Tenancy Agreement Renewal

subjecttocontract

I believe the landlord has to have a new tenancy agreement if he wants to increase the rent. If you refuse the new contract he could issue a Section 21 notice and find a new tenant who will pay the increased rent.

saajan_12

subjecttocontract said:

I believe the landlord has to have a new tenancy agreement if he wants to increase the rent. If you refuse the new contract he could issue a Section 21 notice and find a new tenant who will pay the increased rent.

Incorrect, he could serve a S13 notice - rent increased, no new agreement, no new tenant. 

OP, legally you can continue paying the same rent, and the tenancy will automatically become periodic. If it helps avoid the argument then it might be easier inter-personally to drag things out, but that's not critical.. as long as you don't sign and stay there, youre fine. 

The LL could evict, but if they continue to see the rent coming in, then they probably won't. If they did get led astray by the agent, then the eviction it'll likely be around the same timeframe you want to move anyway, by the time they got the notice right, waited for court, etc. 

propertyrental

subjecttocontract said:

I believe the landlord has to have a new tenancy agreement if he wants to increase the rent. If you refuse the new contract he could issue a Section 21 notice and find a new tenant who will pay the increased rent.

Time to change your beliefs then. Have a read of the link I provided earlier.

theartfullodger

saajan_12 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I believe the landlord has to have a new tenancy agreement if he wants to increase the rent. If you refuse the new contract he could issue a Section 21 notice and find a new tenant who will pay the increased rent.

Incorrect, he could serve a S13 notice - rent increased, no new agreement, no new tenant. 

OP, legally you can continue paying the same rent, and the tenancy will automatically become periodic. If it helps avoid the argument then it might be easier inter-personally to drag things out, but that's not critical.. as long as you don't sign and stay there, youre fine. 

The LL could evict, but if they continue to see the rent coming in, then they probably won't. If they did get led astray by the agent, then the eviction it'll likely be around the same timeframe you want to move anyway, by the time they got the notice right, waited for court, etc. 

Only if s13 notice is valid (easy to get rong) and if tenant does not successfully challenge increase at tribunal.

S13 is but one of the ways of increasing rent...

BubblesBee

Thanks all.

There is a rent increase clause in the original agreement - they sent a letter advising of the rent increase for a new agreement.  While not ideal, I'm only offering to pay the new rent as a compromise (hoping things go smoothly and I'm out by end Dec/Jan).

Will keep you posted.  Let's see what they do in the next month or so.

propertyrental

BubblesBee said:

Thanks all.

There is a rent increase clause in the original agreement - they sent a letter advising of the rent increase for a new agreement.

New agreement not necessary as you've already agreed (via signing the original agreement).

They can demand the new rent based on the original agreement you signed (and obviously depending on their compliance with its terms (eg frequency, what amount, etc).)

If you fail to pay, you'll be in rent arrears.

Of course, you are still at liberty to negotiate a different rent (eg by referring to other local rents, or the cost to the LL of you departing and his having to re-let), 

Get any negotiated amount in writing, but still does not need a whole new tenancy agreement.

Or indeed you could ignore/not sign their new agreement but simply start paying the new rent they've demanded. By paying it (at least once) you would be legally accepting it as the new rent.

Grizebeck

i would second just pay the new rent amount

saajan_12

BubblesBee said:

Thanks all.

There is a rent increase clause in the original agreement - they sent a letter advising of the rent increase for a new agreement.  While not ideal, I'm only offering to pay the new rent as a compromise (hoping things go smoothly and I'm out by end Dec/Jan).

Will keep you posted.  Let's see what they do in the next month or so.

Well that changes things. What exactly does the clause say? If it specifically defines an increase that applies during the periodic tenancy then you do have to pay that - it wouldn't be a compromise, its what you agreed to. 

Sometimes these clauses are too vague to constitute a binding agreement though. 

RHemmings

It would help even more if there was any reason why an S21 would be invalid. It might be worth looking through things to see if anything is incorrect. E.g. was there a gas safety certificate in place when you first moved in?