Do private tenants have any rights

OOOO

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Are you in England or Wales? What (exact) date did your tenancy start? Is there a fixed term (6 months? 12 months?). Does your tenancy agreement say anything about rent increases?

In England, i have been here six years now. started on a six month fixed term but now monthly periodic. Nothing in the original contract about increases

Cisco001

OOOO wrote: »

In England, i have been here six years now. started on a six month fixed term but now monthly periodic. Nothing in the original contract about increases

So your landlord didn't increase a penny for 6 years?

Pixie5740

OOOO wrote: »

In England, i have been here six years now. started on a six month fixed term but now monthly periodic. Nothing in the original contract about increases

A text message is not valid notice that your landlord may start court proceeding to evict you. Nor is it valid notice to increase your rent. That doesn't mean you cannot choose to accept the rent increase though. How does your rent + £75 compare with rents for similar properties in the area?

You could negotiate with your landlord to get a new 12 month fixed term contract is you agree to the £75 pcm increase (or possibly another amount). The new fixed term would protect you should you choose to press your landlord for a new gas safety certificate and signing a new fixed term would protect you from retaliatory evictions under the Deregulation Act 2015 should you request any repairs to the property.

See G_M's guides to Ending/Renewing an AST and Rent Increases for more information.

Also read Deposits and check to see if your deposit is registered with one of the three schemes.

cloo

How I wish landlords like yours could get some penalty for even trying on such rubbish! He can't make you leave by just asking or demanding more money. He needs to serve a s21 notice (which he can't do if he hasn't protected your deposit and notified you of having done so, which he hasn't) and even then you wouldn't have to leave at the end of the notice until such time as he gets an order to get you out.

I agree with Pixie it might be worth negotiating about the rent, ignore the stuff about 'other tenants waiting', getting new tenants in is time and expense for landlords, always better to stick with your existing tenant if they are good and reliable; that is your bargaining chip.

Guest101

Change locks, wait to be evicted (or pay the new rent)

D_M_E

As has already been said above, you cannot be evicted or given 3 weeks notice by text.

Change the locks and keep the old ones to put back when you move out.

As for the Section 21 notice - more knowledgeable people on the forum will correct me, but as your tenancy started 6 years ago and has been periodic for several years, then your deposit does not come under the new regulations, which currently only affect any tenancy started after October 2015 so a Section 21 can be issued.

As I understand it, all tenancies, no matter when they commenced, will come under the new regulations as from October 2018.

You should though still have a gas safety certificate and the lack of one should be reported and I think, but am not sure, that a Section 21 notice cannot be served until one is in place but I am not sure on this.

Guest101

D_M_E wrote: »

As has already been said above, you cannot be evicted or given 3 weeks notice by text.

Change the locks and keep the old ones to put back when you move out.

As for the Section 21 notice - more knowledgeable people on the forum will correct me, but as your tenancy started 6 years ago and has been periodic for several years, then your deposit does not come under the new regulations, which currently only affect any tenancy started after October 2015 so a Section 21 can be issued.

As I understand it, all tenancies, no matter when they commenced, will come under the new regulations as from October 2018.

You should though still have a gas safety certificate and the lack of one should be reported and I think, but am not sure, that a Section 21 notice cannot be served until one is in place but I am not sure on this.

The deposit must still be protected, but no other protection is applicable for this type of tenancy.


GSC is not required to evict

Pixie5740

D_M_E wrote: »

As for the Section 21 notice - more knowledgeable people on the forum will correct me, but as your tenancy started 6 years ago and has been periodic for several years, then your deposit does not come under the new regulations, which currently only affect any tenancy started after October 2015 so a Section 21 can be issued.

As I understand it, all tenancies, no matter when they commenced, will come under the new regulations as from October 2018.

That doesn't really matter because the OP's deposit should have been protected back in 2010 when the original tenancy started. If the deposit hasn't been protected then any Section 21 issued will be invalid unless the landlord returns the full deposit to the OP before serving notice.

D_M_E wrote: »

You should though still have a gas safety certificate and the lack of one should be reported and I think, but am not sure, that a Section 21 notice cannot be served until one is in place but I am not sure on this.

A lack of gas safety certificate doesn't invalidate a Section 21 but it is a criminal offence for the landlord not to have a current one if there are gas appliances in the property.

Naf

Pixie5740 wrote: »

You could negotiate with your landlord to get a new 12 month fixed term contract is you agree to the £75 pcm increase (or possibly another amount). The new fixed term would protect you should you choose to press your landlord for a new gas safety certificate and signing a new fixed term would protect you from retaliatory evictions under the Deregulation Act 2015 should you request any repairs to the property.

Tried this with my LL. within a year of moving in we discovered that walls needed replastering and a few other somewhat inconvenient bits. As relatively new tenants (to this LL, I mean) we were worried that he might think it was easier to evict us and get someone less fussy. We offered to sign for 5 years, he agreed on only a £25pcm increase for the whole thing, then just didn't bother getting back to us to sign, despite me chasing him up.
5 years on, he's doing the repairs anyway; but hasn't received the extra £1,500 in rent which probably would pay for them all.
Ah well, his loss.

marcarm

Not defending the landlord in the slightest as he sounds horrible and ignorant of the laws, but why does the lack of CO detector only worry most people when it becomes a bargaining chip against the LL? It's seen time and time again on these boards.

They can be had for about £10-£15, I'll never understand why people don't just buy them themselves for peace of mind. And in the OPs case, I would be buying one sooner rather than later considering the boiler has not been serviced or the GSC completed.