Early evidence from the first month of the Renters Rights Act suggests that fewer sitting tenants saw their rent rise.  

But when a rent rise does come, it’s bigger than usual – the average annual increase in May was 5.4% .

This is according to Hamptons lettings agency, analysing Connells Group data from a wide range of agency brands.

Hamptons says that in May, the number of tenants who saw their rent increase was 23% lower than in May 2025, and 16% below the five-year May (2021-2025) average.

While the number of rent increases may rise in future months as landlords adjust to the new system, the agency suggests there is limited evidence to suggest that landlords pushed through rent increases in advance of May 1, when the Act kicked in.

The number of rent increases between January and April 2026 was 3% lower than in the same period of 2025, indicating that behaviour remained broadly consistent in the run-up to implementation.

If the number of rent increases recorded in May 2026 were repeated for the rest of the year, Hamptons estimates that 31% of tenants would see their rent rise when landlords are able to do so (i.e. after a 12-month period).

This marks a clear decline from 40% over the 12 months to May 2025, and from a peak of 50% in the 12 months to January 2024, when rents on newly agreed rentals were rising at double-digit pace.

This change reflects more than just a cooling market. It points to a structural shift in how rents are adjusted.  

Under the previous system, rents were often reviewed when a tenancy renewed, allowing for more frequent, incremental increases.  Under the new rules, landlords look more likely to space out increases over longer periods.

Evidence from Scotland — where periodic tenancies have been in place since 2017, alongside more recent rent controls — suggests this tends to result in fewer increases overall, but larger adjustments when they do occur.

Among those tenants who did see their rent change, the average annual increase in May was 5.4%.

Hamptons says these figures remain higher than the increases recorded in new lets (+1.1% in the year to May).  

This is because increases for existing tenants often reflect a catch-up to market levels, particularly when rents have not been adjusted for some time and have fallen below prevailing rates. 

Where landlords have increased rents, Scotland has consistently seen the largest rises, with an average increase of 7.7% in May.

Scotland has had periodic tenancies since 2017, and rent increases were typically capped at 3% per year until April 2024, when this cap was lifted.  

The sharp increases in Scottish rents seen during 2024 and 2025 reflected rents returning to market levels after being capped.

However, since then, rent increases have increasingly reflected landlords making fewer, but larger adjustments to rents.  

This may offer an early indication of how the market in England evolves under the Renters Rights Act.