a BIG rent increase.....

[hammers69]

my friend lives in a 3 bed terraced house. she has lived there over 3 years now. when she first moved in the tenancy agreement was done through a letting agent, she signed a 6 month contract. anyway after the 6 months was up, the landlord said he wasnt going to go back to the letting agent so to save himself some money. a new cntract was never signed. this week my friend recieved a letter from the landlords wife stating that she has gone to a new letting agent & the rent will increase in november in course with the other rental property prices in the area.now the increase is 225 a month.can she do this?

any help would be great, thanks

[MrShed]

Depends -he can refuse, but will almost certainly be evicted.

[hammers69]

really......even without a tenancy agreement?....also isnt it a bit of a big increase.....225quid extra a month, isnt there only a certain percentage it can be raised by?

[huggys boss]

We are in a similar situation. We have not had a rent increased for over 2 years, and our landlord only used the letting agent until we had moved in. Our initial tenancy was for 6 months and has never been renewed.

 

We are waiting for our rent to increase because of the current financial situation. We have taken advice and were told that at the end of the day, the landlord can charge what he wants and it is up to us to decide if we want to carry on living here. If your friend is on benefits they may be able to advise her of her rights. Also if she thinks it is extreme has she approached the fair rents officer at the local council?

[MrShed]

The rent increase CAN be refused. But the tenant CAN be evicted.

 

The quantity of the rent increase is irrelevant in this case.

[worzelGummage]

I thought that the tenant accepted the increase if they stayed in the property?

[MrShed]

No.

[blitz]

Its only accepted if they start to pay that increase. Whilst you can still appeal for the increase to be in line with what is outlined in your previous tenancy agreement, or even appeal to the Rent Assessment Committee with your local authority, there is nothing stopping your landlord from evicting as you are past the fixed term.

[soph123]

im a lettings manager in Gloucestershire and to offer you all some advice, your landlord cannot increase the rent by an unreasonable amount. this is against the law! one action that can be taken is to take your landlord to a "rent tribunal" they will decide what a fair increase should be (I.e £15-£50) any more may be seen as unreasonable. once the rent assessors have come to a decision there is nothing the landlord can do about it. he is then limited to that amount and he is un able to do anything for a minimum of 12 months.

there is a down side to you fighting, he may decide to give you your 2 months notice. remember an assured short hold tenancy does not have to be written down so the same rules apply. make sure if he gives you your notice (section 21) this must be done correctly and on or before your rent day. any more questions I am more than happy to answer hope I helped

[huggys boss]

Just to clarify what I meant about the "fair rents officer" (if I am wrong, then it would be good if somebody could correct me).

 

It is my understanding that a landlord can charge what he wants for a property. Obviously he is not going to want to price himself out of the market, but it is his house so he can charge what he feels it is worth.

 

It is - IMO - up to the tenant then to decide 1) Do I want to live at that property, 2)Is the property worth what the landlord is asking, 3)Can I afford to live there.

 

The fair rents officer can be invited to assess the property by either the landlord or the tenant, and he says what a fair rent would be for the property (normally this assesment would be used if the tenant was claiming HB as a guideline for the HB Department).

 

But at the end of the day, even with a rent assesment, the landlord can still choose his own rent, and it is still up to the tenant to make a decision with regards to them staying in the property or moving to somewhere that they can afford.

 

Am I right in my thinking?

[soph123]

also if your landlord or agent have not done the section 13 notice (rent increase) properly (I.e given you the correct notice period and not just say as of next month) it is not worth the paper it is written on

[soph123]

no that is not true a landlord cannot by law be unreasonable. if there is no tenant than he can charge what he wants however once a tenant has gone in then he has to play ball. the rent officer wont go out to the property and see what it is worth, they assess what is a fair and REASONABLE amount to increase. imagine a world where landlords could just do what they want. that is why the TDS came in.

[MrShed]

Just to clarify what I meant about the "fair rents officer" (if I am wrong, then it would be good if somebody could correct me).

 

It is my understanding that a landlord can charge what he wants for a property. Obviously he is not going to want to price himself out of the market, but it is his house so he can charge what he feels it is worth.

 

It is - IMO - up to the tenant then to decide 1) Do I want to live at that property, 2)Is the property worth what the landlord is asking, 3)Can I afford to live there.

 

The fair rents officer can be invited to assess the property by either the landlord or the tenant, and he says what a fair rent would be for the property (normally this assesment would be used if the tenant was claiming HB as a guideline for the HB Department).

 

But at the end of the day, even with a rent assesment, the landlord can still choose his own rent, and it is still up to the tenant to make a decision with regards to them staying in the property or moving to somewhere that they can afford.

 

Am I right in my thinking?

 

 

OK guys lets clarify(sorry would have liked to embellish, but short on time right now!).

 

There are THREE methods of increasing the rent on an AST.

 

1) Mutual agreement with the tenant

2) New tenancy agreement

3) Section 13 notice enforcing rent increase

 

ONLY option THREE is an enforced method. A tenant can refuse to agree(1) or refuse to sign a new tenancy (2).

 

Option 3 is very seldom used, and the form must be of a prescribed format. It is very unlikely that the OP has received a prescribed form enforcing a rent increase, as per Section 13 above.

 

IF the OP receives such a form, the tenant cannot refuse the rent agreement, but CAN request a rent tribunal to assess for fair rent, and the tribunal CAN overturn the S13 if unfair.

 

To be totally unequivocal though - a tenant CANNOT BE FORCED TO PAY A HIGHER RENT AGAINST THEIR WILL unless the S13 process if followed. Unless this process is followed, the rent will stay as per the initial tenancy agreement, or any other agreement that has superceded.

 

In the case of options 1 + 2, if the tenant refuses, they are at the risk of being evicted through the Section 21 process, which does not require a reason for eviction.

 

Just to answer a point above as well. If the tenant has paid an increased rent, this does NOT in fact show "agreeance" to pay that rent. Only a formal agreement to pay the increased rent, or a S13, will suffice in proving that the tenant is obliged to pay an increased rent level.

[Steve__M]

For info, my neighbour received a request for a rent increase in a letter that did not meet requirements under Section 13 or give one full month's notice.

 

I advised my neighbour to write back (less than a week before the end of the rental month, which starts on the 1st of the month) and say they did not accept the rise and would not be paying a rise unless one month's notice in the correct form is given. As a result, the landlord cannot now enforce a rise till 1st November, and if a Section 21 is issued now, the tenant has till 1st December to leave (apart from the fact that the deposit is not protected )

 

Note that while the above was the central message of the letter, the tenant did also point out in a very diplomatic manner that she was a fantastic, long-term, tenant, he was a crap landlord, and that she'd already viewed similar properties at less rent.

 

I think your friend needs to assess now: how much are rents on similar properties? are there other issues (eg. is the landlord competent, or are there ongoing maintenance issues)? Is the landlord likely to be open to negotiation? Is your friend prepared to move?