Negotiating a rent reduction before renewing the contract (or moving out)

greatcrested

The quesion of what the property is really worth is now irrelevant. You asked. Agent said no. The whys and wherefores are irrelevant.

You can now

* sign a new contract at rhe rent requested

* stop communicating and move to a periodic (rolling) tenancy at the current rent

* serve notice (see link below on how) and leave

The question of repairs is unrelated and should be dealt with seperately (assuming you stay).

Post 2: Repairing Obligations: the law, common misconceptions, reporting/enforcing, retaliatory eviction & the new tenant protection (2015) plus the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

Post 4: Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

Crashy_Time

ChewyyBacca said:

I have got my LL to agree to rent reduction. I had a similar dilemma to you. I will share my story and hope it helps you.
I was very reluctant to go house hunting when the infection numbers were high. However, I did see some houses in case LL wouldn't agree to reduce the rent. And pandemic situation worsened, so had to halt the search. But by then I had already issued an extremely thinly veiled threat to leave if rent reduction is not agreed. Now i wanted to stay but I stood my ground.
I reasoned out that comparable flats are going at a discount than what I was paying for past couple of years. Also I pointed out inconvenience to the landlady if she were to look for another tenant as reliable as me (no missed or delayed payment ever, always collecting her occasional mails and handing her over diligently, no complains ever from anyone in the building, very accommodating and polite- some of these were pointed out in the communication). I forwarded the available flat inventory in the 1/4th mile area (very comparable/superior flats) and that many were available even after 1.5 months of posting on rightmove. I did mention the void period for the next tenancy wouldn't make much financial sense for her.
After a couple of conversations, LL agreed to rent reduction provided I sign a new contract for another 12 months. I guess my points made an impact and she wanted to insure her future rental payments at least for the next 12 months. I re negotiated that too, and got a break clause added in, in case I needed to move out.
If the bluff didnt work, I was ready to bite my tongue and continue at the existing rent for a couple of months while searching for the better house.
Coming back to you: You cant have everything - rent reduction and the same flat. Its a negotiation, one of you will win. you should be ready to let go of the flat, in case you don't OR pay increased rent for the same flat.

Well done, great example of being honest and assertive with someone, the last thing a landlord wants in the middle of this mess is a void.