Does Virginia have rent control?

No — Virginia has no statewide rent control or stabilization. No statute caps the size of an increase in general, and no locality may impose a general cap. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, and § 55.1-1201 declares the VRLTA supersedes all local ordinances concerning landlord-tenant relations.

Does Virginia preempt local rent control ordinances?

Virginia law does not bar rent control by name, but the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act supersedes all local ordinances concerning landlord-tenant relations and residential leasing, and no statute grants localities general authority to regulate rent, so cities and counties cannot enact rent control. The one narrow local power over rents is an affordable dwelling unit program adopted by zoning ordinance, under which a locality may set and control the rents of the affordable units a developer provides in exchange for added density (§ 15.2-2305, subsection E).

Can a landlord raise the rent during a fixed-term lease in Virginia?

A unilateral change in the terms of a rental agreement is valid only if notice is given and both parties consent in writing (§ 55.1-1204(I)), so an increase normally comes at renewal instead. Landlords who own more than four rental units must give at least 60 days' written notice of a renewal-term increase (§ 55.1-1204(K)).

How much notice is required to raise the rent in Virginia?

Verified October 1, 2026 All Virginia topics →

Enacted but not yet in force. This page reflects the law in force today. The following measures have been signed and take effect on the dates shown:

HB 678 (2026), c. 1066 — Already CHAPTERED but not yet effective: on July 1, 2027, § 55.1-1204(K)'s rent-increase notice for landlords with more than four units extends from 60 to 90 days before the end of the rental agreement term, and the notice must give the tenant a renewal-decision deadline no sooner than 30 days after delivery. The current 60-day rule governs until then. Status: Enacted 2026 (c. 1066, approved April 22, 2026); effective 2027-07-01 under the chapter's own enactment clause. Not incorporated until effective. (checked July 9, 2026).
HB 329 (2026), c. 1111 — Effective January 1, 2027, § 55.1-1258's retaliation rules expand: the lists of prohibited retaliatory acts and protected tenant conduct both grow, the sentence placing the burden of proving retaliatory intent on the tenant is removed (actual damages and the defense in any action for possession, already in today's text, carry over), and failing to renew the tenancy of a Housing Choice Voucher holder without good cause becomes a protected ground. The parallel § 55.1-1314 (Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act) changes with it. Status: Enacted 2026 (c. 1111); effective 2027-01-01 per the chapter. Not incorporated until effective. (checked August 12, 2026).
HB 95 (2026) — Effective July 1, 2027, a landlord who owns more than four rental units (or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four) must offer a payment plan in equal monthly installments over the lesser of six months or the rest of the lease when no more than one month’s rent plus contracted late charges is unpaid, with no additional late fees on that balance while the tenant keeps to the plan — a new subsection G of § 55.1-1245 that sits beside the § 55.1-1204(E) late-fee cap. Status: Enacted 2026 (c. 1105); effective 2027-07-01 per the chapter's own enactment clause. Not incorporated until effective. (checked September 27, 2026).

Legislative changes ahead — not yet in force. This page reflects the law in force today. The following measure would change Virginia's landlord-tenant law:

HB 278 / SB 355 (2026) — local rent regulation ('anti-rent gouging') enabling act — Would let localities adopt rent-increase regulation. Failed in 2026: Senate committee voted 11-4 to continue the bill to the 2027 session, and the Virginia Housing Commission opened a study of local rent regulation in June 2026 — expect a 2027 return. Predecessor HB 2175 (2025, 3% local cap enabling) also died. Status: Continued to the 2027 session; not enacted. § 55.1-1201's supersession clause and the Dillon Rule continue to bar local rent control. (checked July 9, 2026).

Virginia rent increases on month-to-month tenancies take effect only through a written notice, and the new rent cannot start until the next rent due date coming at least 30 days after the notice — a mechanism § 55.1-1253 codifies directly, alongside the 30-day termination notice either party can give.

Cited to Va. Code § 55.1-1253 (A), (B), (D) and 2 more cited sources · Verified October 1, 2026

Since July 1, 2023, larger landlords face a second, stricter rule: anyone owning more than four rental units in the Commonwealth must give tenants with a renewal option or auto-renewing lease at least 60 days' written notice of any renewal-term rent increase (and, since July 1, 2025, of nonrenewal) — a rent-increase period already enacted to grow to 90 days with a guaranteed 30-day tenant decision window on July 1, 2027. No statute caps how much or how often rent can rise, apart from a bar on raising a manufactured home lot's rent at renewal while a locality's notice of violation is unresolved: Virginia has no rent control, and as a Dillon Rule state whose landlord-tenant act supersedes local ordinances, its localities cannot adopt any beyond the rent limits of an affordable dwelling unit program — though enabling bills were carried over to the 2027 session, so that debate is live. A quirk worth knowing: a multifamily owner who, within 30 days, fails to renew the greater of 20 month-to-month tenancies or half of them in the same premises owes each tenant 60 days' notice.

Virginia rent increase notice at a glance

Notice — month-to-month	30 days
Varies by increase size	Not addressed by statute
Fixed-term leases	A unilateral change in the terms of a rental agreement is valid only if notice is given and both parties consent in writing (§ 55.1-1204(I)), so an increase normally comes at renewal instead. Landlords who own more than four rental units must give at least 60 days' written notice of a renewal-term increase (§ 55.1-1204(K)). That 60-day rule applies to fixed-term leases with a renewal option or automatic-renewal provision, and to a landlord who owns more than four rental units (or >10% interest in more than four, individually or through an entity). It covers written notice of any rent increase for the renewal term and of nonrenewal, at least 60 days before the end of the term (§ 55.1-1204(K), added by 2023 c. 706 effective July 1, 2023; the nonrenewal notice was added by 2025 cc. 554 and 562). On July 1, 2027 the rent-increase notice rises to 90 days and must give the tenant a renewal-decision deadline no sooner than 30 days after delivery; the nonrenewal notice stays at 60 days (2026 c. 1066, flagged, not incorporated). Apart from manufactured home lots, a landlord who owns four or fewer units has no renewal-increase notice statute; a manufactured home park landlord must give written notice of any change in terms at least 60 days before a lot rental agreement of a year or more expires (§ 55.1-1302(C)).
Statewide rent control / stabilization	No
Rent control details	No statute caps the size of an increase in general, and no locality may impose a general cap. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, and § 55.1-1201 declares the VRLTA supersedes all local ordinances concerning landlord-tenant relations. Two narrow rules do reach rent levels: a manufactured home community may not raise a tenant's lot rent at renewal while a locality's notice of violation remains unresolved (§ 55.1-1320), and a locality's affordable dwelling unit program may set and control, for 15 to 50 years, the rents of the affordable units a developer provides in exchange for added density (§ 15.2-2305, subsection E). That structure bars local rent control by leaving localities no general enabling authority. Enabling bills keep failing: HB 2175 (2025) died, and HB 278/SB 355 (2026) were continued to the 2027 session with a Housing Commission study underway (flagged in the pending legislation on this page).
Local rent regulation	Virginia law does not bar rent control by name, but the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act supersedes all local ordinances concerning landlord-tenant relations and residential leasing, and no statute grants localities general authority to regulate rent, so cities and counties cannot enact rent control. The one narrow local power over rents is an affordable dwelling unit program adopted by zoning ordinance, under which a locality may set and control the rents of the affordable units a developer provides in exchange for added density (§ 15.2-2305, subsection E).
Frequency limits	Not addressed by statute

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Virginia Rent Increase Notice Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/rent-increase-notice/virginia/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Create a Virginia rent-increase notice — free, no signup, built on the same verified Virginia law as this page.

Notes and caveats

Why 30 days is a statutory figure, not a derivation — § 55.1-1253(D) expressly codifies rent change by notice: the amount set forth in a written notice to the tenant 'shall not take effect until the next rent due date coming 30 days after the notice.' That makes 30 days a statutory mechanism rather than a number inferred from the termination rule.
In practice the notice can approach 60 days — Because the new rent cannot take effect until the next rent due date coming 30 days after the notice, the practical notice period can run close to 60 days.
Two opposite errors about the 60-day renewal rule — Pre-2024 sources say Virginia has no rent-increase notice statute at all, while some 2025 coverage misattributes the 60-day rule to the dead rent-control bill HB 2175. It came from 2023 c. 706, in force since July 1, 2023; 2025 cc. 554 and 562 added the nonrenewal notice.
Effective-date discrepancy for the 90-day change — Some summaries date the move to 90 days to January 1, 2027. The act itself provides that it takes effect July 1, 2027 (2026 c. 1066, enactment clause 2), and the official code prints the 90-day text as the version effective July 1, 2027.
Preemption here is structural, not an express statute — Virginia has no express anti-rent-control statute of the Illinois or Ohio kind. Local rent regulation is blocked instead by the Dillon Rule plus § 55.1-1201's supersession of local landlord-tenant ordinances; the one narrow exception is the rent control a locality may attach to the affordable units of an affordable dwelling unit program (§ 15.2-2305, subsection E).

Common questions: Virginia rent increase notice

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How many days' notice must a landlord give before raising rent in Virginia?: 30 days.
Does Virginia have rent control?: No — Virginia has no statewide rent control or stabilization. No statute caps the size of an increase in general, and no locality may impose a general cap. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, and § 55.1-1201 declares the VRLTA supersedes all local ordinances concerning landlord-tenant relations.
Does Virginia preempt local rent control ordinances?: Virginia law does not bar rent control by name, but the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act supersedes all local ordinances concerning landlord-tenant relations and residential leasing, and no statute grants localities general authority to regulate rent, so cities and counties cannot enact rent control. The one narrow local power over rents is an affordable dwelling unit program adopted by zoning ordinance, under which a locality may set and control the rents of the affordable units a developer provides in exchange for added density (§ 15.2-2305, subsection E).
Can a landlord raise the rent during a fixed-term lease in Virginia?: A unilateral change in the terms of a rental agreement is valid only if notice is given and both parties consent in writing (§ 55.1-1204(I)), so an increase normally comes at renewal instead. Landlords who own more than four rental units must give at least 60 days' written notice of a renewal-term increase (§ 55.1-1204(K)).
How often can a landlord raise the rent in Virginia?: Not addressed by statute.

Citations

Va. Code § 55.1-1253 · (A), (B), (D) (verified 2026) Official source
Va. Code § 55.1-1204 · (K) (verified 2026) Official source
Va. Code § 55.1-1201 (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Virginia Code site (law.lis.virginia.gov): §§ 55.1-1226, 55.1-1204 (both the current version and the 'Effective July 1, 2027' version), 55.1-1253, and 55.1-1229 each read in full twice (independent reads matched verbatim); §§ 55.1-1200 (definitions), 55.1-1201 (applicability/supersession), 55.1-1203, 55.1-1206, 55.1-1208, and 55.1-1210 read in full once. 2026 session laws (cc. 722/723, 1050, 1066, and the HB 15/SB 48 and HB 95 changes) identified via official code version labels and section history lines; 2026 HB 278/SB 355 status (continued to 2027) checked 2026-07-09. 2024 Acts of Assembly c. 46 (HB 701) read in full on legacylis.virginia.gov 2026-07-09 and its added language confirmed against the current § 55.1-1229 text, confirming the earlier reading. October 1, 2026: every section the security deposit, rent increase, late fee and entry answers rest on was read again on the Code of Virginia site (law.lis.virginia.gov), which prints the 2026 session's amendments and a separately dated version of each section a 2026 act changes in 2027: §§ 55.1-1200, 55.1-1201, 55.1-1203, 55.1-1204, 55.1-1206, 55.1-1208, 55.1-1210, 55.1-1223, 55.1-1226, 55.1-1229, 55.1-1253, 55.1-1302 and 55.1-1320, with §§ 54.1-2108.1 and 15.2-2305. Each 2025 and 2026 act amending them was read in its chaptered text on the Legislative Information System (lis.virginia.gov), and its effective date taken from the act's own enactment clause: 2025 chapters 554, 562 and 655 and 2026 chapters 353, 354, 598, 722, 723, 1050, 1066, 1105 and 1111. The acts that first enacted the renewal-notice and rent-change provisions (2023 chapters 679 and 706, 2024 chapter 831) were read on the Legislature's archive site.