Am I required to pay requested rental increase prior to moving out

ajm410

Thanks all.

@RAS, the LL came over without explaining why and stated she wanted the rent increase verbally and asked that we reply to her by text message the following Monday.

I can't see any mention in the contract of how the request should specifically be made, only the following:

"Rent
5.1.5 After the first 12 months of this agreement has passed, the rent may be increased with such increase to be in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI) for the 12 months immediately following the increase with a minimum increase of 3% and a maximum increase of 10%. Thereafter once the fixed term of the Agreement has expired, if the tenancy rolls over into a periodic Agreement, the rent can continue to be increased on a yearly basis in line with the RPI for the preceding 12 months with a minimum increase of 3% and a maximum increase of 10%."

"Notices
7.9.2 Any notices authorised required or served in accordance with this Agreement or under Act of Parliament relating to the Tenancy must be served either:
A. In accordance with the provisions as to the service of notices in Section 196 of the Law of Property Act 1925 or;
B. By first class post addressed to the Tenant validated with a certificate of service at the Tenanted Premises or last known address or; AL AL Initials of Landlord(s): ______________________ Initials of Tenant(s): ______________________ © The Guild of Letting and Management - The Letting Companion April 2019 18
C. Left addressed to the tenant at the Tenanted Premises or last known address, verified by a witness statement. This clause shall apply to any notices authorised or required to be served under this Agreement or under any Act of Parliament relating to the tenancy"



@sajan12 - the latter statement is correct, apologies for the confusion. We never agreed to signing a new contract, just to increasing the rent.

The exact text message exchange was as follows, which reminds me that the acceptance of the increased rent was on the proviso of the LL fixing the bathroom ceiling (which is covered in mould) and other things that are broken in the flat - none of which have been actioned since we told the LL we were moving out:

Me: "Hi XXX. We’ve had a think about what you said on Friday and wondered if it might be possible to meet at around £XXX pcm, which is above a 10% increase? At the same time, we’re trying for a baby and will hopefully be in a more comfortable position to buy our own place soon, meaning flexibility is very important to us. So ideally we’d look to carry on as things currently stand, as opposed to signing any LT contract. Let us know what you think." 

LL: "Thanks for getting back to me. I was willing to go down to £XXX at a minimum. But I get that it’s a steep increase so could you meet me at £XXX pcm?"

Me "Hi. Thanks for being flexible. I’ll change the standing order to £XXX from next month then."

 LL: "Ok thanks so much. I’ll sort out new contract & would you please be able to let me know the days you can accommodate me getting the bathroom fixed? If you’re going away at all that would be ideal so then the paint gets a chance to dry without using the shower."

Thanks again

Voyager2002

I notice that your contract said that rent increases were limited to RPI (inflation) and capped at ten per cent. This would cause him further difficulties if he tried to 'raid' your deposit for the increased rent and then had to justify this to a tribunal.

FlorayG

You clearly said you would pay it and the landlord has that in a written text message. Regardless that the landlord didn't advise you by some legal notice, you agreed and that's sufficient. You didn't say "I will pay it if you fix the bathroom" you said " I’ll change the standing order to £XXX from next month then."
No argument in my view. Pay up. If I was your landlord and you didn't, I would be taking the missing amount out of your deposit

Myci85

I may be incorrect, but usually I would think a landlord has to give a certain amount of notice to increase the rent, and if he suggested it on 8th October and your next rent due date was 5th November, I'd expect the rent increase to be later than that? However, equally in your exchange you did say you'd change the standing order for 'next month' so you may not have done yourself any favours there as that does imply you're agreeing to a rent increase effective from 5th Nov. Maybe seek advice from Shelter?

Myci85

This is on the .gov website which supports my view that it should be at least 1 month's notice, though not clear if 1 month from rent due date. 

Myci85

And this is from Shelter. Which suggests that if your landlord proposed a rent increase on 8th Oct, and your tenancy period runs from 5th of each month, the rent increase would not come into effect until 5th Dec. Which it sounds like would be the date you leave, so no increased rent due I believe. 

saajan_12

ajm410 said:

@sajan12 - the latter statement is correct, apologies for the confusion. We never agreed to signing a new contract, just to increasing the rent.

The exact text message exchange was as follows, which reminds me that the acceptance of the increased rent was on the proviso of the LL fixing the bathroom ceiling (which is covered in mould) and other things that are broken in the flat - none of which have been actioned since we told the LL we were moving out:

Me: "Hi XXX. We’ve had a think about what you said on Friday and wondered if it might be possible to meet at around £XXX pcm, which is above a 10% increase? At the same time, we’re trying for a baby and will hopefully be in a more comfortable position to buy our own place soon, meaning flexibility is very important to us. So ideally we’d look to carry on as things currently stand, as opposed to signing any LT contract. Let us know what you think." 

LL: "Thanks for getting back to me. I was willing to go down to £XXX at a minimum. But I get that it’s a steep increase so could you meet me at £XXX pcm?"

Me "Hi. Thanks for being flexible. I’ll change the standing order to £XXX from next month then."

 LL: "Ok thanks so much. I’ll sort out new contract & would you please be able to let me know the days you can accommodate me getting the bathroom fixed? If you’re going away at all that would be ideal so then the paint gets a chance to dry without using the shower."

Thanks again

Nothing in that making the rent increase being conditional on staying for a certain period or on a bathroom fix. Even if it was conditional (its not), your remedy would be to follow up on the bathroom fix, not on voiding the agreement for a rent increase. 

Your better bet is this bit of the contract:

ajm410 said:

"Rent
5.1.5 ...
Thereafter once the fixed term of the Agreement has expired, if the tenancy rolls over into a periodic Agreement, the rent can continue to be increased on a yearly basis in line with the RPI for the preceding 12 months with a minimum increase of 3% and a maximum increase of 10%."

You had agreed an RPI based increase when it goes periodic. The text message is arguably a mutually agreed amendment of the contract which may be fine and enforceable. However there's a slim argument that an amendment should be in the same formality and hence the increase should be the RPI change capped at 10%. 

Re the other comments on notices etc, that's all valid if there's no agreed increase, but its irrelevant when there is an agreement. 

ajm410

Thanks all.

@saajan_12 in that case do you think it would be worth offering to pay an increase for this final month of 3.1% (given that was the RPI for September 2024)? 

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding and thank you again

saajan_12

ajm410 said:

Thanks all.

@saajan_12 in that case do you think it would be worth offering to pay an increase for this final month of 3.1% (given that was the RPI for September 2024)? 

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding and thank you again

When are they wanting the rent increase to be effective from? The Sept24 RPI increase was 2.7% by my calculation (388.6 / 387.4 = 1.027), so with the minimum, that would be 3% increase. 

I'd say its worth trying, not entirely sure it'd pass muster in front of a judge / deposit scheme arbiter for the reasons above, but what do you have to lose?