Landlord calls "Is it ok to put up the rent - what can you afford?"

DireEmblem

Is this normal practice nowadays?

I mean, this call was a bit out the blue, so I called back and asked them to confirm in writing what they were putting the rent up to, and we would decide from that.

Landlord then says "No".

To me that means we do not contact them again, and we have no increase?

jenny74

How long have you been there? Do you have a 6 or 12 month AST?

Thrugelmir

I would be more concerned about the LL's financial circumstances as their approach is unprofessional to say the least.

DireEmblem

I totally agree with you, I cannot commit to anything without discussing with fellow tenants.

We previously had a letter from a solicitor informing us that the landlord had gone into arrears, and we suspect they are trying to recover some of the charges that they levied getting out of that.

TBH, like most people, we would prefer not to move, but neither do we wish to be taken for mugs.

*** With regards to our lease, we are currently on a monthly rolling lease, and this is the second rent increase within the space of 18 months.

I am inclining to not responding to their calls, and asking for an official letter in writing confirming the figures, of which we shall respond to, rather than negotiating over the phone.

jamespir

our landlord just put the rent up and sent us a letter

Eric1

DireEmblem wrote: »

"Is it ok to put up the rent - what can you afford?"

That's just a nice way of saying "gimme your money, sucker".
If you could afford to pay more, you'd be living in a nicer place.

<sebb>

I'd probably reply with something like "That's so nice of you to be concerned with what I can afford. Actually, I've been struggling a bit lately - credit crunch and all that - how about we agree on a £50 per month reduction?"

G_M

Why on earth are you encouraging the LL to put it in writing! Once the LL puts the rent rise in writing (providing he uses the correct form) you will have a choice of paying it or leaving!

As long as he is messing around informally on the phone, no rent increase is legally binding. String him along but DON'T encourage him to become 'professional' about it!

Thrugelmir

G_M wrote: »

Why on earth are you encouraging the LL to put it in writing! Once the LL puts the rent rise in writing (providing he uses the correct form) you will have a choice of paying it or leaving!

As long as he is messing around informally on the phone, no rent increase is legally binding. String him along but DON'T encourage him to become 'professional' about it!

Who is encouraging the LL to act professionally ?

DireEmblem

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Who is encouraging the LL to act professionally ?

We are.

We are not going to respond until they have given us formal notice of what they wish to raise the rent to.

How exactly can we confirm either way if they do not give us a figure?

I believe they realise that raising the rent further overprices this flat from the market, and as such are hesitant to give us a straight forward letter stating their intended rate. The average TTL in our are is currently 34 days, and increasing the rent to the tune of 1 months payments PA, they would be just as well off in the coming year to let the rent remain the same.

StudentMoneySaver

This is essentially how I was approached about raising rent (within the fixed term which I was told, by the lovely people on this board, is illegal). I didn't think to ask for it in writing but another tenant did and was told 'that's not how we do things'. Unfortunately they had a break clause in the contract that they used straight afterwards.