Not signing new AST, but accepting rent increase

Cacto

Hi,

I'm hoping for a bit of advice on my current rental situation.

Me and my boyfriend moved into our current flat in June last year, on a 1 year AST with no break clause. We asked for one, but were told by the letting agent that the landlord “doesn't do break clauses”. We were in a bit of a rush to find a new home so accepted this.

The AST ran out in June this year, and as we hadn't heard from the landlord I understand it automatically rolled on into a SPT which we were very happy about, as we finally have the one month notice to end the tenancy that we had wanted.

The landlord sent us a letter in early August asking us to

A. Pay increased rent from September, and
B. Sign and return a new AST contract which would run until May 2014

Now, we don't want to sign the new AST contract as we're hoping to buy a place in a couple of months' time and are hoping to use our “FTB status” in terms of flexible completion dates to get as good a flat as possible for our money, and we really want to try to buy before the second HTB scheme comes into effect in January.

On the other hand, we are willing to pay the increased rent until we do move out. As we pay the rent at the end of the month, this proposed rent increase won't come into effect until the end of September, so we haven't paid the higher rent yet.

As of yet, we haven't replied to the landlord's letter, and they haven't sent any further communication about it.

My question is this: if we start paying the higher rent but don't send back the new AST contract, will the fact that we have started paying the higher rent mean that we have anyway accepted the new contract in the eyes of the law, even though we haven't signed it?

So if we say send them a letter in October saying that we are giving our one month notice and will move out end of November, can they then turn around and say: “Ah, but you paid the increased rent so now you're liable to pay rent for this flat until April next year.”?

Or is signing a new AST contract an absolute necessity for it to come into force, regardless of us paying the increased rent?

I realise the easiest thing to do would be to talk to the landlord, but I'd rather not draw attention to the fact that we don't want a new AST unless I have to, so that they won't start thinking about ending our tenancy to get someone else in who will sign an AST contract. They are very disorganised so I doubt they'll even notice that we haven't returned the paper for a very long time unless we actively bring it up.

If on the other hand the fact that we pay the increased rent means we'll have “signed” the new AST contract in all but ink, I'll contact them and say that we're happy to pay the increased rent, but want to stay on the SPT. And then we'll just have to take it from there.

Thanks,

mrginge

If you haven't yet received a valid s.21 then there's no way they can have you out before end november.

If the letter is to sign a new contract at a higher rent then by paying that you *may* have been deemed to accept the new contract.
To increase the rent under your SPT they should have sent an s.13.
It sounds to me like you have the former so i would not start paying the higher rent.

Just ignore the letter and continue to pay rent at existing level.

G_M

Cacto wrote: »

Hi,

...
My question is this: if we start paying the higher rent but don't send back the new AST contract, will the fact that we have started paying the higher rent mean that we have anyway accepted the new contract in the eyes of the law, even though we haven't signed it?

No- it will mean you have accepted the new rent.

So if we say send them a letter in October saying that we are giving our one month notice and will move out end of November, can they then turn around and say: “Ah, but you paid the increased rent so now you're liable to pay rent for this flat until April next year.”?

No (but make sure you get the dates of your notice right. See below)

Or is signing a new AST contract an absolute necessity for it to come into force, regardless of us paying the increased rent?

Yes, unless you make a verbal agreement to a new 12month Fixed Term- though of course this is hard foreither side to prove

Thanks,

Read these posts:

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?)

Rent increases (how and when can rent be changed)

G_M

mrginge wrote: »

If the letter is to sign a new contract at a higher rent then by paying that you *may* have been deemed to accept the new contract.
A very big 'may'. I don't see how.
To increase the rent under your SPT they should have sent an s.13.
We don't know. Not enough information. See post below.
It sounds to me like you have the former so i would not start paying the higher rent.

Just ignore the letter and continue to pay rent at existing level.

Rent increases (how and when can rent be changed)

Guest101

Unless you accept the new terms, you can just continue as you are, the LL can issue a s.21 notice, but that won't expire for 2 months, and then still court times etc on top, so if your confident you can be out before then, I'd stick to what you got.

Cacto

Hi,

Thank you for your replies and links, brilliant resources!

I just checked the document that the landlord sent over for us to sign and it's called Assured Shorthold Tenancy: Notice of Extending Term, and the bit relating to the rent says: “The new monthly rent will be £XXXX.XX effective from 1st September 2013 for the term of the extended tenancy term.”

Having read the “How/when can rent be increased on an AST?” post, it seems clear that the rent can be increased just by the two parties agreeing. So in this case, I can see it as them proposing a new rent which I accept, but I don't accept the new FT so don't sign the contract. If they're then unhappy with the lack of a new AST, they can take measures to end the tenancy.

The landlord's currently advertising an identical flat to ours, in the same building, for £150 less per month than we're currenty paying, so I'm thinking that they probably won't rush to get us out even if we don't sign, since it would almost certainly mean they would get less money than they do at the moment. At the very least, I think they would send another letter reminding us of the new contract before resorting to more drastic measures.

So I think we'll pay the new rent, but otherwise lay low and see if they notice the “missing” contract.

I understand that we can choose to just not pay the new rent, but I'd rather pay a bit more money if it means the landlord will be less likely to want to end our tenancy. We definitely plan for and hope to be out by Christmas, but you never know what could go wrong and I'd rather the initiative to end the tenancy came from us rather than the landlord, if possible.

I'm hoping that by paying the increased rent they'll let us stay, and as long as that can't be taken as a sign that we've signed a new AST, which judging from G_M's links it doesn't seem like it would, that's good enough for me.

Paying an additional £50 per month until we move out isn't a problem, but either paying an extra four months' worth of rent or having to find a new rental (we have a large dog and in the past it's been really tricky to find a landlord who will accept her) definitely would be. So I'm just trying to manoevre around those issues and prepare for all eventualities.

And I'm really looking forward to moving for what I hope will be the last time for a long, long time!

Thanks again

outofmoney

If an identical flat is cheaper than yours why would you agree to pay even more?

He would be a rather daft LL to boot you out for not agreeing to a higher rent if the rent you currently pay is already more than he would get for new tenants of your flat.

I would just continue as you are.

dimbo61

If the LL does issue an S21 to try and evict you he/she will then be looking for 2 new tenants to fill both the flats!
He/she will also have to pay for all the letting agents costs in finding tenants and have 2 flats empty with mortgage, insurance, gas/electric costs etc VOID PERIODS
Now on the other hand buying a property takes TIME and you might still be in the rental property till after Xmas
You have been looking for over 1 year and have not yet found a place, sorted a mortgage, gone through the Legals, Searches, survey etc.
Moving flats costs money and take time Another deposit, Letting agents costs etc
Could you not write to the LL and ask if you can have another 6 months at the current rent?
Plan on buying your new home for May 2014

timehastoldme

We're in the exact same position, we've accepted a rent increase but refused to sign a new tenancy agreement because quite frankly our letting agents and landlord have managed to irritate us enough over the summer to push us into not being cowards and just buying a house already.

We told them we'd accept the increase, but not sign a thing, and have had zero response. Took the unsigned form back to them and put it in writing, and zip. I'm going in to see them soon because we think we've found a house we like and we don't want it to get messy when we give notice, so thank you for starting this thread because this is useful information!