Landlord increased rent without us signing a new tenancy - is this allowed?

Brit_Chick

Hi,

Last year my husband and I moved into a property and signed a 6 month tenancy, when it expired we contacted the letting agent advising that we wished to renew the lease for another year and reminded them that there were still some repairs outstanding to the property that we were told would be carried out when we first moved in.

The letting agent advised us that the landlord wished to increase the rent and it was agreed that we would sign a new 12 month lease at the increased rent upon completion of the repairs.

Since then we have pretty much been waiting for the repairs to be completed, only one of the jobs has been carried out and we ended up getting so fed up up of constantly having to ask the agent to carry out the rest of the repairs that we paid for them to be done ourselves (in hindsight, this may have been a stupid move but we were fed up of tripping up over the broken kitchen floor all the time)

We have now returned from holiday to find a letter from the agents stating that we are in arrears with our rent as it was increased 3 months ago - we have continued to pay the original rent as we were waiting for the repairs to be completed and we have not signed a new tenancy either.

Can the agents increase the rent without us signing a new tenancy? There has not been any mention of the rent increasing upon a particular date, it was always the understanding that the rent would be increased upon completion of repairs when we would also sign a new tenancy.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

pmlindyloo

In order to answer your question would you please supply the following information?

Which counctry are you in?

When did your tenancy begin and when did it end?

Confirm that you have not signed a new tenancy agreement.

Is there anything in your original tenancy agreement that says anything about a rent increase?

Did you get anything in writing about the rent increase beginning once the repairs had been carried out?

Hopefully the experts will then come along and help you out.

DVardysShadow

The question you need to ask is what is the evidence that the LL and LA could put before the court to say that the rent has gone up and what is yours to say it has not.

If the LA can produce a copy of a properly served notice of a rent increase can you produce evidence other than verbal that the rent would remain the same until repairs have been completed?

Assuming that the evidence is in your favour, you need to WRITE back to the agent and remind them that repairs have not been completed and no rent increase is due until the repairs are complete.

If the evidence is not in your favour, there is a proper rtent increase notice but nothing in your favour, you have been stitched up.

BitterAndTwisted

I'd stop messing around communicating with the agent and get in contact directly with the landlord. This is the party who is responsible for having the repairs carried out and also the one who has decided to increase your rent. The agent is just that: an agent, the landlord's agent not yours. Attach any correspondence between you and the agent about any promises to carry out the repairs. Ask the landlord IN WRITING when they expect them to be done. There are very strict procedures for having essential repairs done and deducting it from the rent, so don't expect the landlord to welcome your request for reimbursement, if you are intending to do so.

If you are in either England or Wales and haven't signed another fixed-term agreement your landlord can't unilaterally increase the rent. They have to serve you with formal notice which is a Section 13 Notice. However you have to balance declining to pay the-increase against getting two month's notice from the landlord. Rents have been increasing all over the country, so it all depends on whether your current rent is reasonable compared to other similar properties in your area.

Brit_Chick

In answer to your questions:

I am in the UK. Our original six month tenancy ended in June 2011 and we have been waiting to sign a new tenancy since then. No new tenancy has been signed and we have not been served a rent increase notice either.

The only correspondence I have regarding the agreement was when the landlord wrote to us advising that the repairs would be carried out upon an increase in rent. I wrote back stating that we agreed to the rent increase but only once the repairs had been completed given the delays that we had already been experiencing in getting the repairs carried out. The agents did not respond to this letter but did send someone out to start on the repairs which were not finished off.

Brit_Chick

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I'd stop messing around communicating with the agent and get in contact directly with the landlord. This is the party who is responsible for having the repairs carried out and also the one who has decided to increase your rent. The agent is just that: an agent, the landlord's agent not yours. Attach any correspondence between you and the agent about any promises to carry out the repairs. Ask the landlord IN WRITING when they expect them to be done. There are very strict procedures for having essential repairs done and deducting it from the rent, so don't expect the landlord to welcome your request for reimbursement, if you are intending to do so.

If you are in either England or Wales and haven't signed another fixed-term agreement your landlord can't unilaterally increase the rent. They have to serve you with formal notice which is a Section 13 Notice. However you have to balance declining to pay the-increase against getting two month's notice from the landlord. Rents have been increasing all over the country, so it all depends on whether your current rent is reasonable compared to other similar properties in your area.

My landlord lives abroad and I have no way of contacting him directly. I guess that I do need to consider whether it is worth the hassle of declining to pay the increase as we don't want to '!!!! off the landlord' and find ourselves having to find another home to live in especially since I am expecting a baby in a few months. I just object to having had the rent increased and backdated to a seemingly random date without any prior notice or written notice and am worried that if I accept this that this may set a precedence for the future. We will just about be able to cover the increase in rent this time round but am worried that if they do the same in say a years time, that we will end up having to move to cheaper accomadation.

DVardysShadow

Brit_Chick wrote: »

My landlord lives abroad and I have no way of contacting him directly. I guess that I do need to consider whether it is worth the hassle of declining to pay the increase as we don't want to '!!!! off the landlord' and find ourselves having to find another home to live in especially since I am expecting a baby in a few months. I just object to having had the rent increased and backdated to a seemingly random date without any prior notice or written notice and am worried that if I accept this that this may set a precedence for the future. We will just about be able to cover the increase in rent this time round but am worried that if they do the same in say a years time, that we will end up having to move to cheaper accomadation.

Are they aware you are having a baby? Hopefully not and keep it that way. Meantime just remind the Agent that the repairs have not been completed and that, as agreed, you will pay an increase from completion.

jjlandlord

Brit_Chick wrote: »

I just object to having had the rent increased and backdated to a seemingly random date without any prior notice or written notice

You agreed to pay an increase rent when repairs are done. They are not, so you do not owe anything.

Also note that the landlord needs not send you any notice if the conditions for the rent increase have been clearly agreed.
At the same time they can serve you with a s.13 notice of rent increase which will increase the rent whether you agree or not.

[assuming England or Wales]

rpc

Brit_Chick wrote: »

I am in the UK

Which bit? Housing law is different and whether you are in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland will affect the answers.

Brit_Chick

I'm in england.

Just out of curiosity - why is is not a good idea to let the landlord know that I'm pregnant? They don't know but it hadn't occured to me that I should avoid them finding out - any reason why, just for reference?

tbs624

pmlindyloo wrote: »

When did your tenancy begin and when did it end?

The OP is still in the property thus the tenancy can not have ended, although the Fixed Term apparently has. In the absence of any new agreement the tenancy will have moved on to a stautory periodic agreement.

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Confirm that you have not signed a new tenancy agreement.

The OP clearly says " we have not signed a new tenancy either. "