The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Fees (Amendment) Order 2026 was made on 30 April 2026 under sections 42 and 49 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and came into force on 1 May 2026. The instrument updates the fee regime for proceedings in the Property Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal so that it matches new routes created or amended by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. The Order states that it extends to England and Wales and applies to Property Chamber proceedings. It was signed for the Lord Chancellor by Alex Davies-Jones at the Ministry of Justice, after consultation with the Senior President of Tribunals, Treasury consent and approval by both Houses of Parliament.
The central change is a full replacement of Schedule 1 to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Fees Order 2013. According to the Explanatory Note, that replacement is intended to add fee categories for new housing cases while preserving much of the existing structure. The Note states that fees 1.2 to 1.6, the existing notes in the Schedule and hearing fee 2.1 are re-stated without substantive change. Article 4 is also amended so that the payment rules now refer to fees 1.1 to 1.12, and to hearing fees 2.1 and 2.2, rather than the narrower references used in the 2013 scheme.
The new fee lines are tied directly to commencement of parts of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 on 1 May 2026. The Explanatory Note says those commencement provisions permit proceedings for which new fees 1.7 to 1.10 and fee 1.12 are prescribed. In practical terms, the revised schedule now covers a new specific fee 1.7 for an application to determine rent, a new specific fee 1.8 for applications to determine the terms of a tenancy under the new statutory framework, and new fees 1.9 to 1.12 for appeals against financial penalties created by the 2025 Act.
One part of the revised schedule is not yet active. The Explanatory Note makes clear that the proceeding linked to fee 1.11 will commence later, when section 6A of the Housing Act 2004 is fully in force. That staggered commencement matters for practitioners. From 1 May 2026, the amended fee order is live, but not every new appeal route is available on the same day. Case screening and client advice will therefore need to distinguish between provisions already commenced and those still awaiting commencement.
The Order also removes two definitions from article 3 of the 2013 fees order: 'leasehold case' and 'residential property case'. The Explanatory Note says those definitions are no longer required because the revised fee schedule does not depend on those broad procedural labels in the same way. Instead, fee 1.1 now refers to specific provisions of primary legislation under which proceedings are brought. For tribunal users, that is a technical drafting change, but it should make it easier to identify the correct fee basis by looking to the statutory route for the application rather than a general category imported from the Tribunal Procedure Rules.
The hearing fee position is also more defined than before. The amended schedule introduces fee 2.2, payable on receipt of notice of a hearing date in proceedings connected to fees 1.9 to 1.12, which are the new financial penalty appeal routes. By contrast, the Explanatory Note states that no hearing fee is payable in proceedings covered by fees 1.3 to 1.8. That means parties bringing rent determination or tenancy terms cases fall within a different charging model from parties pursuing or defending financial penalty appeals.
For landlords, tenants and advisers, the immediate effect is procedural but important. Any case issued on or after 1 May 2026 under the new Renters’ Rights Act routes will need to be checked against the revised Schedule 1 before filing, budgeting or advising on exposure to tribunal costs and fees. The Explanatory Note adds that no impact assessment was prepared because no, or no significant, effect on the private, voluntary or public sectors was foreseen. That suggests the Ministry of Justice views the change chiefly as a necessary implementation measure for the 2025 Act. Even so, the short lead-in period between signature and commencement means housing practitioners will need to update precedents and internal guidance without delay.