
| Rent versus household resources | Whether enough remains for other essentials; the market test does not answer this. |
When reporting a win, state both comparisons. Do not call a rejected proposal “money recovered” if that money was never paid.
03 / Affordability, with definitions
Affordability, with definitions
Historical ONS measure: mean private monthly rent divided by median gross monthly income of private-renting households. Gross means before tax. These are area ratios, not the average share paid by each individual household.
ONS’s threshold for this measure is 30% or less. It is an analytical benchmark, not a statutory rent cap or a guarantee that a particular household can afford its home.
Period: 2024. Checked 4 November 2026. A newer comparable release was not verified in this build, so these figures are explicitly historical.
04 / Outcomes in published cases analysed
Outcomes in published cases analysed
Published decisions show what happened in selected disputes. They exclude increases never challenged and may omit unpublished or delayed decisions. The cases are not a random sample of landlords or renters.
No pooled success rate or regional “odds” appears in this release. The pack’s regional and total counts could not be reconciled. We will not turn that uncertainty into a prediction for your case.
Any future outcome chart must show its denominator, period, legal regime, missing records and exclusions. Notices served before and after the reform must be separated.
Explore an existing dataset and its methodology. External totals change; they have not been independently replicated here.
05 / What evidence can support change
What evidence can support change
Combine carefully reviewed case outcomes with representative affordability data, documented enforcement problems and renters’ accounts. Each answers a different question.
That combination can show the limits of individual remedies without claiming that tribunal cases measure every landlord’s behaviour. Read the policy debate →
09 / Sources for this page
Sources for this page
- Apply for an open market rent determination — HM Courts & Tribunals Service
- Private rental affordability: 2024 — Office for National Statistics
- Published decisions and methodology — Rent Rise Check
- Regional tribunal outcomes article — Benham and Reeves
Information checked 4 November 2026. Read the method, full registry and limits →