landlords and rent

gck63

Hi all. Not been on for a while but would be grateful for any help with this one.

I saw my landlord today and he informed me that he had not been charging us enough rent.:(He is acting on behalf of his son who owns the property and wants nothing to do with it.His son had gone to the building society to enquire about getting his x off the mortgage and deeds and was informed by them that we are paying far less than what we should be.What I would like to know is.....If he decides to put the rent up how much can he legally do this by and how much notice doe's he have to give us.

We also do not have a tenancy agreement in place as we are on the understanding that we can live here until he decides to put it on the market and that he will give us ample notice for us to move out.

Me and my partner know that we have got the property cheap,but this is what was agreed before we moved in and it was the landlord that suggested that payment.
Any help will be gratefully recieved.

N79

Since I suspect you have been there for more than 6 months you have a monthly periodic tenancy subject to the normal terms of an ASTs.

Either you LL can raise the rent after 1 months notices (a S13 notice) which you can contest if you want to an Rent Assessment Committee (hence why few LL's bother with this approach) or they can offer you a new tenancy at the higher rent and evict you (with 2 months notice - S21) if you refuse.

If you have been there for less than 6 months then no rent increase can occur until the 6 month point.

Jowo_2

Nightmare. Sounds like an amateur and accidental landlord.

When did you move in? Did you get an EPC (energy performance certificate)? If in England/Wales and you paid a deposit, was it placed in a tenancy deposit scheme? If there are gas appliances or a gas boiler, did you get a copy of the gas safety certificate? Did you review and sign an inventory? Does he have the consent of his lender to let the property?

gck63

Hi, We moved in here in 2006 and have never had a contract drawn up. The LL is a so called friend of my partner's dad and he let us rent the property as it had been stood empty for 3 years previous to us moving in.His son wants nothing to do with the house and wants to get shut basically.The rent has always been paid on time

N79

gck63 wrote: »

Hi, We moved in here in 2006 and have never had a contract drawn up. The LL is a so called friend of my partner's dad and he let us rent the property as it had been stood empty for 3 years previous to us moving in.His son wants nothing to do with the house and wants to get shut basically.The rent has always been paid on time

I which case there was no need for an EPC or for the deposit to be protected. I would also say that after 4 years some sort of rent increase is not totally out of order even if your LL is approaching property management in a somewhat unique way.

Jowo_2

Some landlords will review the rent on an annual basis and some others will resist raising the rent, being content with a reliable tenant.

How much are you paying and what is the going market rate for a property of that size, type and location? How much is the landlord proposing to increase the rent by?

princeofpounds

We also do not have a tenancy agreement in place

As pointed out by N79 you do have a statutory periodic AST.

I am not sure how the building society would know what the rent should be. Most likely they just put the rate up and so the LL wants more money. In truth that's irrelevant to the rent they can charge - the only thing that matters is whether you can get a better deal elsewhere or not.

Basically, you should just ask them what they want to charge. If it's still a decent deal relative to market rate in the area then you should, eventually, accept it. Otherwise negotiate, or give your one month's rental period notice when you find a better place.

Your rental liability will continue exactly as before unless you get and accept a section 13 or you are served with a section 21 eviction notice and agree to sign a a new tenancy to supersede the old one.

So don't feel you have to pay more urgently just because they asked. It means nothing unless one of the two methods above is used.

If you want to stay on good terms (and this will probably depend on what they ask for) you can guide them through this process. If you don't then you can just hang around waiting for them to figure it out which may well take them a long time as they probably have no idea how to issue a section 13 or 21 and you don't have to tell them.

gck63

Jowo wrote: »

Some landlords will review the rent on an annual basis and some others will resist raising the rent, being content with a reliable tenant.

How much are you paying and what is the going market rate for a property of that size, type and location? How much is the landlord proposing to increase the rent by?

We pay alot less than the going rate for the area.The average price is around £450 to £500 for a 3 bed property.We only pay £350 pcm.
We pay all the bills etc and have never had a gas safety certificate from him either.(did that ourselves)

Will not see the LL until monday when he say's he is finally going to come and sort the leak out in the bathroom,only been waiting 5 mths for this to be sorted.

Can he put our rent up by £100 or £150 just like that?So that it is in line with the going rate for the area.

Jowo_2

Rents aren't regulated for tenants on an AST. I think as long as a landlord doesn't put it up during the fixed term and only does it once a year, giving the tenant the appropriate notice/document to bring it to their attention, there's little redress (though I'm happy to be challenged on this).


That kind of regulation went out a decade or two ago and there are fewer and fewer regulated tenants hanging onto their tenancies from that period.

And it's fairly normal for virtually all tenants to pay all bills - inclusive bills tend to the domain of lodgers who live in the same property as the landlord. Do get the landlord to pay for the gas safety certificate going forward.

Paul_the_Painter

He could put the rent up by that amount, but he would have to do it in the right way, giving you appropriate notice.

You can then choose to accept the increase, or move out.

If you choose to accept, I would push for a proper agreement, and make sure your deposit is protected in one of the schemes.

of course if you paid no deposit, different advice may apply

princeofpounds

Can he put our rent up by £100 or £150 just like that?So that it is in line with the going rate for the area.

no. he has to serve you with proper notice or make you sign a new agreement (by giving you an eviction notice on your current agreement if necessary).

you could make life very difficult for him if you wanted to with no protected deposit and no gas check.

I would suggest a passive strategy to delay the rise as long as possible. avoid speaking to them. when they eventually demand raised payments tell them that is ok (if it is ok) but tell them to do the gas check and protect the deposit first if they want to put it on a commercial footing, and to serve you with the proper notice for your records. That might take them another week or two to understand and save you another hundred quid or two.

Of course how hardball you play this game is up to you. If you like the place and the people don't be too obstructive. If not, you can be a pain!