LL wanting to put rent up - Twat!

[SantanaBinLorry]

This is the 5th house ive lived in with a shit back door.
They are aaaaaall unusual sizes, of course! I swear LL's must think we're fucking stupid, maybe we are!

Its the faux surprise... YOU FUCKING KNOW THE DOOR IS SHIT....why are you just now, 30 odd years after owning the house realizing it might need fucking replacing.

Don't get me started on the 80% of the double glazing that has blown - most with broken latches, the hall way full of black mold, the stair carpet that was fitted by monkies, the frayed carpet at EVERY door way, no extractor in the bathroom - more black mold. The stain on the kitchen ceiling from a leak (not our fault) 2 years ago
Outside tap broken, inside tap dripping 2 ltrs a day, over flowing guttering and the back fence has just blown down. Also the fact we offered more rent each month at the beginning of our tenancy as we were desperate to secure the property, and we are STILL waiting for our new TA since the renting regulations changed in Wales last year.

Txt this morning to say he was putting rent up by £50 from next month.

I know I'm not unreasonable, hes a twat and I just needed to rant.
I've rented all my life, will never own, late 40's and two teens and I'm just sick of being treated like shite by moneygrabbing bastards!

I

Sorry, ranted and ran. ended up back in work this avo.

Catching up on comments now.

You do realise that owning the home after all those tenants have paid it off is the profit, right? It's not the ongoing rent, and any landlord who thinks they should profit monthly just shouldn't be in the business.

For starters...What?
I said my landlord is a twat, not all of them.

".I was unable to change one of my BTL mortgage deals when the fixed expired last summer due to a non-paying tenant not paying a penny for 6 months"
Boo Hoo! Get better insurance 🤔Businesses/investments fail all the time - not my problem or anything to do with this thread.

"

Landlords are not exploiting. Exploitation is something like purchasing access to the bodies of prostituted women.

Landlords are providing a service people want and need. The same as food producers, clothing manufacturers, furniture manufacturers, utility providers, transport providers and all the many other providers of non-luxury goods.

There is work involved in being a landlord, not to mention the work that many landlords have put to get to a position where they can afford to have a property to rent. Even if there were little work, that is not an argument against landlords. There are other professions where people earn money with little work, or earn money vastly disproportionate to the effort put in. These people do not get criticized.

Owner occupiers also make profits when they sell. Some people also inherit significant sums of money they have literally done no work for at all

Shelter is not a service, it's a basic human right.

So is food, heating and clothing. We all pay for all those. We pay the people who provide those goods and services which it is our human right to have access to.

Back in my hometown lots of family homes are being completely ripped out and turned into HMOs. I wonder if that's the long term answer? Brand new refits run by a company for low rent. I don't like HMOs for lots of reasons but they are fit for purpose and cheap.

I’m not saying there is! But so many behave as if they do provide the service out of the goodness of their hearts - and - importantly - behave as though this means it ISNT a job and they don’t have any responsibility to their end of the contract other than it being an bottomless pit of money for themselves. And then you get that appalling carry on from the PP ranting like a mad person about NOT ALL LANDLORDS. Happens on every thread, guaranteed. I wanted to know why.

I take your point although there is some kind of competition for customers in those other areas. In a housing crisis a landlord is little better than a scalper.

Ffs

Speak to RentSmartWales about the non-receipt of your new contract. There are severe penalties, and they will have your back. The tenant has the upper hand under the new legislation. But if you start a fight with your landlord, it will generally end with you having to move in the next year or two, and rents are insanely high at the moment, so maybe check how bad your rent really is, relative to the market, before kicking off WW3..

Sounds bloody awful.

Are there not rules for landlords that are enforced by the local authority? Could you report them?

Wow just wow!!!

You want a fucking medal for providing a BASIC level of service!!! No your RESPONSIBILITY as a landlord is to provide what you are providing your tenants!
Thousands upon thousands of tenants would love to be able to own their own home. It has nothing to do with not being interested in owning!! The vast majority can't get on the market because they are priced out if it by people like you!!!

As an adult with my DH we have rented 3 homes. 1 in Essex for 7-8 yrs. Fantastic landlord, responsive managing agents. Things fixed the next day. Even told off for not reporting issues immediately. Deposit paid back in full even though there was wear on the furniture. They thanked us for looking after the flat so well. Had to move for work.

Then the move to London. 3.5 yrs in total 2 homes complete opposite of our experience in Essex. One yr in one everything leaked. Clothes/bags/shoes mouldy. Boiler always on the blink. Toilet moved anytime anyone sat on it.

1.5yrs in the second, rats in kitchen from botched boiler replacement. Lots of things broken from before just patched up - back door, leaking shower, kitchen cabinets etc. We only stayed the extra 6 months for our house sale to go through. Every corner cut to maximise profit and limit expenditure. Renting is not for the faint hearted and it stressed me out.

In your position OP I would look into moving elsewhere altogether.

@captaincalamari12 but your not actually making a loss at all are you!
You still have an asset that is increasing in value and which someone else is paying for.
Your mortgage is being covered by the tenant!

So no I have zero sympathy for you!

A section 8 is an eviction notice where the tenant is at fault in some way.....
Really don't think that is what the OP wants

@MasterBeth most BTL mortgages are interest only, so unless there's a profit they're not buying the house they're just sort of keeping it on ice

Right, caught up.
I'm pleased others have pointed out the useless posts, and yes, I think nerves have been hit 😆
Well done to all you good landlords, but of zero use to me here!

My carpets are waaaay older then 7 years. Of course we reported about the monkey stairs, straight away, it was stapled a little tighter but that's it and it doesn't fit or match the lading carpet. I refuse to believe my LL's own stairs look like that at home, with staples pinging out!

To clear thing us...
I know for fact the LL owns the house outright, he told us we we viewed the house - strange thing to tell us , but there ya go.
It doesn't really matter what my rent is, its inline with local rates - he's not paying a mortgage!
He txt to inform of increase, a formal email will follow.
He defiantly will not be sensing any bad attitude from me, I never see or speak to the man. Love how this could be my fault.
We wont be kicking off. We are very aware he could decide to end our tenancy whenever he wants, Its an awful imbalance of power. i just want a nice home for my family.
Rent Safe Wales and the council is our next step - we've got all our communications and its clear he's fully dragging his feet about maintenance/repairs.

One of the saddest things is, this is one of the nicest houses we've lived in :( So that says a lot of passed experience, and what we've gotten used to.. And no, we don't really have a choice about living here! The area and the bones of the house work for us for 6-7 years more minimum, we told the LL this when we moved in, he seemed just as happy as us to have a steady, local family as potential long term tenants :(
I'm late 40's and have long term rented and resigned myself to the fact ill not own my own home. It is what it is, many people are in the same boat as me. Im not relishing the thought of renting to retirement and beyond, thats for sure.
We've got ten years til(hopefully) both kids have been educated and flown, we can downsize then, but for now its big rent on a family house :(

Loving the ridiculous landlord responses on here.
The problem is there ARE one hell of a lot of shit landlords who ARE money-grubbing bastards.
I fully acknowledge that there are plenty of decent ones too (though in all the years I rented, I only met one and I stuck to him like glue). But the reason the shit ones get so much flack is because home is where you should feel safe. It's hugely emotive.
And yet so many landlords treat the properties they own purely as a way to make money without wanting to invest anything beyond the absolute bare minimum in maintenance. They don't see it as a home - it's just a paycheck.
They don't treat the homes they live in like that.
I bet they wouldn't treat any other business like that.
Yet somehow they do treat their rental properties like that.
But the lack of professionalism of a significant chunk of the sector is disgusting. It's not one or two landlords who are like it - it's LOADS of landlords who are not much better than slumlords.

If I were a landlord I'd be pushing for more professionalism in the sector (e.g. compulsory membership of a professional body, the ability to ban people from being landlords, more minimum standards) so people stopped tarring all landlords with the same brush rather than whingeing that tenants dare complain about broken window units, black mould, insecure external doors and knackered floor coverings.

I'd also be wanting to encourage more generally decent people to become landlords (e.g. easier access to finance but much lower returns; background checks) rather than people who want a quick buck.

The description of OP's home doesn't sound acceptable; it's seemingly not been well maintained yet the OP has (as far as we can tell) paid all the rent due each month - in fact, they've paid MORE rent than the landlord asked for. When you're in that position you feel so utterly powerless and frankly unsafe; even your home isn't a sanctuary.

As for people saying "just move", moving is incredibly expensive and disruptive with deposits due, rent needing to be paid upfront, affordability and background checks and of course the removal fees.
OP has kids in school, meaning they can't just move anywhere. Additionally, there's no guarantee that the next property would be maintained any better. Even if it looks nice on first inspection that's no guarantee that if the roof leaks in six months time the LL will do anything about it.

I'm sorry your home has been left to rot, OP. I'm sorry that the housing model in this country is so shit. It's absolutely fine to rant - so many of us have been in a similar situation. I hope things get easier.

Oh, and I'm not against rent increases as a thing, I'm not daft.
But my LL has done nothing beyond emergency repairs in 4 years.
It irks somewhat when we give nearly 50% of our income to housing and it sometimes feels like we are literally just paying for the roof above our head and anything else is seen as a luxury.

Surely thats the same for every job? My wage pays my mortgage, but I wouldn't say my employer bought me a house.

I'm not a landlord but have visited and spoke to many landlords after a tenant has left. I've seen kitchens ripped out, walls drawn on, carpets cut into, houses converted into drug dens, someone actually took a shit in the house. And I can imagine this does not make landlords want to care for their properties.

But I've also seen some fantastic rentals. Not all landlords are horrendous. But you pay a premium for a decent one, and you are competing with many people.

Rentals are scarce now. If all landlords sold up tommorow, properties aren't magically going to become affordable. Tenants need landlords.

To be honest before we bought our house we rented.. We didnt have great experiences with LL either .

Let my get out my tiny violin… 🎻

You’re contributing to the housing crisis in favour of your financial investments for your own future. I don’t necessarily blame you - this is a capitalist society - but please don’t expect any sympathy.

I don’t believe for a moment that you think people are choosing to rent because they can’t be bothered with property maintenance 🤯😂

As previous posters have said, an informal text saying 'next month 50 quid extra plz' isn't good enough. Here is the guidance from Shelter Cymru on rent increases. You will need to check whether you have a periodic or fixed term contract but, "If you have a periodic standard contract, your landlord must give 2 months’ notice if they want to increase the rent. You must be informed in writing on a RHW12 form. Your rent can’t be increased less than 12 months after the last rent increase."

DO NOT start paying the rent at the new amount before seeking advice, you will probably be seen as having accepted the rent increase.

Please contact Shelter for advice, and the local authority re your horrible living conditions.
https://sheltercymru.org.uk/housing-advice/paying-for-housing/rent-and-rent-increases/#toggle-id-1

"'Im not a landlord but have visited and spoke to many landlords after a tenant has left. I've seen kitchens ripped out, walls drawn on, carpets cut into, houses converted into drug dens, someone actually took a shit in the house. And I can imagine this does not make landlords want to care for their properties"

WTF has this got to do with mine and my kids home?