unrealistic rent increase is this legal

[scott150663]

hi guys

 

hope someone can advise me on the following

 

im renting a property that was originally on the market at £1100 PCM,through haggeling with the property owner i got the rent reduced to £960 PCM on a 6 month agreement which finishes at the end of FEB 09

 

 

The landlord has told me he is going to increase the rent to £1120 pcm, i've told him to shove his rent increase where the sun dont shine...

 

 

The property is nice but only worth approx £850 ish compaired to other similar houses...........

 

The landlord has only given me 1 months notice, which i think is too short a notice..............

 

 

I did tell him when we moved in i was looking for 12-18 month stay,which he assured me would be fine.....

 

He has just built another house and is going to rent that out and has had that valued at £800pcm (my prop is same but with 2 extra bedrooms in the loft)

 

 

The agent told him he could get upto £1200PCM for this property hence him trying to increase my rent... (nob)

 

Ive always had a good relationship with him until this episode last week...

 

We are going to rent somewhere else but 4 weeks is very short notice....

 

 

Why are some landlords absolute nobs with no business brains whatsoever....

 

 

Ive been told that he should give me 2 months notice can anyone confirm this please

 

 

thanks for any replies

 

Scott & Family

[jackieandwayne]

This is an assured shorthold tenancy. If, at the end of the 6 months (or whatever term is on your agreement ) you don't leave, then the landord has to take legal action.

 

Now, a clever landlord would have served you with a Section 21 Notice of Seeking Possession 8 weeks prior to the date the tenancy ends (if he wanted you to leave and knew he was going to ask you to leave). Have you received such a document from him? If so, check the dates. He has to give you a clear 8 weeks notice. (or 2 months).

 

It sounds to me that the landord was hoping you would stay and pay the higher rent, therefore may not have served you with this document. If so, that's his problem! He must now give you 8 weeks notice, andif you don;t leave he has to apply to the court for possession. (This will cost YOU £150) He will be granted this, it is his right. You can ask the court for up to 42 days extra for hardship cases. If you don't' leave by the date the court states you must the landlord must get the bailiff's in. (Again this will cost YOU £95)

 

So, when you see him say when are you going to serve me my S21 NOSP? You really do not have to budge until the steps described above have happened - gives you plenty of time to find somewhere better to rent.

[AA99]

I'm also on 6-monthly assured Shorthold Tenancy but also on Income Support/Housing Benefit at the moment. In September 2008, our local council switched their system to new rental levels called LHA (Local Housing Assessment). Our rent benefit due went up to way over what the actual rent was!!!

 

Now we have a renewal letter for April (yes, it must be 2 months to give notice of moving out or rent increase!) but our rent will go up 7% to just under the LHA level:eek:

 

Word is that private landlords have had a whisp of these new levels.....

[scott150663]

This is an assured shorthold tenancy. If, at the end of the 6 months (or whatever term is on your agreement ) you don't leave, then the landord has to take legal action.

 

Now, a clever landlord would have served you with a Section 21 Notice of Seeking Possession 8 weeks prior to the date the tenancy ends (if he wanted you to leave and knew he was going to ask you to leave). Have you received such a document from him? If so, check the dates. He has to give you a clear 8 weeks notice. (or 2 months).no documents served on us

 

It sounds to me that the landord was hoping you would stay and pay the higher rent, therefore may not have served you with this document. If so, that's his problem! ( He is struggling to pay the mortgage i did some work for him and his cheque bounced £3200.00 he has now paid me in full) He must now give you 8 weeks notice, andif you don;t leave he has to apply to the court for possession. (This will cost YOU £150) He will be granted this, it is his right. You can ask the court for up to 42 days extra for hardship cases. If you don't' leave by the date the court states you must the landlord must get the bailiff's in. (Again this will cost YOU £95)

 

So, when you see him say when are you going to serve me my S21 NOSP? You really do not have to budge until the steps described above have happened - gives you plenty of time to find somewhere better to rent.

 

He knows i can afford the rent increase,so i think HE IS TRYING IT ON...

 

thanks for your help

 

Scott

[scott150663]

I'm also on 6-monthly assured Shorthold Tenancy but also on Income Support/Housing Benefit at the moment. In September 2008, our local council switched their system to new rental levels called LHA (Local Housing Assessment). Our rent benefit due went up to way over what the actual rent was!!!

 

Now we have a renewal letter for April (yes, it must be 2 months to give notice of moving out or rent increase!) but our rent will go up 7% to just under the LHA level:eek:

 

Word is that private landlords have had a whisp of these new levels.....

 

Hi

 

Thanks for your comments

 

My rent is well above the LHA and im not claiming any benefits..

 

thanks for confirming 2 months notice

 

Scott

[Planner]

This is an assured shorthold tenancy. If, at the end of the 6 months (or whatever term is on your agreement ) you don't leave, then the landord has to take legal action.

 

Now, a clever landlord would have served you with a Section 21 Notice of Seeking Possession 8 weeks prior to the date the tenancy ends (if he wanted you to leave and knew he was going to ask you to leave). Have you received such a document from him? If so, check the dates. He has to give you a clear 8 weeks notice. (or 2 months).

 

It sounds to me that the landord was hoping you would stay and pay the higher rent, therefore may not have served you with this document. If so, that's his problem! He must now give you 8 weeks notice, andif you don;t leave he has to apply to the court for possession. (This will cost YOU £150) He will be granted this, it is his right. You can ask the court for up to 42 days extra for hardship cases. If you don't' leave by the date the court states you must the landlord must get the bailiff's in. (Again this will cost YOU £95)

 

So, when you see him say when are you going to serve me my S21 NOSP? You really do not have to budge until the steps described above have happened - gives you plenty of time to find somewhere better to rent.

 

Dont thank this poster to much as whats written here is mostly nonsense.

 

You managed to haggle down the rent by £140 pcm for the first six months, so to be honest I am not surprised that your LL now wants to increase it to the level it was originally marketed at. Have you done a quick search of similar properties in the area? - what are the rents like? - can you use these to negotiate with your LL?

 

Check your tenancy agreement, there maybe a rent increase mechanism built into it? - if not then your landlord can serve you a s.13 notice of a rent increase. This will take effect after one full calander month on the next rent due date. Have you been served one of these? If not and there is no rental increase mechanism in your AST, then your LL cannot increasse your rent until the s.13 has been served, at which point you will have the option of having the new proposed rent considered by a rent assessment committee, agreeing to it, or moving out after giving the correct notice.

 

In terms of the s.21 notice, if you dont agree to the increase, rather than goingthrough the s.13 stuff, then your LL may simply serve you one of these given you two full months calander notice to leave the property.

 

So, to answer your original question;

 

- If he want you to leave - its two months notice;

- If he wants to increase your rent - its 1 months s.13 notice.

Edited February 3, 2009 by Planner

[Zamzara]

Bt the way, the LHA allowance figure for housing benefit is always set at the median rent for that type of property in the area, so it's not surprising some people's rents are higher and some lower.

[Steve__M]

As Planner says. If he has only "told" you, rather than send a Section 13 notice, then you can simply ignore.

 

I helped my neighbour do this. Basically, she wrote to him about 2 days before the end of the month giving her reasons for not accepting the rise and asking for any request to be sent "in the correct form". This would have meant the landlord would not have had time to serve either a section 13 notice or a section 21 thus buying an extra month.

 

In my neighbour's case, nothing more was heard (the landlord has apparently backed down).

 

PS. as in your case, my neighbour's landlord and his agent were both saying the property was worth more, but after a bit of investigation it turned out that some agents were accepting 100-150pcm *less* for the same type of house. So definitely worth shopping around.

[help me kick his butt]

Hi All, I was just thinking if it is a 6 month tenancy that ends end of Febv does the LL have to give notice at all, or is it just the tenant that can hand the keys back at the end of the tenanacy without any communication. Sounds like a stupid question, i know, but....... xx

[Planner]

Hi All, I was just thinking if it is a 6 month tenancy that ends end of Febv does the LL have to give notice at all, or is it just the tenant that can hand the keys back at the end of the tenanacy without any communication. Sounds like a stupid question, i know, but....... xx

 

No notice required for tenant to end fix term at its end.

[Steve__M]

But landlord has to give at least 2 months' notice.