Rent increase by £300!!! What do I do? Is this normal? Please help!!!!

All businesses raise their prices when their own costs do increase, supermarkets for ex. Why would LL do differently?

I can't stand greedy landlords who think that their tenants should pay every single penny in their goal to end up with a fully paid-for valuable asset in 25 or 30 years.

So what if you have to pay a small proportion towards the monthly mortgage payments yourself? Don't you understand that it's a long-term investment that you have to be patient to reap the massive benefits from, whilst your tenants (who usually have little alternative if they need a home) are already paying the bulk of it for you?

I bet most of these kinds of landlords aren't clamouring to reduce the rent every time the mortgage rate or other costs go down.

That is one massive increase, we are paying £1k per month on a mortgage on a £800k house that will soon be ours. Seriously start looking at options of maybe buying.
There will be an awful lot of knock on increases this year as labour costs rise with minimum wage and increased NI for employers, it will hit every single sector and increase landlords overheads when it comes to maintenance. A 20+ % increase sounds high to me.

Hi @Lele101 what a shocking late night text to be receiving from your Landlord, that's so unprofessional! I'm a LL myself, and that increase is shocking and astronomical. The saying is "little and often", when it comes to LL's discussing rent increases, so say up by £50/mth every 12mths for example. I'm one of the few who rarely increases rents for existing tenants.

I've just taken a look on rightmove, and it depends on the condition of your flat, but the lowest on there is on at £1500, most around the £1600 - £1800 mark, the brand new ones are on for stupid money £2K+. Whilst the LL can raise it by whatever they like (within keeping of any specific rent increase terms in the AST), you can absolutely refuse or negotiate, or take it Tribunal.

So, now, you should reply to your LL and tell them that you cannot afford that increase and either leave it at that or offer a counter increase say to £1500. If you do not accept the increase, then your LL will likely send you a Section 13 notice of rent increase, giving at least one full month's notice. Once you receive that, you have a small amount of time to take it to Tribunal. At Tribunal, they will look at market rents, and decide if the increase is reasonable or not. They will decide if the proposed increase is reasonable and stays, which then you must pay, or if it's too high (looking at current market rents), then they will set a lower rent for you to pay instead. There is the risk that the Tribunal deems that the increase is too low and may then set an even higher rent for you to pay.

So those are your options.

In my personal opinion, as a LL, I'm rather appalled at LL's who just decide to pass on their huge mortgage increase straight onto their tenants. Being a landlord is running a business, providing a service. It's a risky business when we have BTL mortgages and do not own the properties outright. It's a risk we choose to take, and I don't think it's fair that some LL's refuse to absorb any of these huge interest rate hikes themselves. Without wanting to give you my life story, my first rental was my own home, due to having to relocate, the house was in negative equity at the time due to buying in a peak and then experiencing a decline, so had no choice but to let it out. My mortgage was significantly higher than the market rent, then I had maintenance/repairs and insurance to pay on top. So for the first 3 years of being a LL, I was making a loss, but you know what, that's the property game, that was my problem, it wasn't my tenant's fault that I bought in a peak and had high mortgage repayments! I've since gone on to buy BTL's and have long-term tenants in all of them and don't give hideous rent increases like what you've had, because, I always think to myself, if I got a text like you've just had, and suddenly had to find another £300/MONTH, I'd probably have a heart attack. There's NO WAY I would put that on someone. Your LL needs to learn that they will make less money when the interest rates are higher, and shame on them for just passing the full increase onto you.

Sorry for the huge comment, I just get so irked when LL's do these massive rent increases, it's so awful.

I looked on Rightmove and you are fortunate to have been renting so cheaply! That of course does not help you if you can't afford it but rents for a two bed flat are generally much more.

Have a look around elsewhere and see what you can get that is cheaper. As kong as the area is pleasant and you can get to work without too much hassle you should be OK.

Renting is like that, you're young, you pick up your stuff and move on.

Hi @Lele101 what a shocking late night text to be receiving from your Landlord, that's so unprofessional! I'm a LL myself, and that increase is shocking and astronomical. The saying is "little and often", when it comes to LL's discussing rent increases, so say up by £50/mth every 12mths for example. I'm one of the few who rarely increases rents for existing tenants.

I've just taken a look on rightmove, and it depends on the condition of your flat, but the lowest on there is on at £1500, most around the £1600 - £1800 mark, the brand new ones are on for stupid money £2K+. Whilst the LL can raise it by whatever they like (within keeping of any specific rent increase terms in the AST), you can absolutely refuse or negotiate, or take it Tribunal.

So, now, you should reply to your LL and tell them that you cannot afford that increase and either leave it at that or offer a counter increase say to £1500. If you do not accept the increase, then your LL will likely send you a Section 13 notice of rent increase, giving at least one full month's notice. Once you receive that, you have a small amount of time to take it to Tribunal. At Tribunal, they will look at market rents, and decide if the increase is reasonable or not. They will decide if the proposed increase is reasonable and stays, which then you must pay, or if it's too high (looking at current market rents), then they will set a lower rent for you to pay instead. There is the risk that the Tribunal deems that the increase is too low and may then set an even higher rent for you to pay.

So those are your options.

In my personal opinion, as a LL, I'm rather appalled at LL's who just decide to pass on their huge mortgage increase straight onto their tenants. Being a landlord is running a business, providing a service. It's a risky business when we have BTL mortgages and do not own the properties outright. It's a risk we choose to take, and I don't think it's fair that some LL's refuse to absorb any of these huge interest rate hikes themselves. Without wanting to give you my life story, my first rental was my own home, due to having to relocate, the house was in negative equity at the time due to buying in a peak and then experiencing a decline, so had no choice but to let it out. My mortgage was significantly higher than the market rent, then I had maintenance/repairs and insurance to pay on top. So for the first 3 years of being a LL, I was making a loss, but you know what, that's the property game, that was my problem, it wasn't my tenant's fault that I bought in a peak and had high mortgage repayments! I've since gone on to buy BTL's and have long-term tenants in all of them and don't give hideous rent increases like what you've had, because, I always think to myself, if I got a text like you've just had, and suddenly had to find another £300/MONTH, I'd probably have a heart attack. There's NO WAY I would put that on someone. Your LL needs to learn that they will make less money when the interest rates are higher, and shame on them for just passing the full increase onto you.

Sorry for the huge comment, I just get so irked when LL's do these massive rent increases, it's so awful.

You have to agree to it, Write back and tell the landlord that you can’t afford to pay that amount. You will probably have to pay some sort of increase but legally you are permitted to negotiate.

That is one massive increase, we are paying £1k per month on a mortgage on a £800k house that will soon be ours. Seriously start looking at options of maybe buying.
There will be an awful lot of knock on increases this year as labour costs rise with minimum wage and increased NI for employers, it will hit every single sector and increase landlords overheads when it comes to maintenance. A 20+ % increase sounds high to me.

I would first see what the rent review clause in the tenancy agreement is first and make them take you to tribunal for the increase.

You are renting, not a bank for the Landlord's lifestyle/gambling/coke habit - who knows? Why would a mortgage go up twice in 16 months? Interest rates were cut twice in 2024.

A 40% increase in 16 months? FUCK OFF.