landlords and rent

Googlewhacker

princeofpounds wrote: »

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!

As it was before 2007 when they moved in is this not irrelivant?

neverdespairgirl

gck63 wrote: »

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.

I can't imagine any building society giving advice about market rents.

What he was almost certainly told is that the rent isn't high enough for him to get the mortgage he wants. that's a completely different kettle of fish!

ceh209

Googlewhacker wrote: »

As it was before 2007 when they moved in is this not irrelivant?

Aye, but if they sign a new contract now, it will have to be, and it sounds like the LL may not know that.

Might be a good idea given how much of a potential minefield this sounds!

tbs624

If you give notice and move out the LL may well have an expensive void on his hands until he finds a buyer, so if they come back to you with a rent increase "suggestion" try negotiation.

However, if the owner really wants to sell it you *will* have to start looking for somewhere else in the not too distant future. Use your time & energy to look for potential properties, but in the meantime you may be interested in the following:

1. If the son owns the property then he is the LL and his father is acting as his Agent.

2. It is usual for a bank/BS to want the rent to cover 125% of the mortgage repayments

3. You do have a tenancy agreement in place, it's an unwritten one but the law recognises your tenancy.

4. As N79 has already said in post 2 , you can appeal to a Rent Assessment Committee on the rent increase but this has to be done before any the increase would be due to begin. Your LL *has* to give you at least one month's notice of the rent increase and that notice has to tie in with the "rental periods".

5. The responsibility for getting a GSC for all gas appliances at the property lies with the LL - they cannot delegate it to you as the T. The LL can be prosecuted for failing to comply with the gas regs - separate charges for (a) failing to get a check done by a Gas Safe certified HE (b) failing to provide the T with a copy of the GSC and (c) failing to keep relevant GSCs for two years.

6. On repairs, he is obliged to do these within "a reasonable time" - 5 months is outside that. Did you inform the LL of the problem *in writing* and keep a copy for your own records? The LL&T Act 1985, s11 tells you what the LL's obligations are ( see below) and if the LL doesn't comply you can get help from the local Council's private sector rentals officer. The fact that you pay a lower than market rent doesn't entitle a LL to renege on legal obligations.

11 Repairing obligations in short leases

(1)In a lease to which this section applies (as to which, see sections 13 and 14) there is implied a covenant by the lessor—

(a)to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),
(b)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and
(c)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water.

7. If you are asked, and agree, to sign a new Fixed Term agreement then your LL *has* to scheme register your tenancy deposit and give you certain specific information on the scheme

gck63

Thanks to all of you for your input on this matter.He is calling round on monday to sort the leak out and I shall be asking what his intentions are regarding the rent and will be demanding gas safety certificate and a proper contract re the rent.

I shall keep you posted on what he has to say re this matter.

Thanks once again:)

RobertoMoir

gck63 wrote: »

Thanks to all of you for your input on this matter.He is calling round on monday to sort the leak out and I shall be asking what his intentions are regarding the rent and will be demanding gas safety certificate and a proper contract re the rent.

I shall keep you posted on what he has to say re this matter.

Thanks once again:)

I wouldn't be "demanding" anything just like that. You're getting the rent at well under market value, as you say so yourself. I'd use that as a negotiating tool: "If you want me to pay a market-value rent, then I want a new 'market value' tenancy agreement in exchange".

Jowo_2

gck63 wrote: »

... will be demanding gas safety certificate and a proper contract re the rent.

I shall keep you posted on what he has to say re this matter.

Thanks once again:)

The landlord is legally obliged to supply a gas safety certificate if there are gas appliances or gas boiler in the property.

There is no legal requirement for a landlord to provide a written contract - most landlords will issue an AST to prevent disputes and make clear each side's responsibilities. Not having a contract doesn't affect any housing rights - the absence of an AST* doesn't mean the landlord can get out of their legal responsibilities, nor does the tenant lose any housing rights. By accepting rent, you have a tenancy with the landlord.

*Edit: absence of a Written AST contract

tbs624

Jowo wrote: »

The landlord is legally obliged to supply a gas safety certificate if there are gas appliances or gas boiler in the property.

There is no legal requirement for a landlord to provide a written contract - most landlords will issue an AST to prevent disputes and make clear each side's responsibilities.

However, for all tenancies which began after 28/02/97 a T is entitled to request basic information from the LL about his/her tenancy (a Statement of Terms): tenancy commencement date, the length of any FT that applies, rent due date and rent amount, info on potential rent increases ( how and when). Ts should make their request in writing and the keep a copy: the LL has 28 days in which to comply with that request.

Jowo wrote: »

Not having a contract doesn't affect any housing rights - the absence of an AST doesn't mean the landlord can get out of their legal responsibilities, nor does the tenant lose any housing rights. By accepting rent, you have a tenancy with the landlord.

Bit of a muddle there Jowo - there isn't the "absence of an AST", because by default the tenancy will be an AST
if:

1.tenancy started after the date given above
2.T has exclusive occupation of the property
3T is paying rent.

Exceptions are those listed under Schedule 1 of the Housing Act 1988 - ie, company lets, holiday lets, let at very low or no rent, agricultural land tenancies, some uni/college lets, or tenancies started after 01/04/90 where rent is in excess of 25K per annum ( threshold due to be upped to 100,000k this autumn)