UK Renters' Rights Act Dates for Landlords

Calculate two dates landlords in England now have to get right under the Renters' Rights Act, which took effect on 1 May 2026. One JSON result goes to the dataset and to the key-value store's OUTPUT record. Not legal advice.

What it does and who it is for

For landlords, letting agents and AI agents. Choose a mode and supply dates:

• rent-increase: the earliest date a section 13 rent increase (Form 4A) can start. It is the start of a rent period no earlier than 2 months after the notice is served, 52 weeks after the tenancy began, and 52 weeks after the last increase took effect 1, 2.
• pet-request: the deadline to reply in writing to a tenant's request to keep a pet. That is 28 days from the request, or, if you asked for more information, the later of that date and 7 days after it arrived 3.

Quick start

Prefill input:

{
  "mode": "rent-increase",
  "noticeServedDate": "2026-10-10",
  "tenancyStartDate": "2025-11-15"
}

Output (the sources list of two links is omitted here):

{
  "mode": "rent-increase",
  "noticeServedDate": "2026-10-10",
  "tenancyStartDate": "2025-11-15",
  "lastIncreaseDate": null,
  "rentFrequency": "monthly",
  "rentDay": null,
  "shortMonthRule": null,
  "earliestStartDate": "2026-12-15",
  "notBefore": "2026-12-10",
  "rule": "The start of a rent period no earlier than 2 months after service, 52 weeks after the tenancy began, and 52 weeks after the last increase took effect.",
  "notes": [
    "If you post the notice, allow extra days for delivery. Use the current Form 4A from GOV.UK. Not legal advice."
  ]
}

notBefore is the earliest date allowed by the three time limits; earliestStartDate moves it on to the start of the next rent period.

Input fields

Field	Type	Required	Default	Meaning
mode	string	yes (single input)	none	rent-increase or pet-request
noticeServedDate	string	rent-increase	none	Date the Form 4A notice is served, YYYY-MM-DD
tenancyStartDate	string	rent-increase	none	Date the tenancy began, YYYY-MM-DD
lastIncreaseDate	string	no	none	Date the last increase took effect, YYYY-MM-DD
rentFrequency	string	no	monthly	monthly or weekly
rentDay	integer	no	tenancy start day	Day of the month rent periods start, 1-31; monthly rent only
shortMonthRule	string	see below	none	last, next or unsure
requestReceivedDate	string	pet-request	none	Date the written request was received, YYYY-MM-DD
informationReceivedDate	string	no	none	Date the information you asked for arrived, YYYY-MM-DD
items	array	no	none	Batch input, on its own; see Batch use

shortMonthRule is required only when the monthly rent day is the 29th, 30th or 31st. It says what the agreement does in a month without that day: last (the last day of the month), next (the 1st of the next month) or unsure (uses the later date and adds a warning). It matters because a wrong start date can make the notice invalid (Mooney v Whiteland [2023] EWCA Civ 67).

Fields from the other mode, and unknown fields, are rejected. Do not include names or addresses.

Output fields

Field	Meaning
mode	The calculation run
noticeServedDate, tenancyStartDate, lastIncreaseDate, rentFrequency, rentDay, shortMonthRule	rent-increase inputs as used (null if not given)
earliestStartDate	Earliest date the new rent can start
notBefore	Earliest date the time limits allow, before moving to a rent period start
requestReceivedDate, informationReceivedDate	pet-request inputs as used
replyBy	The pet request reply deadline
rule	Statutory rule applied (rent-increase)
notes, sources	Notes and caveats; official sources

pet-request also returns initialDeadline (28 days from the request) and deadlineAfterInformation (7 days after the information arrived, or null).

Batch use

Send {"items": [ ... ]} with up to 1,000 inputs, each with mode, for one dataset row per item with its index. A bad item gives a row with error instead of failing the run. Give no other top-level fields with items.

Use from code

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/landlordtools~uk-renters-rights-dates/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode": "rent-increase", "noticeServedDate": "2026-10-10", "tenancyStartDate": "2025-11-15"}'

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('landlordtools/uk-renters-rights-dates').call({
  mode: 'rent-increase', noticeServedDate: '2026-10-10', tenancyStartDate: '2025-11-15',
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items[0].earliestStartDate);

Use with AI agents

AI agents can call this Actor through Apify's MCP server (https://mcp.apify.com). Example prompt: "A tenancy started on 15 November 2025 and I serve a Form 4A on 10 October 2026. When can the new rent start?"

Limits

England only, for assured tenancies under the Housing Act 1988 as amended from 1 May 2026. Dates do not allow for postal delivery, so allow extra days if you post the notice. The logic is the same as the free calculators on landlorddeadlines.co.uk; the tests check over 1,000 cases against the site's code.

Integrations

Power Platform, OpenAPI, Excel and Google Sheets files are in integrations/README.md. Apify's Zapier, Make and n8n apps work too.

Pricing

Pay per event: $2 per 1,000 results, plus Apify's tiny per-run start fee ($0.00005). See the Pricing tab for the current price.

Related Actors

• England PRS Registration Deadline: PRS registration dates.
• UK Working Days: working days and CPR 2.8 time limits.
• UK Business Deadlines: company and tax deadlines from a date.
• UK Late Payment Interest: interest on a late business invoice.

Sources

1. legislation.gov.uk: Housing Act 1988, section 13 (increases of rent), as amended from 1 May 2026. Accessed 3 October 2026.
2. GOV.UK: Assured tenancy agreements, a guide for landlords: rent increases. Accessed 3 October 2026.
3. GOV.UK: Assured tenancy agreements, a guide for landlords: if a tenant wants a pet to live with them. Accessed 3 October 2026.