How to File the Tribunal Response When a Tenant Challenges the Rent

This file begins only after the tenant has applied for an open-market rent determination in England. The current GOV.UK page names the landlord’s response as MR2, says the landlord has 28 days if they want to respond, and requires the response to be copied to both the tenant and the tribunal. Read the application and directions first, date the property and comparable-letting pages, send one complete pack, and retain the written decision. A line in the email thread is not MR2.

If the only paper is the notice proposing a new rent, this file has not started. That notice belongs in the section 13 notice file. Amounts actually paid belong in the rent schedule, while advert facts belong in the listing facts sheet. The tribunal decision is not a possession order. If the home is outside England, use the relevant local route instead.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

Confirm that the application has arrived

The GOV.UK open-market rent determination page, last updated 10 August 2026, calls the tenant’s application MR1, including the online route. It covers a proposed rent increase, an initial rent challenged in the first 6 months, and an agricultural occupancy. In each case, this file still consists of MR2 and the later written decision.

Note which issue the application raises before drafting the response. A tenant may challenge the proposed increase, the initial rent, or the validity of the notice alongside the rent. If validity is already raised, MR2 can answer that point. The existing notice remains in its earlier file; the landlord is now responding to the application already made.

Read the tribunal’s directions before counting anything. GOV.UK prints 28 days if the landlord wants to respond, but that sentence does not say whether the period begins on receipt, on opening an email, or on another date. If the directions give a date, put that date on the file and follow it. The practitioner guidance also warns against starting the count from the moment the email was opened.

Date the property pages and the rent evidence

The GOV.UK page asks for a floor plan or rough layout, a recent photo of each room, an outdoor photo of the front, room sizes, property features and who supplied them, and details of repairs or improvements including who did the work and who paid. It also asks for local amenities and other supporting documents. Put a capture or preparation date on every page. The page says a photo should be recent but gives no maximum age in days, so the date is evidence practice rather than a new statutory deadline.

For the rent evidence, use similar nearby properties with comparable size, features and location. The same HMCTS guidance says that letting-agent, Rightmove and Zoopla material can help, but actual agreed lettings are stronger. Market rental agreements are also usually stronger than housing-association rents, previous fair-rent decisions or local housing allowance rates. If a portal page is used, save the page itself with its source and capture date because a live listing can change or disappear.

MR2 should state the rent the landlord says is the open-market rent and explain how the evidence supports it. Identify important differences between each comparable and the subject home instead of attaching a stack of listings without analysis. Room condition, supplied furnishings and improvements matter because Housing Act 1988 section 14 specifies the open-market test and what the tribunal disregards, including certain effects of tenant improvements.

Send MR2 once, to both recipients

Complete MR2 with the case reference and attach the dated property pages and comparables. Send the same pack to the tribunal and the tenant, or the tenant’s representative where one has been appointed. Retain the sent pack and proof of when and how each copy went. A draft reply left in the case email thread does not show that the required form and evidence reached both recipients.

Read the decision without turning the figures into one timetable

The written decision states the determined rent and the date the new rent starts. For a proposed increase, section 14ZB(5) makes the payable amount the open-market rent if it is lower than the proposed rent, and otherwise the proposed rent. A hardship date under section 14ZB(4) must fall before the end of 2 months beginning with the determination date. That 2-month rule belongs to the statute, not to the GOV.UK response sentence.

For a challenge to the initial rent, section 14ZA makes the payable amount the open-market rent if lower than the tenancy rent, and otherwise the tenancy rent. The directed start date cannot be earlier than the application date. Neither route permits the response file to manufacture a higher figure or draft a replacement notice.

The current MR1 (08.26) is the source for the tenant’s 14-day MR3 reply. That period is not the landlord’s window, and the older Rents 1A name does not replace MR2 on the current guidance page. Likewise, the £47 shown on GOV.UK is an application cost, not a charge for sending the landlord’s response.

The written decision closes this response file

A complete file contains MR2, each property page and comparable with a date, proof that the tribunal and tenant received the same pack, and the written decision. If no response went out, it contains the incoming application and that decision. The decision records the rent and start date; it does not grant possession and does not reopen the notice-serving procedure.

IziRento can store MR2, the dated attachments, transmission proof and decision. It does not complete the form, choose comparables, decide the rent or send the response.