Advice on rent increase needed!

violetmva

Hi,
we've been on a rolling tenancy agreement for the last 7 years, so i am not sure about the notice my Ll has to give us if they wants to increase the rent. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Rent goes on the 17th of every month. Ll called to say they are going to send the new TA with the rent increase, which will be more than 10%.
So my questions are:
When do i start paying the new rent if i agree with the increase?
Should i not agree does that mean i am giving my LL a notice that i will move out and given that i have already paid for the next month, does my notice start on 17th of February?
I hope its not confusing the info i have given and my questions.
Thank you!

Pixie5740

What does your original tenancy agreement say about rent increases (it might not say anything at all).

if you do not agree with the proposed rent increase you do not have to sign the new tenancy agreement and you can continue with your periodic tenancy. However, if you go down this route your landlord may follow the due process to have you evicted.

Your options are:

• Accept the new TA with rent increase.
• Neogotiate a smaller rent increase
• Don't sign the new TA and continue as you are.

How does the 10% increase compare with the cost of renting a similar property in the same area? One rent increase in 7 years sounds like you've had a pretty good run.

violetmva

Thank you!
Rent was not increased for 7 years but no repairs were made either, everything took months and in the case with the kitchen ceiling that was damaged by the neighbour's bathroom upstairs i can say is taking years - damage was done in 2009 and still i have only a board that doesn't protect the rubbish comming down from the hole. On the whole rents in the area are getting much higher than our rent, but the condition this house is doesn't reflect the increase. We are expecting our second child now and with hubby getting increase on wages, we're thinking of moving out of London alltogether. TA was originaly assured shorthold and i could not find anything on rent increase, just assumed that Ll cannot increase rent during the first year.

thesaint

violetmva wrote: »

Should i not agree does that mean i am giving my LL a notice that i will move out

No, not agreeing does not mean you are giving notice.

G_M

violetmva wrote: »

....... Ll called to say they are going to send the new TA with the rent increase, which will be more than 10%.
you can choose to sign it or not.

So my questions are:
When do i start paying the new rent if i agree with the increase?
from the tenancy start date on the tenancy agreement.

Should i not agree does that mean i am giving my LL a notice that i will move out
No
and given that i have already paid for the next month, does my notice start on 17th of February?
N/A

I hope its not confusing the info i have given and my questions.
Thank you!

If you don't sign, nothing changes. You continue at the current rent, on the current periodic tenancy.

The LL can then decide to:
* do nothing
* serve a S21 Notice (2 months) to evict you
* serve a S13 Notice to increase the rent formally

see

* Rent increases: when & how can rent be increased?

Having said all that, after 7 years a rent increase is not unreasonable. Do you want to alienate the landlord?

violetmva

I read somewhere should the rent increase is more than 10% LL has to give 2 months before the new rent comes in place, hence my question above
No, i do not to alienate Ll i just want to live in a normal house. I do not want everytime i sit on the table for dinner, rubbish to come on my plate and generaly everything in the kithchen to be covered in dust and rubbish from the ceiling. I do not want every time i call for the repairs to be done (and it has been years) to hear yeah, i'll come round next week and that never happens. And yes, actually i am i reasonable person and i am not angry or anything with the LL. I just wanted to know my options as i will have to change schools and hospital care for my self and my son. In the third trimester i can assure you it is not fun to do

HappyMJ

violetmva wrote: »

I read somewhere should the rent increase is more than 10% LL has to give 2 months before the new rent comes in place, hence my question above
No, i do not to alienate Ll i just want to live in a normal house. I do not want everytime i sit on the table for dinner, rubbish to come on my plate and generaly everything in the kithchen to be covered in dust and rubbish from the ceiling. I do not want every time i call for the repairs to be done (and it has been years) to hear yeah, i'll come round next week and that never happens. And yes, actually i am i reasonable person and i am not angry or anything with the LL. I just wanted to know my options as i will have to change schools and hospital care for my self and my son. In the third trimester i can assure you it is not fun to do

They can double it if they like there is no limit to the rent increase.

If they go down the formal route then yes it's 2 months notice. They're trying the informal route first which isn't a problem.

It's advisable for LL's to increase in smaller percentages so the tenant isn't put into financial hardship but that's not required.

In the state the property is in I would really think about moving on. A failure to repair a ceiling in what is supposed to be a 100% clean room such as a kitchen would be too much for me so I'd hand in my notice and move on.

Yes in third trimester it's going to be difficult but how are you going to ensure the babies bottles and dishes are 100% clean when you've got dust falling on to them from an open ceiling. You can't....

violetmva

Thank you!
As i said earlier with the second one on the way, we're thinking to move out of London but didn't want to be pressured in getiing everything hurried in a month. Think two months notice will suit me to find a propper house for the family and welcome the new baby
Your input is very much appreciated. Thank you again!

dimbo61

Rents in London and the whole of the South East look insane so I hope you are coming UP NORTH

violetmva

Thinking of Southend on Sea as hubby has a good paid job in London and even with commuting it will be much cheapper

[Deleted User]

I had a bit of a similiar situation occur. Lived in same place for nearly five years. LL kept refusing to do repairs so I had to do them (put bathroom in - cheaply - insulation, replaced a ceiling, etc etc, you get the drift). The rent went up by £25 a month after about 18 months. It was still lower than usual for the area. Then a few months ago he wanted to put the rent up by £100 a month, still lower than average but not by much. And the certainty that the repair situation wasn't going to improve, he was still refusing to replaced a warped floor, replace a boiler that worked when it wanted etc etc. Actually said he couldn't afford it.., although lets face it, mortgage costs haven't gone up in the four years.

He wanted to sell, I did agree in the end to pay the extra £100 rent, but made it clear that as a benefit recipient I couldn't afford that for long so he evicted me. Even with accelerated repossession it took three months and I'm now in social housing (emergency). No more topping up the rent and repairs do get done. Eventually. But it was an incredibly stressful process with the lack of trust with the LL. If he'd have done repairs, kept the place in good condition, and increased the rent by small amounts each year (in line with the area) I might well still be there. The lack of trust and living in fear of being evicted (he used to threaten to evict me if i asked too much for a repair to be done) made the tenancy a nightmare.

I used to feel I was being robbed, now I don't. But that's probably uncommercial of me. But as I said, the process was very very stressful. Even just moving on a limited budget was difficult.

Try Gravesend or parts of Kent, rents are lot cheaper than Central London and commute time is often 16 mins (from Gravesend). But rents are rising very quickly here as more and more people do the same.

Remember you will probably also have to shed out for LA fees which can be sizeable if you can't rent direct from a LL.

BTW, the LL has now done the house up, to the standard it should have been all along, presumably to help it sell (he did have people come round to view a year ago but even given the popularity of this area, he didn't get a single offer because of the condition of the place). That was a bit galling, but not unexpected. I'm just glad I'm out of the situation.