Help!!! Landlord wants us to sign a new contact halfway through tenancy agreement?!

glowsticks

Hi All,

I will try to be as brief as I can.

We signed a 2 year tenancy agreement and now have 8 months left until the end of it. We are planning to move anyway so wouldn't be renewing it.

We have been great tenants, had regular inspections and no problems whatsoever.

However, suddenly the landlord wants to get a better mortgage deal and the mortgage company "isn't happy about the 2 year tenancy agreement" (even though we've only got 8 months left) so he want us to sign a new one from now until October.

I would be fine with this but on cross referencing the original tenancy agreement and the new one, there are added clauses, the cost of a check out inspection has gone UP (and we paid for this in our initial tenancy fees) and there are other clauses there which (and I stress) MAY cause us to incur further costs.

Some of these are:

Increased check out inspection fee (by 25 pounds)
Pay a fee of £30 in case we breach a tenancy agreement and a letter needs to get sent
Pay a fee of 12 in case we over pay rent due to their fault.
Pay a fee of 75 pounds in case they need to server us a Section 8 or Section 21

The other clause thats get me is that we must clear out any vermin, woodworm or pests which may arise. This annoys me as I didn't have this in the original contract and I have complained last year about birds nesting in the roof space - to which I was told I would have to wait until winter to ensure the landlord sorted it out. Suddenly there is a new clause saying I have to pay for it?

We have our original tenancy agreement and want to stick to that.

The lettings agent have said these increases are per say and we are legally bound to them - but they weren't in our signed contract and we have no notification except in this new contract we we haven't signed yet. The only clause for increase in cost in the original tenancy agreement is for the rent, which is fine and it went up after a year by 10 pounds.

I hate renting, I am trying to get out of it but with a pregnant fianc!e and trying to save I do not want to suddenly incur more costs just because the landlord wants a better deal.

I don't know where we stand? Do we legally have to sign a new tenancy agreement or can we just stick to our original one?

If we dont agree too, can we get evicted by a Section 8 or 21? As I said, we're professional workers, have had NO issues with our rent or the lettings agent and my partner is 4 and a half months pregnant - just because we don't want to sign a new contract doesn't give the landlord good reason to chuck us out does it?

I'm a bit confused as the lettings agent is putting pressure on me to sign.

Sorry for the story, if someone could shed some light that would be great.

One thing I did say was that if the landlord signed in writing that any extra costs incurred to us by the change of clauses in the new tenancy agreement, if he covered them, then we'd sign - but they weren't interested.


Thanks for your help in advance.

princeofpounds

You have a tenancy agreement already. If you are happy with it, stick with it.

Sounds like the LL and/or A think they can just bluster you.

Pixie5740

Tell the LL and the LA to Foxtrot Oscar. Perhaps be a bit more diplomatic than that though.

You have a fixed term tenancy with another 8 months left. They cannot cajole you into signing any new agreement hiking up prices. You LL's mortgage is his problem it has nothing to do with you.

Are you planning to leave at the end of your fixed term?

glowsticks

This is a relief, I didnt know whether I was being dramatic about it or not. I will wait for a few more bits of advice and if required see the Citizens Advice this week... we had a section 21 served before because of an email hiccup requesting to advice on leaving - the landlord was hell bent and took it as our notice to leave so then served the section 21 and we were homeless for a bit trying to sort ourselves out.

Being in that situation again scares the life out of me whilst I am looking after partner and baby, keeping the peace is what i'd like to do - diplomatic is a great word. However I dont want to be spun for more fees.

Thank you!

booksurr

you have an existing agreement which appears to have a fixed term of 2 years (and no break clause) ending in Oct 2015

you cannot be forced to sign a new agreement now as the existing one is ... err .... existing

the proposed extra clauses are in reality unenforceable anyway and you could refuse to pay them, although you would have to go to court to do so. Nonetheless they are the exact sort of round sum fees which are specifically mentioned in the OFT guidance on unfair contract clauses and bear no relation to actual costs incurred in the "breaches" https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unfair-terms-in-tenancy-agreements--2 The agent is either being deliberately misleading or being typically ignorant of the law as they cannot see passed the £ signs of their fees

I am sure you appreciate your LL is in it to make money so the vermin clause is an obvious addition to address the fact you could make him out of pocket again. I'm sure you'd try to do the same if the position was reversed.

Does not alter the fact you DO NOT have to accept a new agreement and the LL CANNOT serve a S21 before Oct 2015 when your (apparent) fixed term expires.

m0bov

Why not offer to sign, but for a reduced rent? Expect an S21 though at the end of your tenancy.

Pixie5740

glowsticks wrote: »

This is a relief, I didnt know whether I was being dramatic about it or not. I will wait for a few more bits of advice and if required see the Citizens Advice this week... we had a section 21 served before because of an email hiccup requesting to advice on leaving - the landlord was hell bent and took it as our notice to leave so then served the section 21 and we were homeless for a bit trying to sort ourselves out.

Being in that situation again scares the life out of me whilst I am looking after partner and baby, keeping the peace is what i'd like to do - diplomatic is a great word. However I dont want to be spun for more fees.

Thank you!

How did you end up homeless due to a Section 21? Only you or a court can end a tenancy. A Section 21 on its own is not enough.

As booksurr says, your LL cannot make you leave before the end of your fixed term unless you stop paying your rent or some other breech of your contract. Even then he would still need to go to court.

glowsticks

It may have been a notice to leave or a Section 8, I can't remember - we blocked it from memory as it was a bad experience from a landlord that we had consistent arguments with about the way she went about things (coming into our house unexpected when we weren't there!)

Either way, thank you for your advice it is muchly appreciated.

We will be leaving at the end of the tenancy agreement anyhow as he's trying to sell the house so... its all good.

G_M

m0bov wrote: »

Why not offer to sign, but for a reduced rent? Expect an S21 though at the end of your tenancy.

You have a perfectly valid tenancy agreement until October already. Until then, you are secure unless

* you get a S8 Notice for, say, rent arrears
* there is a Break Clause (read the agreement and check)

So if the LL wants you to sign a new one, for whatevever reason, you will be doing him a favour if you agree.

It therefore makes sense for him to offer you (or you to request) an incentive eg

* reduced rent
* improvements to the property
* one-off payment
* whatever you feel like asking for.....

To actually worsen the terms of your agreement is..... taking the p.....

stator

Just double check the tenancy to make sure it has no clauses which could end the tenancy earlier. Assuming there are none just tell them to take a running jump off the nearest bridge.

G_M

stator wrote: »

Just double check the tenancy to make sure it has no clauses which could end the tenancy earlier.

For the avoidance of doubt, that's what a 'Break Clause' is