Emoji on trial: Can a thumbs-up waive a rent increase?
min readIn the recent decision of N'Guessan v Bewry [2026] EWCC 9, the County Court at Croydon considered a landlord’s section 8 possession claim based on rent arrears alongside the tenant’s counterclaim for disrepair.
There was one particular point of interest in this case: whether a ‘thumbs up’ emoji response from the landlord could be taken as meaning that the tenant did not have to pay the increased rent.
In December 2022, the landlord served a notice on the tenant under section 13 of the Housing Act 1988, proposing to increase her rent from £950 to £1,200 per month. The tenant received the notice and did not make any application to the Tribunal to challenge it. She told the landlord she could not afford the increase and continued paying only £950.
When the tenant messaged the landlord to say that she could not afford the increase, the landlord replied with a "thumbs up" emoji as part of a chain of messages. The tenant argued this amounted to an agreement to write-off the increase. The Court disagreed, finding that the emoji could have meant the landlord noted or understood her view— not that he agreed to forgo the higher rent. Accordingly, it did not amount to an agreement to waive the rent increase and arrears of £9,250 were established.
Whist the Court in this case held that the “thumbs up” emoji did not amount to an agreement to waive the rent increase, the Court's reasoning turned on the specific facts including that the landlord had also sent messages insisting the tenant was required to pay. In different circumstances, it is possible that an emoji could be construed as acceptance or agreement.
The key risk is ambiguity. As this case illustrates, a thumbs up emoji is capable of bearing multiple meanings: it might signal agreement, acknowledgment, or simply that the sender has read the message. The important takeaway from this decision is that even informal communications could be found to be binding (even though they were not in this case due to ambiguity of meaning). However, landlords and tenants should ensure they are careful in what they say in informal communications to avoid disputes arising.
“I am not persuaded that a thumbs up emoji, on the facts of this case, can be taken as meaning that the Defendant did not have to pay the increased rent. It could simply mean that he noted her view, or that he understood it. It may be that he agreed that she could not afford to pay the new rent – but that is very different to making the next step to agreeing that the rent would not, therefore, be increased.”
