Tell your tenant the rent is changing, properly and in writing. Enter the present rent, the revised rent and the date it takes effect, and download a notice of rent revision PDF with an acknowledgement slip for the tenant to sign. Free, no sign-up.
Almost every dispute about a rent increase is really a dispute about notice: the tenant says they were never told, or were told too late, or were told a different number. A dated letter with an acknowledgement slip removes all three arguments at once. That is the entire job of this document, and it is why the generated PDF has a tear-off acknowledgement at the bottom for the tenant to sign and return.
The letter does not change your rent agreement. If you want the revised rent written into the tenancy itself, that is a fresh agreement or a supplementary one — a different document, and one that may attract stamp duty.
If your rent agreement fixes a notice period or contains an escalation clause, that is what governs — read it first. Where the agreement is silent, the practical convention is at least one month's written notice before the revised rent falls due, and giving two is both common and better received. This tool defaults the effective date to the first of the month after next for exactly that reason.
What you generally cannot do is revise the rent in the middle of a fixed term where the agreement fixes the rent for that term. An eleven-month agreement at a stated rent means a stated rent for eleven months, and the natural moment to revise is renewal.
No. A notice is not an agreement. It needs no stamping, no notarisation and no registration. What matters is that it is dated, that it is unambiguous about the amount and the effective date, and that you can show the tenant received it — which is what the acknowledgement slip is for. Keep the signed copy.
Hand it over in person and have the acknowledgement signed, which is simplest. Failing that, send it by registered post with acknowledgement due to the tenant at the premises, and keep the receipt. A WhatsApp message or email is worth sending as well — it is not a substitute for a signed acknowledgement, but it is dated evidence that the tenant was told, and it costs nothing.
A lock-in period restricts termination, not necessarily revision. What governs is what your agreement says about the rent. If it fixes the rent for the term, it cannot be revised unilaterally before the term ends, whatever the lock-in says.
In most tenancies the limit is what the parties agreed and what the tenant will accept. Some States have rent control legislation that applies to particular categories of premises and caps revision — usually older tenancies in specific cities. If your property might fall under one, check before you send the letter, not after.
Yes. Enter a lower figure and the wording changes to a reduction throughout, including the heading. It happens more often than people expect — a long vacancy, a difficult year, or a tenant you would rather keep.
Then you have a negotiation, and eventually a choice between accepting the present rent or ending the tenancy on proper notice. This letter is still worth having: it fixes what was proposed and when, which is the foundation of everything that follows.
Also free: rent agreement generator · rent receipt generator · notice to vacate