Tenancy agreement question

omg29

Had a letter from landlord stating a £30 a month rise. Went to la and asked them to ask ll if he would consider leaving rent the same then we will sign for another 12 month lease. Came back and said the best he could do is a rise of £20 a month. We agreed and said we would like a 12 month tenancy again.
La said she would type it up and send it out asap. She hasnt as oif yet, and we're starting to think of not renewing and moving to somewhere cheaper.
ARE WE LEGALLY TIED INTO A 12 MONTH TENANCY? ( WE HAVENT SIGNED ANY AGREEMEMNT YET?)

Incisor

Your tenancy is currently 'periodic'. If you want to move on, you should give 1 month's notice. If you are not sure about staying, then don't sign - the rent will stay the same, but you risk getting 2 months notice yourselves.

olly300

In theory yes because verbal contracts are legal but to be honest it cannot be proven that you said yes as all your tenancy agreements have been in writing.

Also if you asked your LA if they could find something for the same money you are paying now they would be very interested as they won't be the ones losing out the LL would be.

HGLTsuperstar

Olly - can you expand on the legality of verbal contracts. Surely it's a case of "my word v yours?"

omg29

This is what concerns me, i thought it was only legal if the new agreement had been signed and returned.But dh begged to differ!

tbs624

Can you post up the timings of all of this,ie when the original Fixed Term expired/is due to expire, what your rent due date is, when you were given notice of the proposed rent increase, and whether this was done in writing or verbally?

If the original contract has expired and you haven't yet paid rent under a new contract, there may be no legal agreement IMO , other than the periodic agreement as mentioned by Incisor.

It's worth noting that LLs have to follow specific rules on the timing of rent increases and that where tenants have any doubt they should not agree to pay the new rent until they've properly checked things out.

omg29

Current tenancy expires 30th sept.
new rent increase is from 1st october,and was sent in a letter last monday.
we pay rent on the first of each month.

A verbal agreement was arranged with LA ,over the phone, for a new 12 month tenancy. Nothing has been received as yet to sign.

SquatNow

Have a look around. If rent+£30 is higher than normal, tell the EA to tell the LL that they have a choice, rent stays the same or you will give notice and LL will have a void. Tell them to ask the LL how many months rent he's need with the extra £30 to recover the money lost throught a 1 month void.

Bet you the LL chooses to leave the rent as it is!

Chiltern

A Tenancy becomes periodic when the original term has expired and no further agreement has been signed. As 1st October is the commencement date of new tenancy just don't sign, whatever you do, do not pay the rent increase as this action is the one that stands up in Court. By paying the increase you have accepted the new terms! By this I mean..... tender notice, get acceptance that notice has been recieved... in writing is the very best way to avoid any counter claim at a later date. Then happy hunting for a new home!

omg29

Have just spoke to a guy in housing office at the council about it all. He has said that i should call their bluff again and say i am in finacial difficulty if they raise it again,and if they dont agree to leaving rent as it is, that i will not sign a new contract( have already tried it! ) He then goes on to ask how many rent increases we have had since we have been here..including this one we have had 4 increases. He then says it is not legal for the landlord to increase rent every year and it should be every other year.
Does any one know whether this is correct??
Also spoke to rent officer who assesses our rent for our housing benefit last year, said that the rent they say is realistic for a property of our size etc was £725pm( £100 lower than we are paying currently!)She said that she doesnt think it will have increased much this year either, but can only reassess when i send details of the rise in rent!
Back to the guy at housing , he also said not to pay the increase in rent as verbablly agreed and not to sign contract. And just pay the £825 we have been paying.

N79

omg29 wrote: »

Have just spoke to a guy in housing office at the council about it all. He has said that i should call their bluff again and say i am in finacial difficulty if they raise it again,and if they dont agree to leaving rent as it is, that i will not sign a new contract( have already tried it! ) He then goes on to ask how many rent increases we have had since we have been here..including this one we have had 4 increases. He then says it is not legal for the landlord to increase rent every year and it should be every other year.

Guy in housing office does not know what he is talking about. Rent can be increased at the end of a fixed period by signing a new AST or once per year via s13 notice.