Is landlord trying to tie me in?

8701

my tenancy is coming up to 12months at the end of October
my landlord's putting up the rent by £50pcm as of November if i decide to stay.

with this he is saying he's going to send new contracts for me to sign.

my question is... do i need to sign a new contract just because the rent's gone up?

the thing is i was looking to move out very soon and dont want to be tied in by signing a new contract

BitterAndTwisted

No, you don't have to sign a new fixed-term AST just because the landlord is proposing a rent increase.

Your landlord might want or need the comfort of knowing that you're tied-in for a fixed period but you may not. In which case you should have a discussion with your landlord about what you would like to happen.

If the landlord isn't happy about you not wanting for commit they could decide to give you two month's notice. But that could be a better outcome than being tied into a legally-binding contract for another six or twelve months.

G_M

See this post here:

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)

Fire_Fox

I don't think a landlord can serve a notice increasing the rent within the fixed term, so if you don't sign the new AST and don't accept the new rent it won't be due for a couple of months. Hopefully someone else will confirm or deny.

8701

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

No, you don't have to sign a new fixed-term AST just because the landlord is proposing a rent increase.

Your landlord might want or need the comfort of knowing that you're tied-in for a fixed period but you may not. In which case you should have a discussion with your landlord about what you would like to happen.

If the landlord isn't happy about you not wanting for commit they could decide to give you two month's notice. But that could be a better outcome than being tied into a legally-binding contract for another six or twelve months.

G_M wrote: »

See this post here:

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)

Thanks alot guys... that's very informative and brings me some peace

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I don't think a landlord can serve a notice increasing the rent within the fixed term, so if you don't sign the new AST and don't accept the new rent it won't be due for a couple of months. Hopefully someone else will confirm or deny.

i really hope this is the case. will wait for someone to confirm.

thanks again all

jjlandlord

8701 wrote: »

i really hope this is the case. will wait for someone to confirm.

For a periodic AST, formal notice of rent increase is known as a s.13 notice and has a prescribed form.
Which means that:
1. The notice is invalid if served when tenancy is not periodic,
2. The notice is invalid if the prescribed form was not used.

It seems that in your case both criteria were not met.
So your landlord is proposing a new rent, but it won't be due until you agree to it.

Fire_Fox

Thanks jjlandlord.

8701

jjlandlord wrote: »

For a periodic AST, formal notice of rent increase is known as a s.13 notice and has a prescribed form.
Which means that:
1. The notice is invalid if served when tenancy is not periodic,
2. The notice is invalid if the prescribed form was not used.

It seems that in your case both criteria were not met.
So your landlord is proposing a new rent, but it won't be due until you agree to it.

thanks JJ.

just to clarify..

1.) until my tenancy becomes periodic after (1/11/12) the last day of of my current tenancy agreement, i do not have to accept the rent increase.

2.) only after 2/11/2012 can the landlord give me notice to increase my rent. the notice being 30 days as my tenancy is at this point periodic?

thanks again

jjlandlord

Basically, unless you get a valid s.13 notice, any proposal of rent increase is subject to your agreement.
But obviously once the tenancy is periodic your landlord may decide to start eviction proceedings...

As your tenancy will likely be monthly periodic (you said rent is pcm), s.13 notice must give you a full period notice (not 30 days).

G_M

jjlandlord wrote: »

Basically, unless you get a valid s.13 notice, any proposal of rent increase is subject to your agreement.

Unless there is provision within the original Tenancy Agreement for rent increases. In that case a S13 is not required.

More here:

Rent increases (how and when can rent be changed)

8701

i told the estate agent i wouldnt be signing a new contract and would be happy to pay the new rent once proper notice was given.
i was then told the landlord was happy with this but i still needed to sign a contract (30day rolling contract),
this sounding suspicious i asked if there was a fee to pay when singing the contract....
£175!!!