Landlord wants to increase our rent by over 15% with less than one month's notice

confused31_2

pickledpink wrote: »

So where are these emergency injunctions faxed from then? I thought courts didn't open until 10 a.m.?

Good of you to be so keen though:j ..................most solicitors would charge their batteries with a good night's sleep, and deal with them first thing in the morning.

:T

Well you work through the night, and recharge your batteries in the day:rotfl:, i bet you could do with a good nights sleep.:p

Whats happened to the chelmsley wood thread??? you decided not to post in it has you have made yourself look like a right idiot in it.:p

If you dont post in it soon i will have to, to bring it back up to the top.

confused

barnaby-bear

Rigsbyscat wrote: »

I would be really grateful if anyone can advise me on both the legality and best way to negotiate a lower rent with my current landlord please.

Briefly the situation is thus:
We have rented the 2 bed flat in London, SW9 for the past three years and now we are on a periodic tenancy as the last lease expired and we continued to pay the same rent at the agreement of the landlord
The landlord telephoned me yesterday to explain that they need to increase our rent from £1,083.33 pcm to £1,250 pcm as of 4th November 08 and for us to sign a new 6/12 month contract

I do appreciate that we are due for a rent review and that in light of the current ecomomic climate things are increasingly difficult for homeowners, therefore it seems reasonable for our Landlord to increase our rent.

With five or six interest rate hikes in less than a year, the reality of running a home is hitting everyone deep in their pockets. Any increase should therefore be in line with inflation.
However, the LL has asked us to pay an over increase twice the rate of inflation and 15.385% more than we currently pay, to cover increased costs and interest rate rises.

I am not sure if rents in the SW9 area have come down (would it be best for me to have some examples of this, especially if they are in the same development?) but we feel we would be paying over paying over the market rate if we accept the increase.

I could do with a template letter to send to them with a reasonable proposal on what we would be prepared to pay. In the region of £100 per month extra, but certainly not £83 per week or over £200 per month more

If the rent hasn't gone up for 3 years that's only a 4.85% annual increase which isn't outsides the realm of possibly reasonable
http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm
especially if three years without paying the rises... look around better locally then be prepared to say no/negotiate and move - might be worth asking for redecoration etc in return after 3 years

neverdespairgirl

pickledpink wrote: »

So where are these emergency injunctions faxed from then? I thought courts didn't open until 10 a.m.?

Good of you to be so keen though:j ..................most solicitors would charge their batteries with a good night's sleep, and deal with them first thing in the morning.

:T

<sighes heavily>

The instructions from solicitors come by fax / email.

The High Court, which is the court I deal with in such injunctions, has a judge on-duty 24 hours a day for emergency applications made by counsel. You do, obviously, have to justify the need for the out-of-hours application. Such applications are made by telephone, with papers faxed / emailed to the judge as necessary.

In my area of work (immigration) emergency injunctions are needed out-of-hours mostly in deportation or removal cases. If a flight is at 10am, there isn't much point waiting until the next day to try to do something about it, is there now?

There is also a Court of Appeal judge on duty 24 hours a day as well.

Rigsbyscat

barnaby-bear wrote: »

If the rent hasn't gone up for 3 years that's only a 4.85% annual increase which isn't outsides the realm of possibly reasonable
http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm
especially if three years without paying the rises... look around better locally then be prepared to say no/negotiate and move - might be worth asking for redecoration etc in return after 3 years

Yes, you are quite right it is not unreasonable of the landlord to want to out up the rent, the only problem for us is that we cannot afford it at the new higher price, which is why we have decided to give our notice and find somewhere more within our means. Please also note that this is a new landlord, and they were not responsible for paying the mortgage on this flat for over two years of our tenancy, so really the fact that the rent has not increased should be irrelevant to them. I hear you though, we tried to negotiate, but having looked around have found cheaper elsewhere. It has opend up our eyes to moneysaving possibilties, which is what we're all here for, afterall! ;-)

I think the threads have become a little tangled here? Probably my fault for posting in the wrong place or something! What I am trying to ask people is how best to get my full deposit back from my current landlords?

I am of the mind that the new landlord had taken over the tenancy in entirety. We can provide proof that we paid a larger deposit, and the new landlord should be obliged to repay it. If the old landlord stated that the deposit was only £1000 then he gave false information and the new landlord could pursue him for the difference. It shouldn't be our problem. But it is, because without the return of these funds we will not have sufficient funds to pay letting agent fees and the new deposit if you see what I mean?

I want to give my notice and say something like:
Since your acquisition of the property you have decided to increase the monthly rent and some negotiations have taken place. As a result of these discussions it has become apparent that there is a potential dispute regarding the deposit provided at the commencement of the tenancy.

You indicate that you only received a deposit of £1,000.00 from the previous owner of the property at the time of the purchase and therefore you will not assure any other amounts. We were reluctantly considering acceptance of your rental increase, provided that a new Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement is drafted on the same terms as the existing agreement and expressly acknowledges and refers to the deposit amount of £1,500.

However, the tenancy agreement clearly states that our clients, the tenants, paid the sum of £1,500.00 at the time of entering into the agreement. The amount considered between the parties at the time of the sale of the property to you is irrelevant to the tenants. The tenants have provided £1,500.00 deposit to the landlord, and as the current landlord it is your responsibility to provide this to the tenants upon termination of their agreement. Any discrepancies between the money received from original landlord and the correct deposit amount is a matter for you.

Failure to deal with the above will result in us being unable to enter into a new agreement that holds correct terms and will have no option but to provide notice, vacate the property and take action for recovery of the deposit.

Can I say this, I dont know what else to do? Help!!

adr0ck

personally i would move out and get yourself a decent landlord

good luck

misskool

pickledpink wrote: »

So where are these emergency injunctions faxed from then? I thought courts didn't open until 10 a.m.?

Good of you to be so keen though:j ..................most solicitors would charge their batteries with a good night's sleep, and deal with them first thing in the morning.

:T

Please keep threads on topic,

Soot2006

Yeah definitely stay strong on the deposit front!
... They need to repay what you originally gave (minus damages if appropriate). Sounds like you'll be well shot of this new LL!

ETA: Didn't realise the ageof this thread. Now wondering if there was ever a conclusion! Sorry for dragging it up!

robin_banks

I'd just move IIWY