Unfair rent increase proposed, advise needed!

nomesy_nome

We have been at our current property for the last four years and dispite many things not being as they should with the property we have never created problems for the estate we rent off. Two years previously we had a rent increase of £30 which other tenants of the estate also had. Yesterday we recieved a letter asking us for £55 more a month as of October. We thought there had been some mistake so called up to talk to the manager only to be told that the sum was infact correct dispite the fact our neighbours in an identical house have had , as before, a £30 increase. The manager, after refusing to acknowledge anything we said, told us we had to `like it or lump it' and then put the phone down on us.

As you can understand we are furious, we have written a letter but we know from previous experience that this will get us nowhere. Does anyone have any ideas of what we can do to fight our cause. This rent increase is unjust and unwarranted but we feel that the estate manager knows we dont have a leg to stand on and wants us to move out as, at several points in the conversation, she said we should just hand in our notice. Recently, when tenants leave one of thier properties, they have been gutting them and charging very high rent and we get the impression this is what they want to do with our house.

We have been on the lookout for a bigger house for over a year but our village is small and house become available rarely so leaving just isnt an option for us besides which this is our home.

Any suggestions or queries welcome

payless

what type of agreement do you have?

nomesy_nome

It is an assured shorthold agreement

junglist_grans_2

Had a letter from our estate agent saying that they were increasing our rent by £50 a month. Phoned back the next day and said noway. We've been perfect tenants and insurance rates are low so the owner can't need it to pay an increased mortgage. They got back to us the next day and said there would be no increase, but they didn't have that like it or lump it attitude.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

You have two choices.

1. Pay up.

2. Move out.

Colincbayley

You say you received a letter and that you have an AST.

Is there provision within your AST for them to increase the rent?
if not
Then was the letter you received a S.13 notice.

If neither of the above apply, then they can not lawfully increase the rent. They can however serve notice on you to leave if you don't.

tbs624

Welcome as a newbie poster N

Is this Estate Property in Scotland or Eng/wales? Edit : cross posting - can see that you have since said assured shorthold, so E/W

(You may want to remove your real name from your post if you want to discuss things on a public forum)

tbs624

Are you still with a Fixed Term or has your tenancy continued as a month by month Statutory Periodic, after the initial FT expired?

Have you previously been served with a S21 Notice of Intent to Repossess at any point?

nomesy_nome

I am slightly unsure as to what all the jargon means but I dont think we are fixed term and no we have never been issued with a notice of intent to reposses.

I have been looking online at the rent assessment commitee, does anyone know anything of how they work?

Thanks

neas

Hoqw much rent do you pay a month?

Checkout local properties to see if the proposed amount is reasonable. I.e. as you've been there 4 years you've benefitted from 4 years of security and a rent increase of 85 pounds over 4 years.


I believe a rent increase of 4-5% a year is standard with some agencies... so calculating this on a 500 quid a month rental would be

Year 0 - 500 quid a month
Year 1 - 520 quid a month
Year 2 - 540.80 quid a month
Year 3 - 562.432 quid a month
Year 4 - 584.92 quid a month (85 quid more than when you started)

So probably 85 quid after 4 years doesn't seem tooo bad... but to check, go and see what similar properties charge for rent.

chewmylegoff

neas wrote: »

Hoqw much rent do you pay a month?

Checkout local properties to see if the proposed amount is reasonable. I.e. as you've been there 4 years you've benefitted from 4 years of security and a rent increase of 85 pounds over 4 years.


I believe a rent increase of 4-5% a year is standard with some agencies... so calculating this on a 500 quid a month rental would be

Year 0 - 500 quid a month
Year 1 - 520 quid a month
Year 2 - 540.80 quid a month
Year 3 - 562.432 quid a month
Year 4 - 584.92 quid a month (85 quid more than when you started)

So probably 85 quid after 4 years doesn't seem tooo bad... but to check, go and see what similar properties charge for rent.

whilst i agree that it doesn't seem extortionate, just because "some agencies" increase rent at an arbitrary percentage every year, come what may, doesn't mean it is a reasonable way of increasing the rent. your point about comparing to other rentals in the area seems to be more relevant to me. if the increase is consistent with market rates then it is probably reasonable.

i don't understand why 4 years previous security of tenure should demand any kind of premium to market rate, if that is in fact what you are suggesting. surely the landlord benefits at least as much from having no voids for 4 years.