To think a 10% rent rise is too much?

xenia - I have never said we should return to the sitting tenancy system, I don't know why you assume that's the only alternative.

tenants do need some protection and some rent controls as kimi's example demonstrates.

We rent and are having to move, due to the lovely 6 month assured tenancy thing. We moved 6 months ago as well. Hopefully we can stay in new property for longer (we are signing up for a year) as the landlord approves of us (we had to go round for a drink and be vetted ). Bit nervous as we also rent out a property in central London and tenants have only renewed for 6 months. Agent has put rent up "in line with inflation" to GBP 1700 per month for tenants, which seems a lot (but cannot remember what it was before, 16 something I think, so not a huge hike).

i agree with xenia on the lower rent issue. there are TOO many landlords who rushed into buy to let which means that rents don't increase much, most landlords i speak to say they make barely enough or sometimes not enough to cover the mortgage. that is good news for tenants.

however, i disgaree that there is a shortage of tenants. most people still can not afford to buy, lack of reasonably priced properties in the big cities, so they end up renting for many many years before they can afford to buy. even my City collaegues who had just started their careers were still renting. esp. the single ones still couldn't afford anything decent in the nice parts of London.

Any way, I still think it is worth checking with your local council. You don't have to be a Council tenant to get your rent checked, the assessments apply equally to privately let properties.

The last landlady i had before we got married, decided to put our rent up by £20 a month. Not a vast sum, but it was annoying enough (she was such a stingy old cow, would never repair things without a big moan and groan, tried to get away with doing basic repairs, etc. so i went and read about my rights as a tenant, etc as ammunition), we left a few months later as she was just too much of a pain in the you know where.

there are landlords out there who just don't know when they see a good tenant, end up pissing off the good ones and always end up with bad ones which is what they deserve really ; )

SP, we just have different views. I remember trying to find a flat to rent in 1982. It was very very hard. Shortholds were only just coming in and only for limited periods. Most tenancies before then if you let you could NEVER get the tenant out and some tenants were in prime London properties at absolutely tiny rents and some still are so no person with any sense let property. It's better now in a free market because if there are too many landlords chasing too few tenants then rents go down. Rental yields are much less than they were I think as too many people have piled into buy to let just as property prices are likely to stabilise for a year or two.

I know, I hate moving too. we're moving from Spain to UK with 3 kids under 5 in 2 months.

I'm trying to think of it as a much needed big sort out.

xenia - there are no controls on rent rises between contracts, which is one of the reasons I have railed against the law so much on other threads.

kimi - why don't you make them an offer? It's in the landlords' interests to keep good tenants rather than have to find new ones, potentially losing a month's rent. I'd try offering 1090.

kimi it is alot to pay in rent and huge hike imo..would a mortgage not be cheaper?
salaries rarely rise like this, well for normal folks anyway, this is out of order...

hi kimi - i haven't read whole thread just your post, get you local council to do a rent assessmnet.

10% in one go seems very unreasonable, unless the house was let at a rate that was too low before ? (doubtful, most landlords and agencies know the going rate for their property before letting it, very unlikely they would underprice) even so, it is unreasonable to let out low and then hike it up substantially like this once people move in. not sure what the law says on this, again your local rent officer or CAB may be able to help.

i think you can pick up a form from your council and they have to come round and do a rent assessment. of course if they agree it is a fair rent, you might just be better off moving out eventually. i always think shit landlords don't deserve good tenants, so let them get someone else in if they can.

Can you type on here the exact words of the bit in the lease about inflation? I suppose even if there is a limit they don't have to renew the contract though.

Let us know how it goes.

10% is probably not above house price inflation though.

I think they will accept your 4% offer.

Our contract stipulates a maximum of 7.5% a year. However we have been here over three years and have never had a rent rise. I think the landlord would rather have us here than get someone else in.

I think 10% is too much.

yes - about 2% is reasonable - you can refuse to pay it.

There is no restriction on ordinary rent increases so if someone chose they could double the rent as it's not a free market. We used to have virtually no property to rent and rent controls, rights to stay forever. The freeing up of the market meant much more to rent but at a price. However your contract might say only increase each year by the retail prices index for example so read it carefully. Also they might be persuaded to keep the rent as it is if you say you will otherwise leave and if it would be hard for them to find someone else to take it on. Is it possible to get a mortgage and buy somewhere near by which would not cost any more in terms of monthly cost?

Do you have a contract? on your contract there should be a part which states how much max they can up the rent mine used to be 2.5% i think there is a law on this so i would look into it!

Kimi, I may be wrong but I thought housing law stipulated a certain percentage increase that rent could be put up to existing tenants. Have a look at the Shelter website for advice.

Hi - poor you. We also rent, and our lease is up for renewal soon too. We are actually moving but we have done our research and don't think that rents have gone up in general at all since last year, if anything the market has softened a bit. I agree, have a look around and see what's out there. You do have some bargaining power IF you do your homework and the property being empty for a month or two while they find new tenants is a good bargaining chip. Prime location and rightmove UK are good websites to use or just speak to local agents. Go and view some if you can. If it's any help we rent a big detatched three bedroom chapel conversion (which is very nice) for about 1200 a month, and are moving to a newer semi-detached three bedroom plus study for 800 a month. Not quite as nice as our chapel but a big saving. But of course it all depends where you live.

You need to do some research - if the new rent is over the going rate for this type of house in this area then tell the agents that you won't pay it and it will stand empty.

If the new rate IS the going rate then you may as well pay it unless you are prepared to move somewhere cheaper. Have a chat with the agent once you have done your research and try to make friends with them - they could help with the negotiations and if not they could find you somewhere else nice potentially.

Good luck, this must have been a nasty shock. Your rent is very high in the first place, I struggle to pay my mortgage which is a lot less than that.

Kimi, do some homework before talking to the lettings agent again. Check to see what the current rents are for your sort of house in your area; if they are asking for something unreasonable then it is always useful to have facts to hand to justify your arguments and to suggest a more reasonable rent.

It's also worth pointing out that the property only needs to be empty for about a month and they will have lost any benefit of an increased rent and will have to pay more agency fees to get it re-let.

You mentioned the owners are in Canada; it could be that they based the rise on what is happening in Canada, or because they had read that rents are gettting more expensive in the UK or because it was a nice number to pluck out of the air and they thought it was worth a try. So find out why they chose 10% and see if you can then twist their argument around to show that the rise should actually be what you want it to be. so if they say it's because that's what happening in Canada, you can say well here in this area they are only going up 4% (or down if you are really lucky!), just popping your own figures in...

good luck!