Form 3 — Historical Rent Increase Notice
What changed under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025
Section 21 abolished. Fixed-term assured tenancies abolished. Ground 8 threshold raised to 3 months. Information Sheet required for every tenancy by 31 May 2026. Read the full guide.
Form 3 was the prescribed form for a rent increase notice on an assured (non-shorthold) tenancy. Following the unification of all assured tenancies by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, Form 3 no longer applies. Form 4 is now the relevant form for every rent increase.
Form 3 — what it was
Form 3 was the prescribed form for a notice of increase of rent under an assured tenancy that was not an assured shorthold tenancy. In practice, this was used for the small number of legacy assured (non-shorthold) tenancies granted before the Housing Act 1996 made AST the default.
Why Form 3 no longer applies
From 1 May 2026, all assured tenancies in England are assured periodic tenancies. The old categories — assured shorthold tenancy, assured (non-shorthold) tenancy, assured contractual tenancy — were unified by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.
The relevant prescribed form for a rent increase on any assured periodic tenancy is now Form 4. See our Form 4 page.
What if I have a Form 3 from before 1 May 2026?
A Form 3 served before 1 May 2026 with an effective date after that date is at risk of being challenged as a notice on a form that no longer corresponds to the regime under which the tenancy now exists. The conservative answer is to serve a fresh Form 4 notice — counted from the date of service of the new notice, not the original.
What if I served a contractual rent review under my old AST?
Contractual rent review clauses in pre-RRA agreements are void from 1 May 2026. A review carried out before that date and effective before that date is generally valid. A review purporting to take effect on or after 1 May 2026 cannot rely on the contractual clause and must use Form 4.