Section 13 query

hopeful_optimist

Thank you all in advance. I hope you can provide me with an answer to my post as i'm struggling to clarify what I need to do or not next.

My letting agent tried to serve a section 13 in April 2025 raising my rent from 650 to 695 I contacted them to inform them that it was invalid as it was only 10 months since they served me with the last one. They withdrew the notice.

They have now tried this again proposing an increase from mid June, they have served by email only not via postage and the information on the section 13 in regard to the rent wise is inaccurate, this one states that my current rent is 695 (it isnt) and they propose a rise to 750 a month. 

I have not yet responded to this as frankly I am tired of their incompetence and dont want to help them by pointing out their errors only for them to serve it again but my questions are.

Could this get through if I dont dispute it? I believe that it would be thrown out if they tried to serve as the information on the notice regarding current rent is inaccurate.

Also as they have attempted to serve 2 of these now would it be valid anyway as I read that only one can be served a year. I dont know if this means one successful section 13 or it also applies to one which is thrown out due to inaccuracies.

Any help would be appreciated.

theartfullodger

Do nothing until tribunal write to you.  Otherwise you are prompting them to get it right quicker.

Good luck 

FlorayG

I would keep paying the rent you have originally agreed to and ignore the notice, let them find out it's invalid due to being inaccurate. If you can hold them off until the new RR bill becomes law they won't be able to increase by £100 a month then

anselld

FlorayG said:

 If you can hold them off until the new RR bill becomes law they won't be able to increase by £100 a month then

Why is that?  Section 13 will still be in place.  The ability to raise by £100 will depend on the rent .vs. market value as is the case today.  The only difference will be the L could not use the threat of Section 21.

anselld

hopeful_optimist said:

Thank you all in advance. I hope you can provide me with an answer to my post as i'm struggling to clarify what I need to do or not next.

My letting agent tried to serve a section 13 in April 2025 raising my rent from 650 to 695 I contacted them to inform them that it was invalid as it was only 10 months since they served me with the last one. They withdrew the notice.

They have now tried this again proposing an increase from mid June, they have served by email only not via postage and the information on the section 13 in regard to the rent wise is inaccurate, this one states that my current rent is 695 (it isnt) and they propose a rise to 750 a month. 

I have not yet responded to this as frankly I am tired of their incompetence and dont want to help them by pointing out their errors only for them to serve it again but my questions are.

Could this get through if I dont dispute it? I believe that it would be thrown out if they tried to serve as the information on the notice regarding current rent is inaccurate.

Also as they have attempted to serve 2 of these now would it be valid anyway as I read that only one can be served a year. I dont know if this means one successful section 13 or it also applies to one which is thrown out due to inaccuracies.

Any help would be appreciated.

Depends how much you want to risk your tenancy.    If you keep quiet about the mistake and pay the old rent they may just decide you are being beligerent and issue Section 21 instead before the RR Bill comes in.  They might even take enough care to serve it correctly.

If you want to stay on good terms I would be inclined to point out their admin error.

hopeful_optimist

I'm not at all bothered about staying on their good side. I do have options if they end the tenancy. I'm not prepared to pay a rent hike that is over 5% and I know that the place will need substantial renovation if they want to get market value rent for it.

I'm just not keen on incompetent greedy letting agents. If they want my custom they do the job they are supposed to.

saajan_12

The tribunal will not intervene if you don't dispute it, so you can't just wait and do nothing.

1) Wait until the date stated on the notice if you want, and then refute it with the LL saying that you assume the rent is unchanged since the notice is invalid. They may well reserve, but you've bought a bit more time and the next time you can proceed with (2): 

2) Dispute it with the tribunal, demonstrating what 'market rents' are in the are (if less than their proposed rent). 

hopeful_optimist said:

Also as they have attempted to serve 2 of these now would it be valid anyway as I read that only one can be served a year. I dont know if this means one successful section 13 or it also applies to one which is thrown out due to inaccuracies.

Any help would be appreciated.

Its not about serving notice, its 1 year after the rent was actually increased using the statutory process. If the notice was invalid and hence not acted on, then this 1 year threshold isn't met. This makes sense as the idea isn't to make an issue out of mistakes, its to ensure you don't have an ever increasing rent every few months.