Lease contract advice needed please

Dagga

Hi All

My lease expired a few days ago and my estate agent has contacted me by phone to tell me that say that they are going to be raising the rent in my new lease and that I should give them a cheque this month for the addtional amount.

In my lease there is a paragraph that reads as so:

"If the Landlord and the Tenant shall at the termination of this tenancy be desirous of entering into a new Tenancy Agreement in respect of the premises, then the Tenant shall have the option to renew his tenancy for a further 364 days upon the same terms and conditions as this tenancy save the two months written notice to quit may be given by either party on any rent day. HOWEVER, the landlord reserves the right to revise the rent payable prior to the renewal of the Tenancy Agreement provided two months wirtten notice to this effect is given to the tenants before the expiry date of the contract"

To me, that means that as they have contacted me to ask for an administration fee that they desire a new contract and that as they have not given me two months notice they must keep the same terms.

But my mate thinks that as the lease has expired then all agreements within it are null and void and that we are on some sort of month by month word of mouth agreement.

Which is where all of you come in! Please could someone explain what my options are and which one of us is correct.

Thanks in advance.

Regards

Dagga

PS: On a side note, my estate agent has charged me a £76 administration charge for the renewal of an £850 lease agreement. I think that this is quite high, not to mention these are the only agents that have ever charged me this sort of fee.

Does anyone have any experience of this sort of charge and what other agents charge?

olly300

Loads of agents charge for renewing AST that how they make some of their money.

This is from Shelter's website:
http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-5735.cfm


When can my rent be increased?
If your tenancy is for a fixed period of time (known as 'fixed term'), such as six months or a year, your landlord cannot increase the rent until the fixed term ends. The only exceptions to this are if you agree to the increase (using a special form if you are a regulated tenant) or there is a clause in your agreement saying that the rent will be increased.

Assured shorthold tenants
If you are an assured shorthold tenant your landlord will be charging you a 'market rent'. Market rents are affected by the availability and cost of other similar accommodation in the area, but, in reality, if your landlord wants to increase your rent, you don't have very much power to stop them.


Basically you are both right as you can contest the rent increase in the new contract but as the contract is no longer valid and you have reverted to a periodic tenancy in law, then the landlord can state they want to increase the rent in the next contract. Therefore the landlord can give you 2 months notice to leave where you would be paying the same rent for 2 months. (The law overrides any clauses in tenancy agreements.)

If you don't want to live in the property anymore,or think you can find a cheaper place to live, then don't pay the increase and ensure that you are given 2 months written notice to leave on the date your rent is due. If you are not given this then don't move. Also don't pay any renewal fees or sign any paperwork until you are given a contract you agree with. Remember your deposit is between you and the landlord.

Also if you have a disgreement put things in writing and sent a copy both to the landlord and the letting agent by recorded delivery.

Dagga

Cheers for the help Olly!

franklee

Dagga wrote: »

But my mate thinks that as the lease has expired then all agreements within it are null and void and that we are on some sort of month by month word of mouth agreement.

If you don't renew you can stay on a periodic tenancy which has the same terms as the old except the notice is a bit different, this happens automatically. In this case the landlord can either serve you with a section 13 with a months notice of a rent increase or serve you a section 21 notice with two months notice to leave or persuade you to sign the renewal with the new rent.

olly300 wrote: »

ensure that you are given 2 months written notice to leave on the date your rent is due. If you are not given this then don't move.

I'd just add to this to check that notice hasn't already been served. It may be that you were served notice near the start of the fixed term. Were you given anything headed something like Section 21 Notice Requiring Possession? If so the landlord will try to tell you that you haven't got a leg to stand on. They'd be wrong, the notice is now invalid, but at least you'll know to expect it being raised.