Respite from rent increase?
I believe the answer is:
let up
'respite' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'rent increase?' is the wordplay.
'rent' becomes 'let' (**).
'increase?' becomes 'up' (upping is a kind of increasing).
'let'+'up'='LET-UP'
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for let up that I've seen before include "Slackening" , "Slack off" , "Become less" , "Relent, relax" , "Relax one's efforts" .)