Does Virginia have rent control?

No — Virginia has no statewide rent control or stabilization. There is no cap on the size of an increase, and no locality may impose one. 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 authority to regulate rent — so cities and counties cannot enact rent control.

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

Rent cannot change during the term unless the lease authorizes it, so the 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 July 9, 2026 All Virginia topics →

Legislative changes ahead — not yet in force. The rules on this page reflect the law in force today. The following measures would change it:

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 (the figure shown on this page) governs until then.Status: Enacted 2026; effective 2027-07-01 per the official code site's version label (one Realtor-association summary says January 1, 2027 — the official 'Effective July 1, 2027' code version controls). Not incorporated until effective. (checked 2026-07-09).
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 2026-07-09).
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, a tenant may recover actual damages and assert retaliation as a defense in any action brought for possession, 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 2026-08-12).
HB 95 (2026) — Effective July 1, 2027, landlords with 4+ units must offer payment plans for unpaid rent, with no additional late fees accruing while the tenant complies — a conditional overlay on the § 55.1-1204(E) late-fee rules.Status: Enacted 2026 (c. 1105); effective 2027-07-01 per the chapter's own enactment clause. Not incorporated until effective. (checked 2026-08-12).

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), (C) and 2 more Virginia statutes · Verified July 9, 2026

Since July 1, 2024, 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 of nonrenewal) — a period already enacted to grow to 90 days with a guaranteed 30-day tenant decision window on July 1, 2027. There is no limit on how much or how often rent can rise: Virginia has no rent control, and as a Dillon Rule state whose landlord-tenant act supersedes local ordinances, its localities cannot adopt any — though enabling bills were carried over to the 2027 session, so that debate is live. A quirk worth knowing: a multifamily owner who mass-nonrenews 20 or more month-to-month tenancies (or half of them) in 30 days 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	Rent cannot change during the term unless the lease authorizes it, so the 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 2024 c. 831, nonrenewal notice added 2025). This rises to 90 days with a mandatory 30-day tenant decision window on 2027-07-01 (c. 1066 — flagged, not incorporated). Small landlords (four or fewer units) have no renewal-increase notice statute.
Statewide rent control / stabilization	No
Rent control details	There is no cap on the size of an increase, and no locality may impose one. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, and § 55.1-1201 declares the VRLTA supersedes all local ordinances concerning landlord-tenant relations. That structure bars local rent control by leaving localities no 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 authority to regulate rent — so cities and counties cannot enact rent control.
Frequency limits	Not addressed by statute

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Virginia Rent Increase Notice Laws (verified July 9, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/rent-increase-notice/virginia/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Virginia statute in the citations section below.

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

Notes and caveats

Why 30 days is a statutory figure, not a derivation — § 55.1-1253(A) 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 2024 c. 831.
Effective-date discrepancy for the 90-day change — One Realtor-association summary dates the move to 90 days to January 1, 2027; the official code site's version label says July 1, 2027. The official version controls, and the discrepancy is recorded in the pending-legislation flag on this page.
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.

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. There is no cap on the size of an increase, and no locality may impose one. 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 authority to regulate rent — so cities and counties cannot enact rent control.
Can a landlord raise the rent during a fixed-term lease in Virginia?: Rent cannot change during the term unless the lease authorizes it, so the 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.

Statute citations

Va. Code § 55.1-1253 (A), (C) (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, cross-checked against practitioner summaries; 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.