Rent Rise 42 Percent>>> Please Help

kaka72

Hello

I am asking for help reguarding a letter my friend has recieved on Saturday stating that her rent is to go up.
I'll just explain the history and thanks in advance for any advice recieved.

Friend and partner have a 3 year old and live in a 2 bed terrace.
They have lived there since about 2002.
They pay £300 rent per month.
Their landlord has just sold to some-one else and the new ladlord now wants £425 per month.
Mum works part time and dad works 7 days a week most weeks.

They have been great tennants and really cannot afford the increase. They realise the rent was cheap before but the increase seems incredibly unfair. They have a meeting with the council this week.
Any advice???
Thanks.

pcwilkins

They can apply to their local Rent Assessment committee but I don't think they adjudicate on unfair rises, only on unfair rents --- i.e. if the rent is fair then they cannot do anything. Is £425 an average for the area and size of house?

The increase is large, but that doesn't automatically mean it's unfair. If £425 is a reasonable rent, then the new landlord is perfectly fair to expect them to pay it. It would be unfair to expect him to rent to them at below market rates just because the old landlord did.

At the end of the day perhaps they will just have to be thankful that they've have 5 years housing at a discount and will now have to adjust to the real world!

Can they really not find an extra £125 per month? Surely they must have luxuries they can cut back on...get rid of the TV for starters.

Peter

snowmaid

pcwilkins wrote: »

They can apply to their local Rent Assessment committee but I don't think they adjudicate on unfair rises, only on unfair rents --- i.e. if the rent is fair then they cannot do anything. Is £425 an average for the area and size of house?

The increase is large, but that doesn't automatically mean it's unfair. If £425 is a reasonable rent, then the new landlord is perfectly fair to expect them to pay it. It would be unfair to expect him to rent to them at below market rates just because the old landlord did.

At the end of the day perhaps they will just have to be thankful that they've have 5 years housing at a discount and will now have to adjust to the real world!

Can they really not find an extra £125 per month? Surely they must have luxuries they can cut back on...get rid of the TV for starters.

Peter

Won't the LL have to prove that that the increase in rent is justified? If they cannot come to an agreement, can an arbitrator assist? Not sure how it works.

As for getting rid of the tv, don't know how that is going to make that much of a difference when the licence is +/- £10 a month? Quite frankly, the telly is not really a 'luxury' these days. Maybe if they spent money on booze and cigs, that is something they could cut down on.

kaka72

Thank you Peter, will pass on your advice.
Their house is very small so not sure how much the rent should be but I should imagine nearer the £350 mark. They would work more hours if they could but they can't.

Getting rid of the telly will not save them any real money and only add to the headache as they have a 3 year old!!!

Also, £125 a month is such a massive amount for them that they really have no hope of getting it and they will be homeless.

They can't afford to go out so very rarely have a drink, don't do drugs and dad smokes rollies....not sure how many.

Dead_Eye_Jones

Rents traditionally rise with the value of the property. And we all know what has happened to the value of property...

I think there will be a lot of LLs trying to increase rates and I wonder if the only course of action people will have is to move if they dont like it. But inflation acts on all aspects of our life so we should expect things to get more expensive in time and plan accordingly.

Best of luck to your friends though, finding another £125 a month is certainly harder than selling the TV!

pcwilkins

snowmaid wrote: »

Won't the LL have to prove that that the increase in rent is justified?

I doubt it. He may have to prove that the rent is reasonable but it doesn't sound like that would be a problem. As I say, the increase is irrelevant in the eyes of the law --- what is relevant is the actual rent now.

If they cannot come to an agreement, can an arbitrator assist? Not sure how it works.

What would the landlord get out of it? At the end of the day it's his property and it is quite fair for him to rent it out at the market rate.

As for getting rid of the tv, don't know how that is going to make that much of a difference when the licence is +/- £10 a month?

£10 a month is not insignificant when compared to the £150 a month that they need to find. If they have sky etc. it could be even more.

Quite frankly, the telly is not really a 'luxury' these days.

Quite frankly, rubbish :-) are you saying it is a necessity? If so, how do we (and many others) manage without one? Why is it a necessity to have a box that can display moving pictures? At the end of the day, it is entertainment --- and any entertainment is a luxury :-)

As a bonus, their 3 year old would probably grow up literate, better educated, and able to amuse himself instead of having to have something else to amuse him. He might even develop some interests other than slouching in front of the box.

Maybe if they spent money on booze and cigs, that is something they could cut down on.

Agreed. My point was that we all have luxuries and we could all save money if we had to.

Peter

pcwilkins

kaka72 wrote: »

Thank you Peter, will pass on your advice.
Their house is very small so not sure how much the rent should be but I should imagine nearer the £350 mark. They would work more hours if they could but they can't.

In that case the rent assessment committee may well be able to help. But to be realistic, if they can't afford to live in the house they want to live in, that's kind of tough. I'd quite like to live in a huge mansion in the country but I can't quite afford it either...although in my case I would need to find more than £150 a month :-)

Getting rid of the telly will not save them any real money and only add to the headache as they have a 3 year old!!!

I can absolutely guarantee that their TV causes more headaches than it avoids, and that getting rid of it would be a step they would never regret. And of course it would save them "real money" --- around £120 a year, to be exact. Probably more in the future. Books are cheap; in fact, the local library will give you books for free. And you don't need a book licence.

Peter

Debt_Free_Chick

The LL's options/powers for raising rent is set out in the Housing Act. This states whether and when the rent can be increased and the process the LL has to apply. Note that the situations in which the terms of the HA apply are specified - so your friend may not be covered by them.

The LL has to serve notice in a prescribed form at the beginning of a new tenancy period. If he is covered by the HA then, yes, your friend can refer the increase for determination by the Rent Assessment Committee. Full details of making a complaint here. Useful to read even if they don't go to the RAC - note that the RAC will determine the "open market rent" for the property and that could be less or more than what the LL is demanding.

Careful here .... if £300 was less than open market at the time the property was first let, the LL may simply be looking to bring the rent up to market value. The rate of the increase doesn't matter - it's the rent that is being asked.

Any decent LL would surely only look to demand the open market rate as they would know that anything more would fail, if the tenant took him to the RAC.

The local office of the Residential Property Tribunal Service may be able to help, by telephone. Otherwise, CAB or Shelter should be the first port of call.

HTH

pcwilkins

Has the tenant signed an agreement with the new landlord or is the agreement still with the old landlord?

Peter

Debt_Free_Chick

Quick thought .... do they qualify for Housing Benefit? CAB can help with this.

kaka72

pcwilkins wrote: »

In that case the rent assessment committee may well be able to help. But to be realistic, if they can't afford to live in the house they want to live in, that's kind of tough. I'd quite like to live in a huge mansion in the country but I can't quite afford it either...although in my case I would need to find more than £150 a month :-)

I can absolutely guarantee that their TV causes more headaches than it avoids, and that getting rid of it would be a step they would never regret. And of course it would save them "real money" --- around £120 a year, to be exact. Probably more in the future. Books are cheap; in fact, the local library will give you books for free. And you don't need a book licence.

Peter

They don't particulary want to live were they are as it is tiny and the area is not good, the floor plan to their whole house is smaller than one room most houses and by far smaller than any flat I have ever been in.

What i said about the t.v and a 3 year old was a joke. He is an exceptionally eloquent little boy who impressed the health vistor at his 2 year check with his ability to have a conversation with sentaces of 5-8 words per sentance so you don't need to be so rudeabout his intelligence.