My landlord wants ro raise the rent

teeni

franklee wrote: »

Well maybe your tenants don't say no in the right way. If a refusal of a rent rise is backed up with sound reasoning then I doubt it would result in a S21. Sound reasoning: other comparable properties on the market, a word about how long they've been empty and how much a void costs, a word about losing a good tenant for an unknown new tenant, offering to sign up for x months to give the landlord security of income, etc. Ain't rocket science. Helps if the tenant has another place in mind so they can feel confident in negotiating. After several refusals to drop a rent increase my landlord eventually backed down when I started asking him for a reminder if he wanted my notice to end on a rent day or not Yes I did have somewhere else in mind and yes I was prepared to move if necessary. Following year no rent rise was mentioned.

Unfortunately in my area for the last three years we have had a mad influx of migrant workers due to development ( approx 8000 extra people) They booked up accommodation across the board so landlords do just issue s21 notices if the proposed new rent is challenged.

I agree that if you are in an area where you may not get a new tenant then a landlord would be an idiot to do this if they had a good reliable tenant who looked after the property and paid on time. I always used to be able to negotiate now however they have people lining up to rent so not quite as simple.

brit1234

Remember rents are falling due to the sudden massive increase in supply of rented property, so why pay more.

GracieP

Where I live at the moment, nice SW London, rents are definitely falling. I moved in during the summer and got what was a pretty good deal at the time. I keep an eye on other local rentals and for a long time nothing was comparable. But in the last few weeks I'm definitely seeing a drop in prices and an increase in properties available. A house on my street has just reduced it's price to £100pm more than what I'm paying, but it has been renovated and extended so it's a much nicer house. There's nothing wrong with my place, it suits me, but if both places had been available I'd have been tempted to pay slightly more for the nicer house.

Moving is a pain, but if my LL insists on up-ing the rent next year I'll be moving.

50plusabit

Tenant wrote: »

I have been living in a private rented flat for 1 and half years. After my first year's tenancy agreement ended, I and landlord VERBALLY agreed to extent the contract. Considering my first Tenancy agreement was for 1-year, I took it for granted (as agreed verbally with landlord) that the following verbal agreement would still cover 1 year. Once the initial fixed period has expired, if you do not sign a further fixed period, your tenancy automatically becomes a Periodic Tenancy. Both you and the landlord have the same rights, BUT you are not tied and the landlord can give you 2 months notice, and you the tenant can give one.
The landlord sent me a letter where he requires more money for the RENT. What shall I do? The landlord has to serve you with a section 13 notice, which is an intent to raise the rent. He has to give you a FULL months notice of a rental increase. If you disagree then you are with-in your rights to speak to the landlord and try to resolve it. But you say that your rent has stayed the same since the start of the tenancy, and most rents increase with inflation every 12 months.
Am i entitled to say NO to the increase of rent considering that my unwritten tenancy agreement should expire on 20th May 09? Remember, you do not have a agreement fixed to May 09, negotiate with the landlord. He will do one of three things:-
1. Agree and drop the request for an increase.......... Unlikely
2. Say the rent increase is to stay.........................More likely
3. Serve you with a Section 21 notice to vacate......Possible.

As other posters say, make a decision as to what you will do if he chooses option 1 or 2? Take a look in your area at similar properties and their rents.

DawnW

I can't speak for other LLs who may have different circumstances, but I would definitely be prepared to negotiate / back down (or wouldn't have mooted a rise initially) if I had good tenants who looked after the place and ALWAYS PAID THE RENT ON TIME AND WITHOUT HASSLE, so do discuss it.
In fact I would love to have such a tenant. I have to ask for the rent every single month, and it has never once arrived without hassle in my bank account on the agreed day :mad: . If I weren't so soft, I would have issued a S21 by now - but they have a 10 year old daughter, and it is coming up to Christmas.... As for asking for a rent rise - well, they can't seem to pay the original rent!

tbs624

Tenant - take your original tenancy agreement and get yourself an appointment with the Council's Private Sector Rentals Team (a Tenancy Relations Officer or similarly entitled person) They deal only with private tenancy matters and can help you with this: tell them that's it's a S13 notice and ask if they can see you asap. Th eother alternative is Shelter as others have suggested or ask for someone with specific LL & T/housing experience at a CAB or law centre.

S13 Notices are not a straightforward matter :your original contract should be checked through for any rent increase mechanism and you should alsoknow that S13s have to be properly dated/served for them to be valid - it's not simply a case of "one full month's notice" as posted by 50plusabit.

The length of notice varies with the length of the rent period and the proposed increase has to take effect from the *first day* of a rent period , so the notice timings must allow for that . The Notice, should also (as Teeni says) inform you of your right to proceed to a Rent Assessment Committee.

If you are not happy with the proposed increase then you need to get a move on with this or you will lose the right to refer it because of timings: any application to the RAC has to be received by them before the date on which the increase would be due. Any tenant in receipt of a S13 notice should always get proper specialist advice before agreeing to the increase. As Teeni has said unfortunately some LLs will refuse to negotiate on rent increases, & serve you with a S21 Notice of Intent to Repossess if you disagree with their proposal but if you have a clear picture of what your true legal position is *then* you can try direct negotiation with the LL.

Experienced LLs know that it's worth holding on to reliable tenants who take care of the property & have a history of paying on time. Most will only need a month or two's void to effectively wipe out the equivalent of the potential gain from a proposed rent increase, plus they have the cost of getting the EPC done, re-advertising for new tenants etc. Likewise experienced tenants know that they may have to compromise because if they have to start over somewhere new they will be looking at the general hassle of moving plus admin costs, credit checks etc with a new LA/LL. You do have the right to know that any Notice you receive is properly dated etc though before making a decision.

franklee

tbs624 wrote: »

Experienced LLs know that it's worth holding on to reliable tenants who take care of the property & have a history of paying on time. Most will only need a month or two's void to effectively wipe out the equivalent of the potential gain from a proposed rent increase, plus they have the cost of getting the EPC done, re-advertising for new tenants etc.

Where do you get a month or two from?

As worked example let's say the rent was 800pcm. Say the proposed increase was 5% which would raise the rent to 840pcm.

A year's old rent 800*12=9600
A days old rent 9600/365=26.30
A year's new rent 840*12=10080
Increase over the whole year 10080-9600=480

Which is 480/26.30=18.25 days.

So a void of more than 18 days and the landlord would start losing! That's before the costs, hassle and uncertainty to the landlord of changing tenants.

Of course we can just do this by number of days so:

18.25 days void wipes out a 5% rent increase (18.25/365=.05).
30 days void wipes out an 8.2% rent increase (30/365=.082).
60 days void wipes out a 16.4% rent increase (60/365=.164).

I do not think rent increases of 8% to 16% are on the cards now do you? Again this is just rent and ignores other costs.

Add to that the new tenant will be bound by any notice he has to give before he leaves. So even once a new tenant is found he may not be able to move in right away especially if he is on a periodic tenancy where any notice period needs to end on a given day of the month.

stevetodd

50plusabit wrote: »

Tenant wrote: »

I have been living in a private rented flat for 1 and half years. After my first year's tenancy agreement ended, I and landlord VERBALLY agreed to extent the contract. Considering my first Tenancy agreement was for 1-year, I took it for granted (as agreed verbally with landlord) that the following verbal agreement would still cover 1 year. Once the initial fixed period has expired, if you do not sign a further fixed period, your tenancy automatically becomes a Periodic Tenancy. Both you and the landlord have the same rights, BUT you are not tied and the landlord can give you 2 months notice, and you the tenant can give one.
The landlord sent me a letter where he requires more money for the RENT. What shall I do? The landlord has to serve you with a section 13 notice, which is an intent to raise the rent. He has to give you a FULL months notice of a rental increase. If you disagree then you are with-in your rights to speak to the landlord and try to resolve it. But you say that your rent has stayed the same since the start of the tenancy, and most rents increase with inflation every 12 months.
Am i entitled to say NO to the increase of rent considering that my unwritten tenancy agreement should expire on 20th May 09? Remember, you do not have a agreement fixed to May 09, negotiate with the landlord. He will do one of three things:-
1. Agree and drop the request for an increase.......... Unlikely
2. Say the rent increase is to stay.........................More likely
3. Serve you with a Section 21 notice to vacate......Possible.

As other posters say, make a decision as to what you will do if he chooses option 1 or 2? Take a look in your area at similar properties and their rents.

Very well expressed I entirely agree with your comments.

When I send the contracts for my prospective tenant's perusal (after taking a holding deposit, usually about 2-4 weeks before they move in) I usually state in the covering letter that the rent will rise annually in line with inflation at the end of the 12 month contract and quote an approximate percentage (usually 3%). That way everyone knows where they stand, doing things verbally just leaves room for misunderstandings.

I can feel comments coming, the answer is YES I have had occassion to not increase the rent due to market conditions, NO I have never reduced it. YES I have stuck to that approximate 3% even when rents have shot up above that level (but stated so and indicated there would be a 'catch up' rise the following year).

stevetodd

franklee wrote: »

So a void of more than 18 days and the landlord would start losing! That's before the costs, hassle and uncertainty to the landlord of changing tenants.


Add to that the new tenant will be bound by any notice he has to give before he leaves. So even once a new tenant is found he may not be able to move in right away especially if he is on a periodic tenancy where any notice period needs to end on a given day of the month.

The thing is though I have never had a rental void (other than a self imposed one which was necessary to refurbish or sell a property) and that is from 1991 to present day holding 3-5 properties.

Have any other landlords in London suffered voids or not? I attribute my lack of voids to:
a) Buying the right property in the first place (ie good quality near transport)
b) Not over charging on the rent, I much prefer to slightly be under the market value, which allows me a wider choice of tenant, some tenants have stayed with me for 6 years, often 3 years.
c) Maintaining the property to a good standard
d) Mintaining a good relationship with tenants (where possible)
e) Making sure I choose the right tenant, I have often refused 'gazumpers' in favour of my selected tenant, once I have set the rent my focus is on getting good tenants not trying to screw a few extra quid out of them. I never forget that they are occupying (looking after) my investment
f) Redecoration and renewal of good quality furniture/white goods when required

Afterall it's a very long term investment who wants the hassle, surely it's better to have a peaceful life.

boggie40

landlords do have a right to raise rents, but there is a way to go about it.

you have 2 choices really if the landlord will not budge.
you can either stay and pay the increased rent, or look for another dwelling in the same price bracket that you have been paying.

is it really worth all the stress this is causing you...