Agent refuses to give property owner details to tenant

crunch99

I have read that i am entitled to the name and address of my landlord. I have requested this but been refused as my property agent states the contract with the flat owner(landlord) is that the agent is technically the landlord and my contract states the agent is my landlord. They have also now stated that there will be a rent increase every 12 months and there is nothing the flat owner can do about it. before i signed over the rental agreement i asked if the agent would increase my rent every year and they said no they are not that type of property agent! its increase by £20 last year now £30.

I have met the flat owner as he has repaired some plumbing he doesn't think that highly of the agent and therefore my only chance of some negotiation to stay at the property is to contact him direct. The agent will not negotiate with me - its pay or move out.

Does any one have any ideas on how i can obtain the flat owners details so i can contact them?
How do i find out  that the increase is due to the correct property value in my area? the agent said they are upping everyone's rent so how do i find out if the rent increase is over charged?

Many thanks

canaldumidi

crunch99 said:

I have read that i am entitled to the name and address of my landlord. I have requested this but been refused .

How and when did you 'request'? If you requested 'in writing' the agent is breaking the law by refusing and can be fined by a magistrates court.

Trading Standards or the council's Private Tenancy Officer would have to prosecute. You cannot, and the police are very very unlikely to.

Quote to the agent the

Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 Section 1.

1 Disclosure of landlord’s identity.

(1)If the tenant of premises occupied as a dwelling makes a written request for the landlord’s name and address to—

(a)any person who demands, or the last person who received, rent payable under the tenancy, or

(b)any other person for the time being acting as agent for the landlord, in relation to the tenancy,

that person shall supply the tenant with a written statement of the landlord’s name and address within the period of 21 days beginning with the day on which he receives the request.

(2)A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with subsection (1) commits a summary offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

edit: posting two threads on related topics is potenially'spamming' and against forum rules. Stick to one thread!

crunch99

I did quote this to them on the phone and they said doesn't apply as the are classed as the landlord themselves. I think they are playing on the wording landlord and property owner.

canaldumidi

Who is named on your tenancy agreement as 'The Landlord'?

oh! And stick to one thread!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6358779/rent-increase-who-pays-for-what-think-im-being-taken-advantage-of#latest

I'm out now. Not going back and forth between threads........

crunch99

Found this and it provided me with owner's name and address for fee £3. https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

user1977

crunch99 said:

I did quote this to them on the phone and they said doesn't apply as the are classed as the landlord themselves. I think they are playing on the wording landlord and property owner.

It's perfectly feasible for them to be your landlord, and the property owner to be somebody else e.g. if the property has been sublet to you, then the "agent" is the owner's tenant, and in turn you are the agent's tenant.

K_S

@crunch99 As the poster above said, it is quite possible that the Letting Agent is the Landlord, for example if it's one of those "guaranteed-rent" schemes which a few agents offer where they take a property on a long lease from the owner and then let it out.

But if that isn't the case and you want them to take you seriously, consider putting in a formal complaint. All letting agents will be signed up to one of the redress schemes (most commonly The Property Ombudsman) and are expected to adhere to the code of practice 
https://www.tpos.co.uk/images/documents/Codes/TPOE22-7_Code_of_Practice_for_Residential_Letting_Agents_A4_FINAL.pdf which states that -


If they don't comply or give you incorrect information (as far as you can tell), you can escalate it to the TPO after 8 weeks (or when they give you a final resolution letter, if that's earlier than 8 weeks).

saajan_12

crunch99 said:

I have read that i am entitled to the name and address of my landlord. I have requested this but been refused as my property agent states the contract with the flat owner(landlord) is that the agent is technically the landlord and my contract states the agent is my landlord. They have also now stated that there will be a rent increase every 12 months and there is nothing the flat owner can do about it. before i signed over the rental agreement i asked if the agent would increase my rent every year and they said no they are not that type of property agent! its increase by £20 last year now £30.

I have met the flat owner as he has repaired some plumbing he doesn't think that highly of the agent and therefore my only chance of some negotiation to stay at the property is to contact him direct. The agent will not negotiate with me - its pay or move out.

Does any one have any ideas on how i can obtain the flat owners details so i can contact them?
How do i find out  that the increase is due to the correct property value in my area? the agent said they are upping everyone's rent so how do i find out if the rent increase is over charged?

Many thanks

Boldened bit is an equivalence that you're assuming but needs checking. 

You have a right the name and address of your landlord named on your tenancy agreement. Your landlord may or may not be the flat owner - its also possible that the 'agent' rents the property from the property owner and then in turn lets to you. 

You need to check the tenancy agreement for who is named as the landlord. 

simon_or

If the property owner is named as the landlord on your tenancy agreement, then the agent HAS to give you his address, as canalmundi and KS have mentioned above, as long as you ask it in writing.

If they don't play ball, go down the complaints route, that will get them moving.

crunch99

It's the agent on my contract so I believe it's a guarantee income to the property owner making it a sublet. I found this for me in southeast rent has increased 2.8 % since last march so if i add 2.8% to my rent of 720 last march that is 20.16 price increase not 30.00.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/indexofprivatehousingrentalprices/march2022#uk-private-rental-growth-by-country

saajan_12

crunch99 said:

It's the agent on my contract so I believe it's a guarantee income to the property owner making it a sublet. I found this for me in southeast rent has increased 2.8 % since last march so if i add 2.8% to my rent of 720 last march that is 20.16 price increase not 30.00.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/indexofprivatehousingrentalprices/march2022#uk-private-rental-growth-by-country

No idea what you mean by the bit in bold - the agent could be
- named as an agent you pay rent to and serve notices to, as well as separately providing an insurance based guarantee for rent, or
- named as the LL, then separately pay a guaranteed rent to the property owner

Re price increases, what's your point? What's to say your increase has to be in line with the country average?