Negligent Letting Agent

KDUTT70

Advice needed! 

I signed a tenancy agreement in 2020 with the clause 
"...it is further agreed between the Parties that the Rent payable for the first two years of the Tenancy shall be increased from 08/08/2022 without further notice by the amount of the Retail Price Index (RPI) as published two months prior to that date, subject to a minimum of 2% and a maximum of 4%."

I received no further contact from the letting agent until November 2024, where they told me that the rent had increased and I am now in nearly £1900 of arrears. 

Not disputing the rent increase, but am seriously disputing the gross negligence where they did not inform me of the increase, and left it 26 months before telling me I was in arrears. 

Have escalated an in-house complaint (where I was told that 'ultimately, you benefitted from the lack of rent increase'), have tried Citizens Advice and the Property Redress Scheme, all of which have been less than helpful. 

Majorly stressed, would love if anyone has some useful advice 

anselld

Have you checked the maths?  £1900 of arrears seems high even assuming the full 4% was applied, unless it is a very expensive property.

The wording does not mention any subsequent increases, eg annual, so the as written would imply a single rpi increase at 8/8/22 capped at 4%.  RPI was 13.9% in June 2022 so you would be looking at a single 4% increase in August '22.  What is the original rent?

Regarding notification, it does say "without further notice" so you will have difficulty challenging on that point.

user1977

KDUTT70 said:

I was told that 'ultimately, you benefitted from the lack of rent increase'

They've got a point (assuming they're not also applying interest or other surcharges on the amount due).

If you're not disputing the rent increase, what resolution are you hoping for?

saajan_12

KDUTT70 said:

Advice needed! 

I signed a tenancy agreement in 2020 with the clause 
"...it is further agreed between the Parties that the Rent payable for the first two years of the Tenancy shall be increased from 08/08/2022 without further notice by the amount of the Retail Price Index (RPI) as published two months prior to that date, subject to a minimum of 2% and a maximum of 4%."

I received no further contact from the letting agent until November 2024, where they told me that the rent had increased and I am now in nearly £1900 of arrears. 

Not disputing the rent increase, but am seriously disputing the gross negligence where they did not inform me of the increase, and left it 26 months before telling me I was in arrears. 

Have escalated an in-house complaint (where I was told that 'ultimately, you benefitted from the lack of rent increase'), have tried Citizens Advice and the Property Redress Scheme, all of which have been less than helpful. 

Majorly stressed, would love if anyone has some useful advice 

There's no requirement to remind you of the terms you signed, so there's no negligence here. The quote is specific and fully defines the new rent from Aug 2022, so the new rent was due from that point (and possibly even interest due to the late payment). 

Advice - check their maths, as what you quote only mentions a one off increase and it sounds like the 4% cap will apply. If correct, then work out a schedule of how you can pay that back and try to negotiate a payment plan with the LL / LA. 

Albermarle

You should maybe take into account that in the periods mentioned rents went up a LOT more than 4%.

anselld

Also ... interest ( if applied to any overdue amounts) is capped at BoE plus 3%.

Late payment fees or any penalty by any other name would be illegal under the Tenant Fees Act.

Again... check the maths and charges.

KDUTT70

@anselld Appreciate this.

Yes, I fear they've cleverly covered their backs with the 'no further notice" statement. 

Strongly disputing that it was my role to find out the RPI at that date and then work out the increase in rent though, that's all sorts of problematic. 

And the waiting 26 months to inform me I'd been underpaying is a joke.

KDUTT70

@saajan_12 Thanks

But strongly disputing it 'fully defines' the rent increase. They're leaving it up to me to work out the RPI on that date and then accurately adjust my rent - that's their job. 

And letting arrears build for 26 months without notice? Absolute negligence 

swingaloo

KDUTT70 said:

@saajan_12 Thanks

But strongly disputing it 'fully defines' the rent increase. They're leaving it up to me to work out the RPI on that date and then accurately adjust my rent - that's their job. 

And letting arrears build for 26 months without notice? Absolute negligence 

At no point during that 26 months did it cross your mind that your rent should have increased? Did you not contact the agent to find out what you should be paying rather than let arrears build?

user1977

KDUTT70 said:

But strongly disputing it 'fully defines' the rent increase. They're leaving it up to me to work out the RPI on that date and then accurately adjust my rent - that's their job. 

Yes, but still not sure what you expect to happen now?

The data is here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/chaw/mm23

Index for June 2022 was 376.4
Index for June 2020 was 292.7

376.4 / 292.7 = 1.29 so the 4% cap applies [think they might have sloppily drafted it as I would have expected the cap/collar to apply annually rather than over the whole period, but that's in your favour here]

_Penny_Dreadful

If you’ve escalated your complaint to the Property Redress Scheme (assuming that’s the redress scheme the letting agent is registered with) and they haven’t found any wrong doing from the letting agent then there’s little more that you can do in terms of what you believe to be gross negligence. I do agree that it’s silly for the letting agent to expect you to work out the rent increase yourself each year and that their communication could have been better. I dislike these rent review clauses both as a tenant and a landlord. I prefer a section 13 myself. 

In practical terms I’d request a rent statement from the letting agent and check their maths. Once you established how much you owe you can either pay what you owe or negotiate a payment plan to pay off the arrears.