Being shafted by huge rent increases and want to leave

Baldytyke88

With inflation at 3.8% an increase of 6% isn't massive. If you are happy living there, stay until you get social housing.

horsewithnoname

Baldytyke88 said:

With inflation at 3.8% an increase of 6% isn't massive. If you are happy living there, stay until you get social housing.

It’s 2.2% above the rate of inflation. The posters income is unlikely to go up that much, why should the landlord’s?

MrHeisenberg

_Penny_Dreadful said:

MrHeisenberg said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

MrHeisenberg said:

Hi all,

My landlord keeps putting the rent up by around 6 or 7 percent, so I am looking to move somewhere cheaper.

I have an assured shorthold tenancy, which will be renewed on Monday with yet another substantial rent increase.

I told the estate agent that I am considering moving, and he said that he would release me from the contract with 2 month's notice if I find somewhere else to live, but that is just his word. His record isn't very good - when I asked if I could arrange a 2 year contract, he refused, and falsely assured me that the rent would not be increased the following year, which it did quite significantly. It is hard for me to accept that he didn't see that coming.

The agent is refusing to let the tenancy agreement roll, which I find very concerning given that the tenancy agreement is going to roll anyway in May due to the Renters' Rights Act. That doesn't make economical sense to me, as presumably the landlord is paying for significant renewal fees.

Should I be asking the agent to put something in writing? My worry is that he may be trying to unethically compel me to sign a new tenancy agreement, which I understand will lock me in for at least another 4 months.

What have you signed that means a new fixed term contract will start on Monday? 

How has the rent been increased? By issuing a new fixed term contract? Is there a rent review clause in your tenancy agreement? 

The letting agent can’t refuse to let the tenancy become periodic. There’s literally nothing the letting agent can do to prevent the tenancy becoming either a statutory or contractual periodic tenancy once the fixed term ends. 

The sticky at the top of the board provides details about how and when an AST can be legally ended, and how and when the rent can be increased. 

The agent suggested the new fixed term contract will start in January, but the agent wants me to sign it on Monday.

I offered to accept the rent increase, so long as the tenancy rolls, but the agent would not agree to that, which I thought was a bit concerning, especially as the tenancy is due to become rolling in May anyway. Suspect he wants the renewal fees.

Yes, the rent will go up by way of a new fixed term contract. No, no rent review clause in the current contract.

I think the estate agent will serve a section 21 notice if I don't agree to sign the new fixed term contract. The new law preventing this kind of thing from happening can't come in soon enough, as this is plainly coercion.

The letting agent could issue a section 21 but the letting agent can’t enforce it. Either the landlord themselves would need to go to court or the landlord would hire a solicitor to represent them in a court. 

Would a landlord take a tenant to court simply for not signing a new fixed term agreement when the tenant is willing to accept the rent increase? Unlikely. 

Yes, that's a good point. I really can't see why the landlord would be so determined to get a new tenancy agreement signed in these circumstances. If anything, he would save money.

MrHeisenberg

HHarry said:

So you don’t sign the new contract and are served a S21.  That gives 2 months notice, before further action can be taken. A court order is going to take many further months to obtain.

You want to find a cheaper place to live anyway, is 8+ months not enough?  (And that’s IF a S21 is issued)

Indeed, but I will probably have to pay the landlord's legal costs if he seeks a possession order? I think that is in the region of around £2K?

MrHeisenberg

vic_sf49 said:

I assume the landlord is just using the agent, to manage the contracts / property? They're not one and the same entity. 

It won't be the first time in history, that the landlord doesn't know that the agent is pushing for a renewed fixed contract, when they (the landlord) would be pleased to have a happy tenant, on a rolling contract.

In my opinion, it would be a daft landlord, to evict a rent paying tenant, because you don't want a fixed contract. 

And as already mentioned, it becomes a rolling contract automatically. 

I assume so. The contract is always signed by the agent.

Yes, it doesn't seem right. I really don't know why a landlord would be so determined for me to sign a new contract, when that contract is going to be void in 5 months' time. 

Not sure if I should e-mail the estate agent telling him that I have changed my mind. That may leave both the agent and the landlord feeling resentful, but not sure they would want to serve a section 21 notice as a consequence of that. I also have the problem of needing a reference.

m0bov

Just ignore and continue to pay the current rent. If the LL or agent turn up call the police.

In the meantime change the locks but do look elsewhere.

MrHeisenberg

silvercar said:

If you don’t sign a new contract, the landlord could put the rent up by way of serving a section 13 notice, until then you carry on paying the existing rent.

if they want you to leave they can serve a section 21 notice, but that would give you a few months before it actually got to court. By which time you may have found somewhere else to live. 

That may explain why the want me to renew - the section 13 notice may take a little while. I think I have more right to challenge those kind of rent increases too, if I am not mistaken.

Yes, indeed, but am left with the possibility of being hit with legal costs, though, but it seems that is not guaranteed:

"In some cases, the court may order the tenant to pay the landlord’s legal costs. This is often the case if the landlord successfully obtains a possession order based on a mandatory ground like rent arrears. However, this is not guaranteed and depends on the specifics of the case, including the judge’s discretion and the tenant’s financial circumstances. In reality, even if costs are awarded, recovering them from a tenant who is already in financial difficulty (and has been evicted) can be very challenging.":

https://tsabi.law/ask-a-lawyer/landlord/what-are-the-costs-involved-in-an-eviction/

m0bov

It could take 6 months or more but in the meantime you could move. That's if the LL does take action and if the deposit is secure and all relevant checks are done. And you have a UK address for the purpose of serving notice. So a lot of IDs and buts..

MrHeisenberg

horsewithnoname said:

Baldytyke88 said:

With inflation at 3.8% an increase of 6% isn't massive. If you are happy living there, stay until you get social housing.

It’s 2.2% above the rate of inflation. The posters income is unlikely to go up that much, why should the landlord’s?

Indeed. I was told a few years ago that the landlord has a very small mortgage on the property too. I am surviving on Universal Credit too, whilst very poorly, and LHA rates have been frozen for years, with no defreeze in sight. After the rent increase, I will be paying around £130 above LHA rates. The rent has consistently gone up around 6 or 7 percent over the past few years. I really do think that there should be legal limits on the amount a landlord can increase the rent by.

silvercar

m0bov said:

It could take 6 months or more but in the meantime you could move. That's if the LL does take action and if the deposit is secure and all relevant checks are done. And you have a UK address for the purpose of serving notice. So a lot of IDs and buts..

If no new address is supplied, the most current up to date address can be used. It would be assumed that someone either supplies a new address or arranges for mail collection eg by using RM redirection service.