How much to raise rent?

ali-t

I'm a landlord of a slightly different type (I have a lodger in my house) and broke the news to him this week that his rent was going up approx 17% this year and he is still staying. His rent is much lower than the OP's and is going up from £300 to £350.

There are a number of reasons behind this but it was starting to cost me to have him in the house due to huge increases in utilities charges and losing the 25% discount on council tax.

This site is meant to be about money saving and taking a lodger or renting out property is one way to increase your incomings to make a dent on your outgoings.

Gorgeous_George

If a 10% rise keeps it below the market rate, I cannot see the tenants leaving.

That said, I would go for less than 10% (even 9.9% sounds a lot less than 10%). Explain the reasons, showing evidence of other available rentals. Maybe 7.5% this year and next would be more acceptable than 10% thi syear followed by 5%.

I kept mine at last year's price but will be looking to raise by 7%-ish next year. It should still be 10% below market but as I don't use an agent, it works for me. Not having an agent benefits the tenant too.

GG

Innys

The HMO link I gave contains this text:

"The Housing Act 2004 introduces mandatory licensing of those HMO's with three or more storeys and five or more persons comprising two or more households."

The house in question has a ground floor and a first floor (i.e. two storeys) and has four tenants who moved in as a group and, therefore, doesn't require an HMO licence. That is what I was referring to.

Carolt - the house is in the borough of Wandsworth. I have checked on Rightmove and Findaproperty for comparable houses available to rent.

On Rightmove, there is only one property with the correct first four letters of the postcode e.g. SW19. That is a three bedroom house charging £1,775 a month. On Findaproperty there are four three bedroom houses within 10 minutes walk of mine ranging from £2,058 right down to £1,746, a month.

So I don't think me asking for £1,750 for a four bedroom house is being unreasonable.

I'll let you know how I get on. The tenants have asked for a meeting to discuss what I am proposing and I will then show them what comparable properties in the area are costing.

Finally, Snooze, I chose to post on here just to get some other opinions on whether or not what I had proposed was fair. Just because I have been doing this for 23 years doesn't mean I know everything. I'm now beginning to wish I hadn't bothered...

Pygmymonkey

Innys wrote: »

" I chose to post on here just to get some other opinions on whether or not what I had proposed was fair. Just because I have been doing this for 23 years doesn't mean I know everything. I'm now beginning to wish I hadn't bothered...

If you ask peoples opinions why are you abusing them when they say their piece? I'm assuming you wanted the views of tennets and landlords alike?
Why get nasty when people spend their time and effort to give you their views (as you requested)???

Bungarm2001

Think you might be wrong about the HMO rating...as I understand the 2004 Act definition it states that a dwelling occupied by more than one household i.e. people who are not directly related to one another is considered an HMO.

Sections 254-262 is long winded as all these Acts are, but it does explain it clearly(ish)

Snooze

Pygmymonkey wrote: »

If you ask peoples opinions why are you abusing them when they say their piece? I'm assuming you wanted the views of tennets and landlords alike?
Why get nasty when people spend their time and effort to give you their views (as you requested)???

This does annoy me :mad: and I could not agree more. Too many people on internet forums who ask for advice don't actually want advice at all, they just want to be told what they want to hear and anything other than that is "abuse". :rolleyes: Why they can't just label their threads with "please tell me what I want to hear" instead of "advice needed", I just don't know. It would be far simpler and easier for everyone.

Rob

pickles110564

Snooze wrote: »

Speaking with my former landlord hat on, I think you'd be foolish to increase it at all given the fact that you have - by your own admission - excellent tenants. As a landlord, getting good tenants is the second biggest challenge after getting the rent money out of them - why risk all this for the sake of a few extra quid?

Your choice...

Rob

If I have good tenants I never increase the rent, if however they are a pain I will raise it to a level where I know they will move out.
When they have gone I put it back down to a sensible level.

owitemisermusa

Pygmymonkey wrote: »

If you ask peoples opinions why are you abusing them when they say their piece? I'm assuming you wanted the views of tennets and landlords alike?
Why get nasty when people spend their time and effort to give you their views (as you requested)???

Excuse me, are we reading the same thread??

The OP has been very restrained and polite in his/her responses as any responsible adult would be.

I have seen no nastiness anywhere. Let's not let this thread get personal.

poppy10_2

10% seems about the norm where I am. Especially if you froze the rent last year, i think that would be reasonable.

real1314

owitemisermusa wrote: »

Excuse me, are we reading the same thread??

The OP has been very restrained and polite in his/her responses as any responsible adult would be.

I have seen no nastiness anywhere. Let's not let this thread get personal.

I've seen a few people say the OP is greedy though. Funny thing is, inlfation is a pressure on everyone.
What if a LL has 4 properties at £500 a month each and they are mortgage free, the rent being their sole source of income? Inflation goes up, market rents go up, LL needs to cover their increased personal outgoings just like evryone else, so the rent goes up in line with the market. By the same token if the market rent drops, LLs have to drop their rent when trying to re-let, or in the face of a tenant who asks for a drop or they'll leave.

It's a market commodity, just like people's labour and just like many other things.