Shared Ownership Rent Increase

Poppy1505

I rent 75% of my shared ownership home. I have had a letter to say they are looking at increasing the rent by over £182 a month, a 61% increase. Can they do this, it is such a big increase? I work full time but would struggle. They have now asked for a consultation and inspection which I have never had before. This is causing a great deal of anxiety. Any advice would be really appreciated.

fullyrendered

What does your lease say about the timing and calculation of rent increases?

Who is the landlord/freeholder, is it a housing association?

Is it a house or flat? Does the total increase relate to just rent or other service charges?

Poppy1505

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, it's through a housing association.

It's a house so there aren't any service charges. I've lived there over 10 years and no one has been out to thr property since. 

I am not too sure what the lease says, will find out. I don't think it has gone up by more than about £20 previously so the sudden jump came as a shock.

eddddy

Poppy1505 said:

I am not too sure what the lease says, will find out. I don't think it has gone up by more than about £20 previously so the sudden jump came as a shock.

Your lease should say how how rent increases are calculated - often the increase is something like CPI+1%. (which would be much less than 61%).

Poppy1505 said:

It's a house so there aren't any service charges. 

Houses on developments often have service charges.

For example, do you arrange your own buildings insurance? If not, the Housing Association are arranging it, and you would pay for it via a service charge.

Also, if there are private roads, parking areas, open areas, play areas, etc on the development, a house owner would typically contribute to there upkeep via a service charge.

But it you've owned the property for 10 years and never paid a service charge, maybe there are no facilities like that on your development. 

(Also, if a bill was for a service charge - it should clearly say it's for a service charge - and not rent.)

ResourcesShared

As other people have mentioned, your lease will state the basis for your annual rent review.

I'm not sure why your HA would request a consultation and inspection. It's probably worth contacting the Leasehold Advisory Service - they offer free, summary legal advice to help you decide what to do next. They can't offer advice on affordability, but they should be able to help you understand the terms of your lease  - including in relation to an inspection of your home, and any liability for estate service charges.

Estate service charges are also known as rent charges or estate rentcharges and, importantly, differ from service charges for things like property insurance. Maybe there's some confusion between monthly rent on the landlord's share and rent charges....?
https://clients.lease-advice.org/#/