A few weeks ago I received a letter from lettings agency (England, for avoidance of doubt) to say my landlord has sadly passed away. No information as to new landlord, there was no specific next of kin but a will to be sorted as I understand it.
A couple of weeks after, without any update as to who my landlord is, a second letter received from lettings agency. This one informing me the rent will go up. By about 6.5%.
For background, I've been in the house for about 10 years. Only a couple of small rent raises in that time. Nothing like a regular/ annual raise so this is a bit unusual for my tenancy.
My question is, if there isn't a landlord (a named one, for now), can the lettings agency raise the rent? Am I in my rights to ask who is actually raising the rent, if my landlord is dead and to potentially challenge it? Do agencies get to decide whether/ when to raise rent and by how much?