Landlord has revised rent increase

[vindice78]

HI everyone, I couldn't find anything similar to this, so apologies if this has been answered before.

 

We are currently living in a private rented house where we rent through a letting agent. We have been in the house almost 3 years now with no problems at all until the end of last year when the letting agent tried to get us to sign a renewal and pay them £120 for the privelege.

 

We refused to pay the charges and told the landlord, they were quite happy as they didnt agree with the charges either. UNfortunately things went downhill. The agents became increasingly insistent and when I sent them an email asking them for an explanation as to why their charges were so high they didn't give us an answer.

 

The contract renewal went unsigned and we started into a SPT until the landlady asked us if we could at least return the renewal for the sake of her mortgage or she would have to evict.

 

We sent off the forms but now some months later the letting agents are saying that they didn't receive them and now they want to issue a new renewal with a rent increase. They say because we haven't got a signed contract then they are at liberty to put the rent up even if the original renewal had no rent increase.

 

I have a copy of the original renewal they sent through last year on email and I think they are trying to use an increase in rent to get their renewal fee that we refused to pay. I'm also considering whether we should use the legislation of superstrike v Rodrigues to try and show the landlady that if she tries to get a rent increase with the letting agents that we may take action against her for not issuing us with new details regarding the security deposit when the Stautory periodic tenancy began.

 

All we really want is to carry on renting the house and maintain a good relationship with the owners but we refuse to be ripped off by them or the letting agents. Can anyone offer some advice?

[mariner51]

Forget the renewal, it was never signed and the orig AST continued as SPT. LL can increase rent via s13 if desired.

Did you send unsigned renewal forms back to LL or LA? Any Cerificate of Posting?

(Not sure why it is required for LL mortgage, unless re-mortgaging or switching to B2L mortgage.)

I wouldn't mention lack of SPT PI, LLs can react badly to threats. If your case is valid, any subs s21 will be invalid & penalty like to be at lowest end of scale.

Ignore LA and negotiate with LL directly.

[vindice78]

Thank you mariner51,

 

We did send the renewal forms back as signed but the letting agents say they were never received. Unfortunately I didn't get proof of posting.

 

We have always had an excellent relationship with the LL but I think the LA has poisoned this to be honest. In my opinion they have been in the LL's ear all the time as they are quite old now and inexperienced when it comes to letting out a property. We will try and negotiate with them directly in the hope that they will see some sense.

 

Our primary concern here is that the house is getting a bit on the small side now as the kids are growing fast and the house next door to us which has a far bigger garden, a drive next to the house and larger bedrooms went on the market about 4 months ago for £100 less a month than what the LL is now asking for. I feel that we are already paying a high enough price for a relatively small house to be honest.

[mariner51]

Oh dear! just hope LA does not 'find' your new AST as it is evidence that you accepted new fixed term AST from commencement date and SPT ceased.

Don't sign any replacement with increased rent, or pay any suggested increase. LL can increase existing rent at any time via s13.

Put an offer in for house next door if you think a better deal, then give due SPT Notice to current LL (min 1 month to expire at end of a tenancy period)

[vindice78]

We'll I signed the new forms and dated them in february. The AST we were under had expired in mid December of last year.

 

Just as an aside, the LL had said at the end of January that if we didn't sign a new AST that she would issue a s21. Would that not be seen as harassment considering we were already at that point operating under a perfect legal SPT?

 

The LA don't want this as they're not making any renewal fees from us and I think they've scared the LA into thinking this will effect her mortgage. She is a nervous lady and I think they are manipulating her unfortunately. We've said to her we are more than willing to rent directly from her but she is nervous about this despite the good relationship we've had.

 

Why do LA's have to ruin a good relationship between LA and tenants just because they want these fee's??

 

They charge £120-£130 to the tenants and £200 to the LL. Most agents in our area either make no charge (they let it run into an SPT) or a charge of around £30-40.

[mariner51]

A LL is entitled to serve rel valid s21 at anytime during T, be it fixed term or SPT. It is one of the few methods by which LL can regain legal possession, so valid s21 served during SPT is not harassment & is perfectly legal and you consented by signing new AST.

 

 

I think the sub-story here is that you have found a better property next door but realise you are locked in to new fixed term and will miss out on new property.

So negotiate an early surrender with LL. You vacate the day it is signed and LL can find new Ts without employing LA

[vindice78]

No the property next door is long gone I'm afraid. I've tried speaking to the LL but she isn't returning my texts or phonecalls so I have a feeling that the LA has probably told them to not deal with us directly now.

 

We got on so well with the LL. If ever we had an issue or they had an issue we dealt with each other directly and contact was excellent. Now unfortunately that seems to be over.

 

I think I will just not sign the new renewal and when they issue an s21 I will deal with it then.

 

Thanks for the help, Mariner.