Form 4A Template Download: Where to Get It (and Is There a Word Version?)
Corrected on 2026-06-11: this guide previously said the usable Form 4A "publishes on GOV.UK on 1 May 2026" and that only a watermarked preview was available — true when written (pre-commencement), now out of date. Form 4A has been the live, usable prescribed form on GOV.UK since 1 May 2026, and GOV.UK now designates Form 4 as the social-housing form. Corrected following re-verification against the GOV.UK assured-tenancy-forms page.
If you're searching for a Form 4A template, you're landing here because rent increases on assured tenancies in England changed on 1 May 2026 — and the prescribed notice form changed with them. Short answer: Form 4A is live on GOV.UK and has been the usable prescribed form for private-sector rent increases since 1 May 2026. Here's where to download it and how to complete it.
Where to download Form 4A
The official download lives here: GOV.UK assured-tenancy forms page. Bookmark it. The live form is served there as a PDF — "Form 4A: Landlord's notice proposing a new rent for assured tenancies in the private rented sector". The watermarked preview versions that sat on the page in the run-up to commencement were replaced by the usable forms on 1 May 2026.
GOV.UK prescribed forms are typically published as PDFs under assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/.... Don't trust any third-party site claiming to offer "Form 4A" — the enforcement standard is the GOV.UK-served file, and a notice on a non-prescribed form is liable to be challenged and set aside.
Form 4 is no longer the private-sector form. GOV.UK's notes on Form 4 now read: "Do not use this form if the property is rented privately. You should use form 4A." Form 4 remains in use only for social housing. Every Section 13 rent-increase notice on a privately rented assured tenancy is served on Form 4A.
Is there a Word version?
The government has published Form 4A as a PDF only — there is no Word version as of the last review of this page. Two workable options if you need to complete Form 4A digitally:
- PDF editor. Acrobat, Apple Preview, or any free PDF annotator lets you type into the GOV.UK PDF directly. This is what most letting agents do.
- Use our calculator to compute the fields. The RentersActReady Rent Increase Calculator computes the earliest valid notice date, the earliest effective date, the 52-week minimum, and the 2-month notice period from your tenancy-start or last-increase date. Paste those into the GOV.UK PDF.
Whatever tool you use, the substance has to match Form 4A — you can't re-create the layout on letterhead and hope it passes a tribunal.
Form 4 vs Form 4A — which applies?
| Property type | Form to use |
|---|---|
| Privately rented assured tenancy | Form 4A |
| Social housing (assured / assured shorthold periodic tenancy) | Form 4 |
Since 1 May 2026 the split is by sector, not by date. GOV.UK's guidance on Form 4 is explicit: "Do not use this form if the property is rented privately. You should use form 4A." (In the run-up to commencement the choice turned on the notice's effective date — that transitional question is now historical. Any new rent-increase notice on a privately rented assured tenancy today is served on Form 4A.)
How to complete Form 4A step by step
A condensed version, covered in depth in the main Form 4A guide:
- Check eligibility. At least 52 weeks must have passed since the tenancy began or since the last increase — HA 1988 s.13(2)(b)(ii) sets the test as "the date that falls 52 weeks after the date on which the first period of the tenancy began". Less than 52 weeks = not eligible yet.
- Decide the effective date. This must be at least 2 months after the date of service (not the date of posting — allow for first-class transit time).
- Complete the form. Names, addresses, current rent, proposed rent, effective date, signature. Keep a copy.
- Serve the notice. First-class post or in person. Separately, LTA 1987 s.48(1) requires the landlord to have furnished the tenant "by notice" with "an address in England and Wales" at which notices can be served — usually done via the tenancy agreement, but the statutory duty is satisfied by any written notice, not only the agreement itself.
- Hold the line. If the tenant refers the notice to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), the tribunal decides the rent. Build your comparables before you serve, not after.
For the full step-by-step plus the tribunal's approach to comparables, see the Form 4A deep guide and the Rent Increase Calculator.
You'll also need a covering letter
The Form 4A on its own is the prescribed legal notice — a covering letter is not a legal requirement. But most landlords and agents send a short one alongside it, and done well it lowers the chance of a tribunal referral. Done badly, it muddies the notice you've just served.
The letter is not the notice. Only the completed GOV.UK Form 4A is the legally valid Section 13 notice. Nothing you write in the covering letter can substitute for the prescribed-form wording, change the effective date, or fix a defect in the form itself. Refer to the Form 4A; don't re-state it.
A separate letter usually helps with long-standing or agent-managed tenancies, or any increase the tenant might query (a larger-than-usual rise, the first in several years, or one tied to a refurbishment). A short explanation now is cheaper than answering the same question via the First-tier Tribunal later. If the tenancy is new (under 12 months) no letter is needed — the increase isn't lawful yet anyway under HA 1988 s.13(2)(b)(ii), as amended by RRA 2025 s.6.
What to put in the covering letter
Keep it to one page, four or five paragraphs:
- Name the document. Tell the tenant explicitly what's enclosed: a Form 4A notice of proposed new rent. Use the form's name — the tenant may need to refer to it later if they apply to the tribunal under HA 1988 s.14.
- State the current rent, proposed rent, and effective date — pulled straight from the Form 4A, not paraphrased or rounded. Any discrepancy between the letter and the form is what a tenant or tribunal flags immediately.
- Give the reason, briefly. One or two sentences: local market rents have moved, costs have risen, or no increase has been applied for some years. Don't frame the increase as a response to the tenant's behaviour or as a route to move them on — possession is a separate process under RRA 2025 and Section 8, and tying a rent rise to it can be characterised as a retaliatory increase.
- Acknowledge the tenant's options. This is the paragraph most pre-RRA templates miss. The tenant can accept the new rent, negotiate a lower figure by agreement (HA 1988 s.13(4)(b)), or refer the proposed rent to the First-tier Tribunal before the effective date. Under the RRA the tribunal cannot set a rent higher than the landlord proposed — which removes the deterrent that used to keep tenants from challenging, so a short paragraph inviting a conversation is the cheapest available form of dispute resolution.
- Provide a way to respond. Email is fine; a phone number helps. Give a sensible window — two weeks before the effective date is typical.
What to leave out
- Threats or ultimatums. "If you don't accept this, we'll begin possession proceedings" is not a lawful position to take in connection with a Section 13 increase. Possession is a separate process; conditioning one on the other invites scrutiny.
- References to "fault" or "warnings". A Section 13 increase is rent-only. Anything that reads like a notice of breach belongs in a separate letter under a separate statutory route.
- Re-statements of the Section 13 rules in your own words. The prescribed Form 4A already contains the statutory wording. Paraphrasing it risks creating a document the tenant treats as the notice, then disputes for not being in the prescribed form.
Download the free covering-letter template above (Word, no signup), then adapt it to your tenancy and check the figures against the Form 4A you serve.
Related guides
- Form 4A rent increase under the Renters' Rights Act — the full procedural guide
- Fair rent increase — what percentage is defensible — comparables + tribunal evidence
- RRA key dates and timeline — all three phases at a glance
Guidance only, not legal advice. Verify against legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK before relying on any rate or date.