The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Fees (Amendment) Order 2026 takes effect alongside the first wave of Renters’ Rights Act 2025 changes from 1 May 2026. Its practical purpose is narrow but important: it inserts new charging points into the Property Chamber for rent cases and for certain appeals against civil financial penalties, while preserving existing fee levels for some comparable housing proceedings. (commonsbusiness.parliament.uk)
The Ministry of Justice says the instrument forms the first stage of a wider reform of Property Chamber fees. In its explanatory material, the department states that only 145 of around 250 application types currently attract any fee, and that many of those charges sit below the cost of providing the service. Although the Order extends to England and Wales in legal terms, the memorandum says its practical effect is limited to Property Chamber proceedings relating to property in England. (commonsbusiness.parliament.uk)
For tenants, the most immediate change is that some applications that were previously free will now carry an issue fee. Applications under the amended Housing Act 1988 to determine rent, including challenges to a proposed new rent and applications made within the first six months of a tenancy, now attract a £47 application fee and no hearing fee. The same £47 application fee, again with no hearing fee, applies to applications about the terms of an assured tenancy that arises on succession from a regulated tenancy under the Rent Act 1977. (commonsbusiness.parliament.uk)
The memorandum makes two practical qualifications. First, where a landlord proposed a rent increase before 1 May 2026, the appeal remains outside the new charging point even if the tenant applies after that date. Secondly, not every rent route changes in this first phase: the Ministry of Justice says other rent applications, including fair rent cases under the Rent Act 1977, are unaffected for now and will be considered in later stages of the wider fee reset. (commonsbusiness.parliament.uk)
For landlords and letting agents, the larger cost sits with appeals against new civil financial penalties. Those appeals carry the new standard tribunal rate of £200 on filing and £300 on receipt of a hearing date. According to the Ministry of Justice, the relevant appeal routes cover new breaches and offences linked to the assured periodic tenancy regime, discrimination against tenants with children or in receipt of benefits, rent advertisement rules, and civil penalties connected to unlawful eviction or harassment. (commonsbusiness.parliament.uk)
One element is deferred. The memorandum explains that a further £200 penalty-appeal fee has been set for cases linked to section 6A of the Housing Act 2004, concerning serious Category 1 hazards, but that route will not operate until section 6A itself is fully commenced. By contrast, the changes to rent repayment orders are more limited: the Renters’ Rights Act expands the conduct that can found an application, but the fee remains at the existing £114 application charge and £227 hearing fee. (commonsbusiness.parliament.uk)
Procedurally, this was an affirmative instrument because it introduces fees in areas where no charge previously applied. The Lord Chancellor consulted the Senior President of Tribunals, who made no specific comments, and HMCTS said guidance would be published in May 2026. The process was otherwise tight: there was no public consultation, and the Government did not prepare a full impact assessment, saying the financial effect was below the threshold requiring one. (commonsbusiness.parliament.uk)
The policy case advanced by ministers is cost recovery, but not full cost transfer. The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee said the wider programme is intended to improve consistency and increase the proportion of tribunal costs met by fees, while ministers told peers that an average Property Chamber case costs the taxpayer more than £900 and that some public subsidy will remain. The same committee also noted that later phases of the wider programme are planned for July 2026 and January 2027, subject to ministerial decisions. (publications.parliament.uk)
In operational terms, the amendment is straightforward. From 1 May 2026, tenants considering a rent challenge must factor in a £47 filing fee unless the case falls within the transitional exception, while landlords or agents appealing one of the new civil penalties should budget for a potential combined tribunal cost of £500 if the matter proceeds to hearing. For housing advisers, local authorities and managing agents, the immediate task is to update case triage, template letters and cost advice so that parties know, at the outset, which new Property Chamber routes now carry a fee and which do not. (commonsbusiness.parliament.uk)