Fair rent increase? Advice...

dp1

I have rented a house in a rural town in the north east for 2 years, paying £500 per month. At the end of June I got a text from landlord, saying he was putting the rent up to £580....he wanted this from 1st July. After a few phone conversations, he agreed to reduce the increase to £60 per month, from 1st August......he sent an email stating that the rent would be £560 per month from 1st August. I didn't actually sign anything but agreed verbally and paid £560 on 1st August.
Now I've had more time to think about it, I know I am going to struggle to pay the extra......question is can I do anything about it now? I think that by paying the first month's increase I have shown that I can afford it ........?

Any advice would be appreciated....I signed an assured shorthold tenancy 2 years ago and have had no previous problems with landlord. Catalyst for rent increase seem to be the fact that kitchen tap was broken and I had to keep hassling him to get it fixed and it cost him £60........2 days later he decided to increase rent

martinsurrey

You can refuse to pay and use the fact that the tennancy agreement you have states £500.

He will then evict you, or make you sign a new contract.

so your options are,

carry on paying the agreed £560 and either, get a new contract or just wing it (at the moment he could try to evict you with 2 months notice)

Refuse to pay the increase and risk an eviction.

G_M

What date did your tenancy start? When does the 2 year fixed term end (exactly)?
Is the date the LL wants the new rent aligned with the tenancy?
What if anything does the tenancy say about rent increases?

Read this post here:

Rent increases (how and when can rent be changed)

tbs624

OP *agreed* to the increase albeit only verbally. The fact that the OP then coughed up the increased rent figure confirms his/her acceptance of the increase.

If s/he now tries to revert to the original 500 s/he is likely to end up being given notice.

Notmyrealname

dp1 wrote: »

Any advice would be appreciated....I signed an assured shorthold tenancy 2 years ago and have had no previous problems with landlord. Catalyst for rent increase seem to be the fact that kitchen tap was broken and I had to keep hassling him to get it fixed and it cost him £60........2 days later he decided to increase rent

A £60 increase over a 2 year period is is just over 5% per year so it is not unreasonable.

Kate49

Notmyrealname wrote: »

A £60 increase over a 2 year period is is just over 5% per year so it is not unreasonable.

What about my case as a landlord. The rent on my property has not been increased since 2009. A year ago the tenant redecorated downstairs and put in new carpets downstairs (its only a small cottage). We offered to pay for this but he said not to increase the rent, this is a year ago. We didn´t and a few days ago I emailed him to say we would keep the rent static for another year. I got a vitriolic email saying that he expects the rent to remain static for another two or three years on top of this. I now feel very annoyed to be the target of what is a nasty email am I being unfair?

Fire_Fox

Kate49 wrote: »

What about my case as a landlord. The rent on my property has not been increased since 2009. A year ago the tenant redecorated downstairs and put in new carpets downstairs (its only a small cottage). We offered to pay for this but he said not to increase the rent, this is a year ago. We didn´t and a few days ago I emailed him to say we would keep the rent static for another year. I got a vitriolic email saying that he expects the rent to remain static for another two or three years on top of this. I now feel very annoyed to be the target of what is a nasty email am I being unfair?

Average rents don't automatically increase year on year, sometimes they stay static, sometimes they increase exponentially, sometimes they decrease. Have you researched a fair market rent for a property of this size and type in your area and how brisk lettings are? Don't bother getting annoyed over one nasty e-mail, you need a thick skin in business.

BitterAndTwisted

Why communicate by email? That's not the way a professional should be behaving. For the time being I would not respond to the tenant's "vitriolic" response and communicate solely in writing from now on.

It doesn't matter what the tenant was expecting. All that matters is whether the rent charged is in line with other similar properties. If you choose to increase the rent after a year then you must expect your tenant to make other arrangements if they're not happy, and perhaps suffer a void in between tenancies. Only you can decide whether this would be an acceptable risk.

terryw

Kate49 wrote: »

What about my case as a landlord. The rent on my property has not been increased since 2009. A year ago the tenant redecorated downstairs and put in new carpets downstairs (its only a small cottage). We offered to pay for this but he said not to increase the rent, this is a year ago. We didn´t and a few days ago I emailed him to say we would keep the rent static for another year. I got a vitriolic email saying that he expects the rent to remain static for another two or three years on top of this. I now feel very annoyed to be the target of what is a nasty email am I being unfair?

No you are not.

It is a good idea to start your own thread as replies can be confusing to two topics.