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

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.

Could well be this. Friend of mine is a landlord to multiple properties and has recently put hefty increases on all her properties. She doesn’t have mortgages so it’s not even a case of rising costs for her. She says she has to keep her properties in line with the market rate for that area.

I’m not sure that’s strictly true but guess it’s none of my business. I’d like to think if I was a landlord yes for a new tenant when I’m advertising an empty property I’d have it at market rate but I’d be reluctant to undertake large rent increases for a good long standing tenant. She has definitely had people do counter offers and accepted them though so worth a try.

shes had the odd tenant leave and find somewhere cheaper. Then when she’s advertised the property at the new price she is still inundated with applications. It’s supply and demand I guess and round here there aren’t many rental properties available and she will easily have over twenty applicants within a couple of days of advertising.

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.

Could well be this. Friend of mine is a landlord to multiple properties and has recently put hefty increases on all her properties. She doesn’t have mortgages so it’s not even a case of rising costs for her. She says she has to keep her properties in line with the market rate for that area.

I’m not sure that’s strictly true but guess it’s none of my business. I’d like to think if I was a landlord yes for a new tenant when I’m advertising an empty property I’d have it at market rate but I’d be reluctant to undertake large rent increases for a good long standing tenant. She has definitely had people do counter offers and accepted them though so worth a try.

shes had the odd tenant leave and find somewhere cheaper. Then when she’s advertised the property at the new price she is still inundated with applications. It’s supply and demand I guess and round here there aren’t many rental properties available and she will easily have over twenty applicants within a couple of days of advertising.

Just to add, if you wanted to text them back something like, "Hi Gerald, I'm sorry but there's no way that we can afford another £300/mth increase, we're already struggling with living costs as it is I'm afraid. Would you please consider a £100/mth increase instead, to £1500, given that we always pay our rent on time and keep the flat in good condition?"

Or something like that. It's always best to counter offer a bit of an increase, it'll look better when you take it to Tribunal that you've at least tried to reason with the LL.

Another thing to add, if you haven't been good with paying rent and/or not been keeping the flat in good condition, this raise might be purely to get you to move out.

What do you do? Too many people staying in lower end jobs, paying astounding rent when you can earn the same yet have a lower C O L elsewhere. @Lele101

Has he given you a Section 13 form and 2 month's notice? If not, it's not valid.

There is also a Property Tribunal that you can apply to who will decide if the increase is fair or not.

Your landlord gave you this information by text at quarter to one in the morning?!

That's rude.

Landlords wont 'learn to make less money', they'll simply find another tenant. I think some people here are living in a fantasy land and thinking that private landlords are akin to non profit or charity organisations

If you feel strongly about the availability of private rentals that are affordable, lobby for more social housing to be built. Private rentals were not designed and dont need to be to prop up the social housing market and yet thats all its done over the last 30 years.

Has he given you a Section 13 form and 2 month's notice? If not, it's not valid.

There is also a Property Tribunal that you can apply to who will decide if the increase is fair or not.

Actually my mortgage went up by 50% when the deal ended and that was the best deal I could get. That was residential, which should be better than BtL situations.

My mortgage went from £1,000 to £1,600. Should I complain to my bank and refuse to pay? What would you say to me if I put a post on this forum to complain? You'd tell me I was being unreasonable and to accept it or move! Why is rental any different?

LL are a business. They can either increase year on year - which this LL didn't do, or increase when it's absolutely necessary i.e. their costs have gone up beyond absorption.

Most LL in the UK are not professional LL. The courts don't support them against non paying tenants. There are bad LL - hence legislation to crack down - but the majority are not bad. The media/Gvmt continues to demonise all LL which is why so many are selling up.

Expect rents to go up further when all LL are professional LL, Non-Dom LL or LA landlords!

My advice, negotiate first.
If no joy, then pay up or move.

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.