Rent increase

wicker_millet0q

Hello,

I have a Short-Term Lease Agreement for 3 years, that started back in September 2019 and last year in September I've signed a renewal addendum for another 36 months with some additional rent increase clause:

"The termination date on the Lease Agreement shall be extended for an additional 36 month(s) with a break after 6 Month(s) and based on the same terms and conditions as contained in the original agreement except for those provisions contained in this Lease Renewal Addendum. The new termination date shall be DD/09/2025. The deposit amount shall be D,DDD.DD.

The rental amount for the new period shall be D,DDD.00 (not including parking) per calendar month however it is agreed that the rent will be reviewed on an annual basis, taking into consideration Retail Price Index (RPI) and the market conditions at the time. The Landlord or Managing Agent may increase the rent by giving you not less than one months’ notice in writing specifying the new rent and the date on which the change in rent will take effect."

Basically my previous rent increase clause were illegal saying :

"It is agreed that the rent will be reviewed on an annual basis, and any rental increases will need to be reflected in the standing order, which the tenant is responsible for updating."

If the wording of the clause is vague, or makes it unclear/ambiguous as to when or how much the increase will be, the clause is invalid. A tenant cannot be presented with a rent increase that was not expected. A vague "The landlord will review the rent after 12 months" is not clear enough to be legally meaningful.

My question is now:

Is my current clause valid: however it is agreed that the rent will be reviewed on an annual basis, taking into consideration Retail Price Index (RPI) and the market conditions at the time.

Can I debate on this again like I did previous years ?

Basically before my landlord didn't increased my rent cause of the clause was, not meaningful.

Looking forward to anyone who could be available to help, or if possible to point me into the right direction where to ask such questions.

I've already tried the council and the citizens advice and they wouldn't liked that I'm complaining about it and weren't very helpful.

Thank you

theartfullodger

Which country ?  NI, Wales, Scotland....?

Tenancy wording send terrible 

saajan_12

I think that's still too vague to be a binding clause.

wicker_millet0q said:

Hello,

I have a Short-Term Lease Agreement for 3 years, that started back in September 2019 and last year in September I've signed a renewal addendum for another 36 months with some additional rent increase clause:

..

The rental amount for the new period shall be D,DDD.00 (not including parking) per calendar month however it is agreed that the rent will be reviewed on an annual basis, taking into consideration Retail Price Index (RPI) and the market conditions at the time. The Landlord or Managing Agent may increase the rent by giving you not less than one months’ notice in writing specifying the new rent and the date on which the change in rent will take effect."

..

Thank you

'Market conditions' are very subjective and probably weakens their case for a definitive rent increase clause.
'Based on RPI' has more chance alone, and a judge may say the most natural interpretation is increasing by the change in RPI over the last 12 months (with no extra %). However still not 100%, they may say its vague and interpreted in favour of the party that didn't draft it. Also the  'market conditions' muddies the water.. could argue that cost of living and affordability means market down, there's rarely reliable stats on 'the market' for a particular type of house / area may not follow the national or borough average.. 

What's the imminent issue - have they said they're now increasing? If not, I'd let it be until they do.. 

wicker_millet0q

theartfullodger said:

Which country ?  NI, Wales, Scotland....?

Tenancy wording send terrible 

England, United Kingdon

wicker_millet0q

saajan_12 said:

I think that's still too vague to be a binding clause.

wicker_millet0q said:

Hello,

I have a Short-Term Lease Agreement for 3 years, that started back in September 2019 and last year in September I've signed a renewal addendum for another 36 months with some additional rent increase clause:

..

The rental amount for the new period shall be D,DDD.00 (not including parking) per calendar month however it is agreed that the rent will be reviewed on an annual basis, taking into consideration Retail Price Index (RPI) and the market conditions at the time. The Landlord or Managing Agent may increase the rent by giving you not less than one months’ notice in writing specifying the new rent and the date on which the change in rent will take effect."

..

Thank you

'Market conditions' are very subjective and probably weakens their case for a definitive rent increase clause.
'Based on RPI' has more chance alone, and a judge may say the most natural interpretation is increasing by the change in RPI over the last 12 months (with no extra %). However still not 100%, they may say its vague and interpreted in favour of the party that didn't draft it. Also the  'market conditions' muddies the water.. could argue that cost of living and affordability means market down, there's rarely reliable stats on 'the market' for a particular type of house / area may not follow the national or borough average.. 

What's the imminent issue - have they said they're now increasing? If not, I'd let it be until they do.. 

They have hand me a written piece of Paper saying that they would like to increase the rent by 17.5% from 1st of June 2023.

So i have asked the agent, can you please show me how did you do the calculation for this increase ?

She wasn't able to provide an answer and she said, the rent increase it's been calculated based on the 'market conditions'.

But still , basically there's no harden word about it like, I've been living somewhere else where the clause were straight 'increase by 2% every 12 months'

What do you think I should do about it ?

wicker_millet0q

wicker_millet0q said:

saajan_12 said:

I think that's still too vague to be a binding clause.

wicker_millet0q said:

Hello,

I have a Short-Term Lease Agreement for 3 years, that started back in September 2019 and last year in September I've signed a renewal addendum for another 36 months with some additional rent increase clause:

..

The rental amount for the new period shall be D,DDD.00 (not including parking) per calendar month however it is agreed that the rent will be reviewed on an annual basis, taking into consideration Retail Price Index (RPI) and the market conditions at the time. The Landlord or Managing Agent may increase the rent by giving you not less than one months’ notice in writing specifying the new rent and the date on which the change in rent will take effect."

..

Thank you

'Market conditions' are very subjective and probably weakens their case for a definitive rent increase clause.
'Based on RPI' has more chance alone, and a judge may say the most natural interpretation is increasing by the change in RPI over the last 12 months (with no extra %). However still not 100%, they may say its vague and interpreted in favour of the party that didn't draft it. Also the  'market conditions' muddies the water.. could argue that cost of living and affordability means market down, there's rarely reliable stats on 'the market' for a particular type of house / area may not follow the national or borough average.. 

What's the imminent issue - have they said they're now increasing? If not, I'd let it be until they do.. 

They have hand me a written piece of Paper saying that they would like to increase the rent by 17.5% from 1st of June 2023.

So i have asked the agent, can you please show me how did you do the calculation for this increase ?

She wasn't able to provide an answer and she said, the rent increase it's been calculated based on the 'market conditions'.

But still , basically there's no harden word about it like, I've been living somewhere else where the clause were straight 'increase by 2% every 12 months'

What do you think I should do about it ?

A side note :

'Note that where a variable amount is specified ie the RPI, the index from 2 months preceding the increase should be specified. This allows the landlord time to calculate the exact amount of the new rent, and send it to the tenant a month before it comes into effect. If the index from the same month as the date of the increase is used, the tenant would have no clear advance notice of the precise amount of the increase, so could not be made to pay it.'

saajan_12

wicker_millet0q said:

saajan_12 said:

I think that's still too vague to be a binding clause.

wicker_millet0q said:

Hello,

I have a Short-Term Lease Agreement for 3 years, that started back in September 2019 and last year in September I've signed a renewal addendum for another 36 months with some additional rent increase clause:

..

The rental amount for the new period shall be D,DDD.00 (not including parking) per calendar month however it is agreed that the rent will be reviewed on an annual basis, taking into consideration Retail Price Index (RPI) and the market conditions at the time. The Landlord or Managing Agent may increase the rent by giving you not less than one months’ notice in writing specifying the new rent and the date on which the change in rent will take effect."

..

Thank you

'Market conditions' are very subjective and probably weakens their case for a definitive rent increase clause.
'Based on RPI' has more chance alone, and a judge may say the most natural interpretation is increasing by the change in RPI over the last 12 months (with no extra %). However still not 100%, they may say its vague and interpreted in favour of the party that didn't draft it. Also the  'market conditions' muddies the water.. could argue that cost of living and affordability means market down, there's rarely reliable stats on 'the market' for a particular type of house / area may not follow the national or borough average.. 

What's the imminent issue - have they said they're now increasing? If not, I'd let it be until they do.. 

They have hand me a written piece of Paper saying that they would like to increase the rent by 17.5% from 1st of June 2023.

So i have asked the agent, can you please show me how did you do the calculation for this increase ?

She wasn't able to provide an answer and she said, the rent increase it's been calculated based on the 'market conditions'.

But still , basically there's no harden word about it like, I've been living somewhere else where the clause were straight 'increase by 2% every 12 months'

What do you think I should do about it ?

Id say your assessment of market conditions is 0% increase. If they disagree, they need to show their calculation as well as where you agreed to that calculation, otherwise you expect the rent to remain at £current amount. 

Internally also think about what if any increase you'd be happy with and what your alternatives are if they gave notice per the break clause. That'll determine how hardball to play it vs trying to negotiate. 

wicker_millet0q

Any idea where to ask for legal advice ?

Yellowsub2000

It should not go up more than 8% PA

wicker_millet0q

Yellowsub2000 said:

It should not go up more than 8% PA

What should be the reason for not going up more than 8%PA ?

Could you provide more information , please ?

Anything that i should hold on to?

propertyrental

Yellowsub2000 said:

It should not go up more than 8% PA

This s based on what?

Is my current clause valid: however it is agreed that the rent will be reviewed on an annual basis, taking into consideration Retail Price Index (RPI) and the market conditions at the time.

Far too vague.
"taking into consideration Retail Price Index " is not the same as 'based on the RPI' which would be calculable', as opposed to 'taking into consideration' without stating how it's taken into account.

'Market conditions' are a) subjective and b) the calculation used would have to be shown.

Just ignore the rent demand and continue paying the originally agreed rent.