Landlord wanting me to pay him cash in hand?

[LaRosa123]

Lived in my property for a few years now, landlord said he'd keep the rent the same as he previously rented it out for if I decorated it (was in a bad state - we have decorated it lovely) landlord came to check the boiler and was so pleased and couldn't stop talking about how good the property looks.

Landlord had recently told me he wants to put the rent up which is understanble with the cost of living! I had a message of the letting agency to confirm that all of my details are they same so they can update the tenancy - they said they'll be back in touch and I've not had any paper work come back yet. 13th October he told me face to face about increasing the rent - rent goes out the 5th of every month so i believe I wouldn't of had to pay it the following month as it wasn't a month notice but ive never rented before so I was waiting for the paper work to come back and would've questioned it but had it ready to pay.

Well landlord lives 2 streets down, he knocked my door last week and said the letting agency is waiting for Him to have all the electrics checked on the property so would I be able to drop him the difference of the rent increase from the 5th November around his house - cash in hand and he also mentioned the letting agency will be in touch to invoice me.

I phoned the letting agency as I didn't want to drop him the extra money he's putting the rent up by and then to also be invoice by them.

They said he didn't give me a month notice and until the electrics have been tested I'm to stick To the old tenancy, but now I'm stuck what to do! I'm scared if I don't pay him the extra he'll either put the rent up even more or serve us a eviction notice or even come around confronting me.

Can you please tell me where I stand?
Thank you

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Everything through th lettings agency. That's what they are there for. At the very least you want a paper trail for everything. And the correct written notice.

Blame it on lettings agent and say they've told you unfortunately you have to do it the way they said! You sound like a dream tenant - he won't want to lose you.

Just say the lettings agency have told you to continue paying them at the old rate until he has the electrics done, and ask him casually what day does he want them round to do it so you can get the new tennacy and start paying the increase.

Turn it round into a positive.

Not us but another tenant of our ll was handing over cash.. He wasn't banking it and fell on the tenant to catch up her missing rent when the books were done.... Don't risk it op.

Don't pay cash and don't hand it over to him - if you are weak willed enough to do it get him to text you a receipt or sign paper on the spot - do not hand money over otherwise. He won't evict you as it will cost him commission to find someone to replace you. Haggle on the rent increase as much as you can.

I can see why you're a bit worried but I would stick to dealing with the letting agency.

He can't evict you in retribution - although obviously he can make things unpleasant.

You say he checked the boiler - did you get a copy of the certificate? Is he a Corgi engineer? It's a yearly requirement or he's in big trouble for that too.

The letting agent charges the LL a percentage of the rent.

If you pay more rent to the agency, LL pays higher agent fees. Geddit?

He is legally required to maintain electrical services in safe order and provide annual gas safety check reports by a registered gas engineer. The cost is born by the LL.No charge to tenant.

Don’t pay cash. Nor pay extra until you’ve had the month’s notice and the electrics are done.

Just tell him the agency have told you the increase doesn’t happen until after the work has been done and when will it be done.

Be very wary and make sure you have copies of everything you should (gas certs etc). Skint LL’s can try and cut corners and it’s never for your benefit.

He can’t evict you. It will be a long, lengthy process and will cost him a lot of money. He would need to give you a section 21, when you didn’t moved out after that 2 months he would need to give you notice of court action which would take another 2 months. He would likely lose in court as he has no grounds to evict you. Do not give him cash, you need rent increases in writing and signed and paid for electronically so you have proof of payment.

also you don’t have to agree to an increase just because he’s asked, you can negotiate. If worst comes to the worst and he evicts you so that he can rent the property out for more money after all your hard work do what your tenancy agreement requires of you - put the property back to the same standard it was when you moved in.

good luck.

Definitely don't pay the money directly to him, as other have said, he has to check the gas every year and now also have the electrics up to a certain standard. You should have your deposit protected by the letting agent, if you need more upto date information contact Shelter 😊

Deal only with letting agent. If he turns up to hassle you call the police. He has no legal right to enter the property unless its for emergencies and he's no right to threaten you. To be honest though it sounds like he's not being a responsible landlord and is not doing his legal obligations re the electric checks, he sounds dodgy as hell and I'd be looking for somewhere else to move to.

By law he cannot evict you to increase the rent and re let. My parents have a lot of lettings and you cannot do that.

as a PP mentioned the section 21 , so there’s a lengthy process to evict and he must have an actual real reason to do so. Not just cause he wants to and the court can deny the section 21 if there are no real terms to evict you.

protect yourself , DO NOT PAY CASH. If he’s set on cash difference speak to the estate agent and do it through them so they can record it but do not hand it directly to him. But he must give a months notice to increase rent and (as far as I know) can not be any higher than 5% of current rent per academic year to increase rent. Depending obv on your tenancy terms so read those as well. Seems typical a month before Christmas he will just want the extra money .

the upside of renting is , tenants seem to have more rights than the landlords but this is to protect tenants against landlords like this . Follow what the estate agent says, they know the law and what he/you can and can’t do

Tell him you're very sorry but you can't pay him cash in hand because you need the record of payment through the lettings agency. It sounds as if they're on your side and will support you in this. If you're good tenants and you're able to pay the increased rent once you've had sufficient notice, the landlord isn't going to want the hassle of evicting you and finding new (and possibly worse) tenants. What could he possibly gain? He's still not going to have any more rent for November.
He's just trying it on.

A update on this thread.
I phoned the letting agency again and they told us not to pay a penny extra until all the checks have been done but yet again landlord refuses to let it lie and keeps coming up to me and confronting me! I changed the standing order because I'm scared of him evicting us but the letting agency said that won't change how much money gets sent to him so they will hold that money until ive signed the tenancy but yet again, landlord keeps harassing me!

I am a landlord and don’t accept cash, and I would be very suspicious of anyone who requested that.
I don’t understand the correlation between the electrical check and the rent increase though.
It is a legal requirement to have an electrical condition check every 5 years. If there is not one in place the property shouldn’t be being rented out. It is the landlord’s responsibility to get it done, but the Letting Agents should also have checked that one was in place.
The Tenancy Agreement will almost certainly cover rent increases. Normally a minimum notice period of one month is required. There is no specific limit in most areas, although I think a very few local authorities tried, and may have succeeded, imposing some rent controls.
I have to say that if I was your landlord I would sack the Letting Agent and find a more efficient one. He pays them to provide a service for him, and if they think he is doing something wrong they should take it up with him, put it right, and not expect the tenant to play ping pong between them and the landlord.

@LaRosa123 it really is just as simple as blocking his number & disengaging. He knows the terms and and you’ve been informed he cannot evict without a lengthy, costly court battle. Stop responding.

The landlord sounds dodgy.
LL cannot evict if there isn’t correct paperwork in place, the EICR and a gas safety certificate. The LL can be fined if there is no valid EICR too.