Rightmove has added a rent review function to its Tenancy Manager platform, allowing letting agents to create and serve Section 13 rent increase notices directly from an existing tenancy record.
The update extends the portal’s Lead to Keys suite further into post-let administration and reflects the way rent-setting workflows have changed since the Renters’ Rights Act reshaped how landlords and agents can handle increases.
For landlords, the immediate significance is administrative control. If more agents can handle rent review notices within the same system they already use for tenancy progression, there is less excuse for clumsy paperwork, missing records or fragmented audit trails when increases are later challenged.
Rightmove pushes Section 13 workflow into one system
Rightmove said the new function lets agents generate and serve a Section 13 rent increase notice without leaving Tenancy Manager. The portal said the change was one of the most requested updates from agents using the platform, with the aim of reducing duplicated admin and keeping tenancy records in one place.
That matters because rent reviews have become more process-driven since the new regime started. The legal right to propose an increase remains, but the room for informal shortcuts is narrower. Systems that keep notices, dates and tenancy information together may now carry more value to landlords than another front-end advertising tweak.
Tarah Lourens, chief technology and operations officer at Rightmove, said the tool was designed to make a necessary process more efficient and easier to manage as the lettings sector adjusts to major change.
This follows Residential Landlord’s recent reporting on Section 13 disputes reaching the tribunal system and coverage of higher compliance workload and agent costs after the Renters’ Rights Act. The latest Rightmove update shows software suppliers are now building products around that pressure rather than waiting for the market to settle.
Landlords should still check the process, not just the platform
Better software does not remove the need for correct notice timing, sensible rent-setting and a clear evidence trail if a proposed increase is challenged. A digital workflow can cut admin mistakes, but it cannot rescue a weak pricing decision or a notice served on the wrong basis.
Still, the direction of travel is clear. As compliance and rent-setting become more formalised, landlords are likely to place greater weight on whether their agent can evidence process properly and move quickly inside joined-up systems.
That could widen the gap between better-equipped agencies and smaller firms still relying on email chains and spreadsheets. For landlords choosing representation, operational discipline is becoming easier to judge – and harder to ignore.
Opinion
The real story is not that Rightmove has shipped another feature. It is that routine rent reviews now need proper workflow support to avoid errors. If the sector keeps getting more procedural, landlords will pay more attention to systems than sales patter.
