end of annual contract: landlord wants to hike rent

chamelion

hey guys,

some advice much appreciated. have lived in current place for over 3 years. Barely had any expenses for the landlord (replaced boiler, couple of paint jobs). Paid on time each month, no hassles at all.

Our contract expires in February and the agency (evil foxtons) want to hike our rent by 130 quid/month, which is a 5% increase.

The area is nice - angel N1 a few mins from tube. But at the same time the overall rent is pretty high for a 4 bedroom mid-terraced place with a small back yard - he wants over 2800pcm for it.

Is negotiation a good idea? I'm sure we can find places in London for the same price, but the hassle of moving etc is disgusting. Also I figure landlord has a lot more to lose - crap economy, depressed housing market, plus a 2+ month turnaround time and few thousand quid of cleaning up work would be required by him to rent the place out again.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

princeofpounds

Look to see what market rates are. If this is taking the mickey, just say no, back it up with a few examples. The landlord can take it or leave it. There's no other discussion to be had apart from working out what this place is worth to you.

BitterAndTwisted

A few thousand quid of cleaning-up work? Are you sure? It it's internal please don't think that the landlord won't be seeking to get reimbursement from you!

Do your research. Find comparable properties in the same area and visit the agents to see if you can barter those asking-rents down. It's possible that your landlord may have an unrealistic idea of what the property will fetch in the current market. It's also possible that your landlord is gambling that you'd rather pay more rent than go through all of the hassle of finding a new property and moving.

chamelion

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

A few thousand quid of cleaning-up work? Are you sure? It it's internal please don't think that the landlord won't be seeking to get reimbursement from you!

Do your research. Find comparable properties in the same area and visit the agents to see if you can barter those asking-rents down. It's possible that your landlord may have an unrealistic idea of what the property will fetch in the current market. It's also possible that your landlord is gambling that you'd rather pay more rent than go through all of the hassle of finding a new property and moving.

its standard wear and tear that he's been aware of for time. things like loft insulation being poor, a repainting being necessary. he'd also need to do things like replace the old fridge, the couch downstairs, dining table furniture etc - all of it is acceptable wear and tear over 3 years of use.

plus i know he's conservative with cash - when our boiler was replaced he had some relative do it to cut the cost (some 18 year olds). him and his wife repainted the wall surrounding the boiler to save money on a painter.

re: places to look to find alternatives, any recommendations? i'm looking at findaproperty currently, but i'm sure there are other big options out there. over the weekend i'll have a walk around the neighborhood to see the for rent signs and see if i can note down some contacts and get in touch with them.

re: our hassle in moving; sure. it's 2 days of moving and then ongoing stuff to settle into a shiny new place. that's hardly an inconvenience compared to him who'll need to do all the painting and polishing, marketing, interviewing new potentials, doing all the contract work and probably losing out on a fair bit of rent while the place is vacant.

BitterAndTwisted

I've just had a snoop on rightmove with "Islington" as the selected area and it came up with quite a few 4-beds but some of them were really ruddy pricey. "Angel Station" turned up only one on Vincent Terrace at £850 per week

RacyRed

Try Zoopla, this link "should" be set on a search based on Angel for 4 bed properties.

Jowo_2

Negotiate or move if you don't feel the property isn't reflective of market rent.

The expenses paid by the landlord are irrelevant to the level of rent set - all they can hope to get is what tenants are prepared to pay. Having said that, a boiler for a 4 bed house isn't 'barely an expense', they can be enormously expensive, but this irrelevant to your situation anyway.

Also, you may have a rather misplaced interpretation of 'fair wear and tear' - this means natural deterioration under ordinary usage so excludes all stains, breakages, marks etc made through negligence or by accident. While landlords do have to take into account the age and condition of an item before making any deductions from the deposit. It doesn't necessarily mean that just because something has been used for 3 years, the landlord is expected to write off furniture and appliances, nor does it mean that you can return the property with dirty walls.

I also doubt a 4 bed in N1 will remain vacant for long.

adg1

Think about who the agent works for - the Landlord and not you. They are trying to negotiate the landlord, their client, an increase in rent. You can play hard-ball and say no and get Foxtons to go to the landlord with your answer.

Afterall, they'd both probably rather get a renewal of your tenancy than have to go about remarketing the house. Renewals cost the landlord less and they know about you as a tenant, ie paying rent, looking after the property etc etc.

You don't have to accept the renewal persons offer - it'll be from them and not necessarily the landlord but bear in mind the landlord may chose to offer notice based on current market conditions. £646 per week is lower than the 850pw B&T found in the local area quite significantly.

Jowo_2

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I've just had a snoop on rightmove with "Islington" as the selected area and it came up with quite a few 4-beds but some of them were really ruddy pricey. "Angel Station" turned up only one on Vincent Terrace at £850 per week

Yes, though we could be comparing apples with pears, I had a look on Findaproperty and there were a few 4 bed houses in the N1 area that were lower than what the OPs proposed new rent is (but they weren't in central Islington) while just as many were equal or greater in price than what the OP is paying.

Perhaps the OP will find that they can find a new pad that has a higher standard of decor for the rent that is being proposed for their shabby pad.