Problems with landlord

richdav01

HI! Hope some one can help. Been privately renting for apx 18mths. We agreed in Tenancy to an increse in the rent from 795 to 850 after 6 months. Unfotunately, this coincided with my hours being cut ( and therefore my income) along with my daughter leaving her work (a contributor to the rent). My landlord agreed to reduce our rent to 650 on a temporary basis with this being reviewed after 3 months. Nothing changed for 6 months(LLord informed all the time) We applied to get on the housing list with our council, they sent a questionnaire to the l/lord and he told them we had rent arrears. When the reduction was agreed, he never mentioned incurring arrears each month, we found this out from the council 6mnths after agreeing the reduction. We have paid the reduced amount for apx 14 mnths and haver never received any letters or emails from him or the agent pertaining to any arrears. We have just found out that we have never had a Gas Safety Certificate and that this is illegal for the LL not to provide this. He wants to increase the rent now to 750 and wants us to pay the arrears! We want him to tell the council that there are no arrears as they are refusing to process our application due to the fact the LL said there are arrears. Any ideas or suggestions would be very welcom.
Many Thanks

lizzielondon

someone with more knowledge will hopefully confirm this but i believe a ll cannot put up the rent until 12 months has passed and it has to be done with specific paperwork- i don't know if you received this or were just informally told?

i don't know where this leaves you with the council though

lizzielondon

if he has no paperwork proving the rent should have been 850 then i don't think he can say it should have been? although if it is only the original agreement you have at 795 and you have no evidence of him agreeing to a reduction to 650 you may have to clear those arrears?

the above is a guess though, hopefully someone can clarify

richdav01

thanks for your reply, but the council wont help us 'cos the ll says there are arrears, even thiough he has never told us how much etc etc. Seems he wants to use this as a bargaining point. All we want is for him to tell the council there are no arrears(as far as we are concerned there arent) so we can have our application processed. We will then re negotiate the rent with him. We have always paid our (reduced) rent on time, and a recent inspection ny the agent confirmed the house is immaculat. As we have necer had a Gas Safety Certificate from him or the agent, and he is aware he has broken the law, could we use this as a bargaining point ?

richdav01

just found out that by the ll accepting 650 this constitutes a periodic tenancy as our original one has expired some time ago and we have not signed a new one. Can anyone confirm this

lizzielondon

the gas certificate is a seperate point - i suppose you could threaten to report him- i'm not sure if that's a good idea though

do you have written confirmation of any of these rent changes?

does the ll have written confirmation of you agreeing to them?

how was the rent increase implemented? i.e. did he write to you? or just text/call? i think he has to use a specific form to increase rent

lizzielondon

richdav01 wrote: »

just found out that by the ll accepting 650 this constitutes a periodic tenancy as our original one has expired some time ago and we have not signed a new one. Can anyone confirm this

do you have proof he 'accepted' it, surely he could argue you've been consistently underpaying- although not sure if he would be believed since it was for so long with no attempt to get you to clear the 'arrears'

richdav01

have proof by way of bank statements since Jan 09 showing we paid 650 pm every month up to this month. never missed a payment nor been late. Been advised to keep everything on email as he has denied phone conversations took place etc etc. I think he is just being awkward and taking the mick out of us. The agent is not returning my calls. At the end of the day we want to stay here, but feel he is being very unreasonable. Any advice on what to do next?

lizzielondon

how did he put your rent up to 850? in writing or not?

richdav01

the original tenancy agreement included the rise to 850 after 6 months. The reduction was agreed by phone call. He is saying it was only temporary, which it was but we have told him we couldnt afford any increases at the time. As said, he has never sent us any statements or reminders of any description detailing any arrears

lizzielondon

ok i know that i ll cannot increase rent in the first 52 weeks - but don't know if this is the case if it is in the AST that he can- i suspect not- but don't know where that leaves you now

i would get a solicitor to write him a firm letter asking him to confirm the rent decrease was agreed, arguing that over a year of rent payments not being queried proves this???