How UpRently works

This page explains how UpRently reaches a result and what the evidence can and cannot tell you, so you can decide how much weight to put on your result. If something here does not match what the service actually does, tell us.

What UpRently is

UpRently is a self-service rent comparison service for private renters and landlords in England. The free rent check compares a proposed rent increase with similar rental properties advertised nearby, and shows two of the closest comparable properties and timing reminders based on the dates you enter.

The result is a comparison, not a valuation or a decision about what the rent should be. If you want more detail, the £9.99 Evidence Pack brings together up to 20 comparable rental properties, an explanation of the evidence and the method used, in one dated PDF. You can read a complete sample, for a tenant and for a landlord, before you pay.

See a sample Evidence Pack

A rent increase notice tells you what the new rent will be. It does not make it easy to work out whether that amount is supported by the local rental market. Comparing homes properly takes time: finding ones that are genuinely similar, checking where they are and understanding the difference between advertised rents and rents tenants actually agreed to pay. UpRently was created to make that first piece of work easier, for renters weighing up an increase and for landlords setting one.

UpRently is run by a sole trader, named in our Terms. It is not a letting agent, landlord, law firm or government service.

How the free rent check works

The checker takes you through five short steps. We ask for:

• your postcode, property type and number of bedrooms
• your current rent and proposed new rent
• some details about your home, such as its size, age, condition, outdoor space and parking
• the relevant dates from your tenancy and rent increase notice

Your free result includes a verdict, a comparison chart, the two closest comparable rental properties we found and timing reminders based on the dates you entered.

The verdict is not produced by AI

The verdict is worked out using fixed rules. Give the checker the same evidence and it will reach the same result. AI is used for one thing only: writing the short plain-English explanation that accompanies the result. Before you see that explanation, we check it against the actual figures. If it introduces a number we did not provide or describes the comparison incorrectly, we discard it and use a fixed explanation instead.

Where the comparable rents come from

A comparable is a rental property similar to yours and advertised nearby. We ask our data supplier, PropertyData, for homes currently advertised to let near your postcode with the same number of bedrooms and property type. PropertyData collects live asking-rent listings from major UK property websites.

It returns up to 20 listings, starting from the smallest area around your postcode that has enough of them. Where few similar homes are advertised, the search has to reach further, and the distance of each comparable is shown so you can see how local the evidence is.

Advertised rent is not the same as agreed rent

Every comparable we use shows an advertised asking rent: the amount the landlord or agent advertised the property for. Some listings are marked “let agreed”, usually because a tenant has agreed to take the home, but the rent finally agreed is not published, and the marking does not confirm the tenancy went ahead.

This distinction matters. Shelter(opens in new tab) says tenancy agreements for similar properties are the strongest evidence of local market rents, while adverts from property websites and local letting agents can also help. Citizens Advice's guidance on challenging a rent increase(opens in new tab) similarly recommends looking at what similar properties in the area cost. That is why UpRently describes its evidence as advertised rents, not achieved or agreed rents.

Why you usually see fewer than 20 properties

The same home can be advertised on more than one property website, so the listings can contain duplicates. We remove them before the comparison, and only treat two listings as duplicates when both the address and the advertised rent match: matching on address alone can remove genuine properties, particularly flats in the same building.

The Evidence Pack shows both figures, how many listings the data provider analysed and how many comparable properties remained after duplicates were removed, so the difference is never hidden.

How evidence strength is worked out

Evidence strength tells you how much local evidence sits behind the comparison. It is not a prediction of whether a tenant would win a challenge or whether a landlord’s proposed increase would be accepted.

We start with the number of comparable rental properties:

• five or more can provide strong evidence
• three or four can provide moderate evidence
• fewer than three means the evidence is limited

Distance can then lower the rating, but it cannot raise it. If the typical comparable is more than three miles away, a strong rating becomes moderate. If it is more than ten miles away, the evidence is limited. If even one of the properties used is more than ten miles away, we do not describe the evidence as strong, because a home that far away may be part of a different local market. Your Evidence Pack shows the typical and the furthest distance, so you can see what the rating is based on.

Results close to the line

We also flag when the proposed rent is within three per cent of the typical local rent or the top of the range we found. A result that close could change if the evidence changed slightly, so we say so rather than presenting it as more certain than it is.

The separate rental estimate

The comparable-rent comparison is the main evidence behind your result. We also ask for your home’s floor area and other details, such as its condition, outdoor space and parking, and use them to produce a separate rental estimate for the home itself. When you select your home from the list of homes at your postcode, the floor area is filled in from that home’s own Energy Performance Certificate, and you can change it. If you keep the certificate’s figure, your Evidence Pack says so with its other sources, with the date of the inspection. Very small homes, under 300 square feet, do not get one, because our data supplier does not value homes that small.

The estimate is calculated differently from the comparison, and the two can point in different directions. When that happens, your Evidence Pack shows both and explains what each is based on. We do not pick whichever figure gives the more favourable answer, and we do not treat the estimate as a replacement for local comparable evidence.

What the timing reminders look at

For a tenant, the reminders cover:

• your deadline to apply, which is the day the new rent starts
• whether the notice appears to give at least two months, counted from the date shown on it and, if it reached you later, from the day it arrived
• whether the increase falls in the first 52 weeks of the tenancy
• whether the application fee applies
• what to do if paying from the new date would be hard for you

For a landlord, they cover:

• whether the increase falls in the first 52 weeks of the tenancy
• whether 52 weeks have passed since the last increase
• the date the notice has to be served by for the start date you plan

These are timing reminders, not a notice validity check. We do not check whether the new rent starts at the beginning of a period of the tenancy, and we do not decide whether the correct form was used, whether the notice was served correctly, whether it names the right tenants, whether an earlier increase you have not told us about affects the position, or whether it was completed and signed correctly. If the checker does not flag a timing issue, that only means the points it looked at did not raise one.

Why UpRently is built this way

The official process looks at the open market rent for the individual property, so UpRently is built around comparable local homes rather than a single postcode average.

• Named properties. Homes in the same postcode can be very different, so we show each comparable’s location, distance and advertised rent rather than only an average.
• Distance matters. We use the closest suitable homes, and distance can lower the evidence strength. We would rather say the evidence is limited than make a wide search look stronger than it is.
• A comparison, not a rent decision. We show where a proposed rent sits within the local evidence. If an official rent determination is needed, that decision belongs to the official process.
• Dates are free. A tenant considering a challenge needs the deadlines as well as the evidence, so the timing reminders are part of the free check.
• We ask rather than guess. Where details such as floor area or condition matter, we ask you for them rather than pretending we already know. Where we fill one in, such as a floor area from your home’s own certificate, we say where it came from and you can change it.

The official rent challenge process is changing

At the moment, a tenant challenging a rent increase in England still applies to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). The government announced in September 2026(opens in new tab) that HMRC’s Valuation Office will take responsibility for initial decisions on rent increase challenges in future. The government is still developing that change, so tenants continue to use the First-tier Tribunal for now. UpRently will update its guidance and methodology when the official process changes.

For journalists and advisers

• What it is: an independent self-service rent comparison service for private renters and landlords in England.
• The free check: a verdict, the two closest comparable properties and timing reminders.
• The Evidence Pack: £9.99, one payment, with every comparable found (up to 20), the method and a dated PDF. Read a sample.
• The data: advertised asking rents from PropertyData, not agreed rents.
• The verdict: fixed rules. AI writes only the short explanation, which is checked against the figures before it is shown.
• What it does not do: give legal advice, decide whether a notice is valid or say what a rent should be.

For media, research or adviser enquiries, contact UpRently and choose “Media or press enquiry” or “Partnership or adviser referral”. Our guides to rent increases explain the wider rules and process.

What UpRently is not

UpRently is evidence and information, not legal advice. We do not:

• decide whether a rent increase notice is legally valid
• tell a tenant whether they will win a challenge
• tell a landlord what rent they should charge
• guarantee how a tribunal or future decision-maker will assess the evidence
• claim that advertised asking rents are the same as rents tenants actually agreed to pay

For advice about your own situation, Shelter(opens in new tab) and Citizens Advice(opens in new tab) provide free independent housing advice. A solicitor can advise you where you need legal advice about your circumstances. UpRently only covers rented homes in England.

Our glossary explains the terms used here, and our frequently asked questions cover the free check, the Evidence Pack, payment and your data. We review this page at least every three months, and sooner when the checker, the evidence source or the official process changes.

Last updated 25 October 2026