Olympic rent

BigV_2

I am renting a flat in East London next to the Olympic park.

My landlord (a former England international footballer), has requested to increase our rent when it is due for renewal in December from £290/week to £350/week.

However, in our tenancy agreement it states:

"It is mutually agreed between the parties that if the tenant wishes to continue the tenancy for a further period from the end of the term granted, then a rent increase will apply. This increased rent shall be calculated according to the rise in the Government Statistical Index (formerly known as the Retail Price index) during the year immediately preceding the date of renewal. The increase shall not be less than 3% or more than 7% of the existing annual rent; or any other Rent agreed between the two parties."

I mentioned this to the agent saying that the increase that they have requested is greater than 20%. His reply was:

"As stated, we can re-let this flat for £350 per week at the moment and with the Olympics coming this is where the rent needs to be.

If you do not wish to pay this then we can serve notice and re-let it to new tenants that are willing to pay this level of rent."

Would it be legal for them to do this? Surely this is an admission that the reason they are not extending the contract is because they want to increase rent which is against our agreement?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

G_M

If when your current Fixed Term expires in December you sign a new Fixed Term (for say 6 or 12 months or whatever), then yes, that is a new contract and can be whatever the LL proposes and you agree. You can, of course decline to sign at the proposed rent, and the LL could/might then serve Notice, wait for you to leave or take you to court, and re-let at whatever the next tenant is willing to pay.

However, if NO new Fixed Term tenancy is agreed/signed, AND you stay in occupation, then a Periodic Tenancy automatically arises. This is simply an extension of the current contract (NOT a new one), with the same terms as before (except regarding how it ends - see below). The clause relating to rent increase would apply, as would all other current terms in the existing contract.

However, once a tenancy becomes Periodic (month by month) it can be ended by either side at any time; the LL has to give the tenant 2 months Notice; The tenant has to give the LL 1 month. So by the sound of it, the LL would do this since he knows (or at least believes) he can get a higher rent.

Whilst you can drag this process out (by stalling, resisiting a new Fixed Term and going Periodic; declining to leave when asked) eventually I suspect you will have a simple choice: pay more or leave.

jamie11

What a short sighted landlord. If you dig your heels in and just stay there on an assured periodic tenancy then the landlord would have to spend months in evicting you, meanwhile he would not be able to re-let the place.

As a landlord myself I would far rather have a steady long term tenant than try to make an extra few quid on the back of some international event.

I am not convinced that the Olympic Games will lead to a long term improvement in the area, in fact it's very likely to degenerate again as soon as the athletics are over.

ticket2ride

name & shame the footballer pease!

hazyjo

He's an idiot. It's less than a year away. If you do go, all we can hope is that it sits empty after for a VERY long time. What do people think will happen after the Olympics?! Greedy !!!!!!. Grrrr.

Good luck. I reckon you should start looking anyway and hope he's left in the lurch. Wouldn't want him as my LL.

Jx

vuvuzela

ticket2ride wrote: »

name & shame the footballer pease!

The footballer might not even know about this, it may be all the agent's doing.

BigV_2

They are saying that if we don't reply, they will serve notice...doesn't that mean we have to be out within two months? How long can we stall him.

jamie11

BigV wrote: »

They are saying that if we don't reply, they will serve notice...doesn't that mean we have to be out within two months? How long can we stall him.

They would be able to serve a S21 notice (no fault notice) this would have a minimum of 2 months before they could then apply to the court for a possession order, when they have that, the judge will give you a minimum 14 days to vacate to a maximum 42 days, if you still don't leave then they would have to ask the bailiff to remove you.

So, 2 months, plus say 6 weeks to court, then at least another two weeks, then a possible 6 weeks for the bailiff, That comes to 5 and a half months before they can legally evict you, all this is going to cost them money as well.

You have to do nothing except pay your rent on time, they cannot pass these costs onto you.

That will take at least up until March next year, in the meantime they would be stupid to advertise your flat as available for olympic period rental because you will not be allowing anyone to view or even enter.

They can serve you a S13 to raise the rent, but they are not going to get their proposed 20pc increase or anything like it, there are formulas that would need to be applied.

Running_Horse

Looks like Olympics hype is the new Millenium hype; remember when we were going to run out of champagne?

vintagebrighton

When thinking about any action you want to take please remember you'll have to get another tenancy at some point and you'd need (I presume) a reference to give to your next landlord. Unfair I know but worth bearing in mind.

propertyman

Have a wander around the websites of the local agents and see if £350 per week is a fair rent for similar properties in a similar location..

If it is too much then you could move

It a current rent is say £330, perhaps £350 is their opening offer.

If it is £350, then you have a decision to make.