A legal expert has warned that landlords could still wait many months for a rent rise to take effect, regardless of a potential rent freeze.

Amid widespread dismay across the sector that the government was considering the move as an option to cut the cost of living, Downing Street has dismissed the idea of a freeze on private sector rents, according to The Guardian.

However, Helen Bell, partner at Mayo Wynne Baxter (pictured), says although it's right that the government should be thinking about how it can protect households from the ever-rising costs of living, landlords must really feel they're taking a battering. She explains that while the Renters’ Rights Act provides a mechanism to regulate rent increases – limited to once a year and using a Section 13 notice - once a landlord gives notice to the tenant of their intention to increase the rent, the tenant can refer this to the tribunal for a determination.

“The rent increase will only come into effect on a date determined by the tribunal and not the date of the notice,” says Bell. “With the existing backlog in the tribunal, landlords could easily be waiting for six months to a year or more for the increase to take effect.”

Imposes

She says if the government now imposes an additional burden on the landlord’s ability to collect rent, which is already limited by the Act, this could potentially see more landlords leave the market.

“This would reduce the rental properties available, and that in itself could drive rent increases. In other words, having the opposite effect of what the chancellor is hoping to achieve.”

Research

New research suggests the policy could cut across landlord behaviour already being shaped by regulatory change, according to Pegasus Insight’s landlord trends. Its Q1 2026 data shows that 61% of landlords are planning to increase rents in the next 12 months, with 75% of them linking this to the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act.

Founder and managing director Mark Long says landlords are not setting rents in a vacuum - many are already factoring in the impact of the Act, alongside higher costs, and that is feeding directly into pricing decisions. He adds: “Introducing a rent freeze into that environment could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for those already struggling to balance the books.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves failed to rule out the rent freeze idea when asked about it in the Commons, telling Labour MP Yuan Yang: “I will do everything in my power and use every lever we have to bear down on the cost of living, including for people in the private rented sector.”

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