Rent increase

[Lacky301]

Hello all me and dp moved into our 1 bedroom flat in 2018 and we pay £425 a month we are very lucky in that our landlord has never increased the rent I am completely aware of that. Its extremely dated and shabby and no heating there was just a old dated electric fire in the living room which we got rid off as it was awful we just bought our own electric heaters for summer months.
Landlord has hardly spent much on it during our time here he bought it at auction and it more or less stands the same he didn't refurbish it update etc for prospective tenants.
He is now saying he needs to look at raising the rent as his accountant has advised him he should.
They are saying market value is about £675 but I told him that's too much too soon and the place needs updating.
I would rather keep the rent low and not update as we are under alot of pressure financially at the moment.
Please can anybody advise on a fair increase and how I can negotiate with him.

After 6 years a rent increase is fair. Rents have gone up huge amounts.

You will just have to negotiate with the landlord.

Has the landlord met all his legal obligations e.g deposit protection, working fire alarms etc...?

If he wants market rate but isn't willing to update it then it might be worth looking for something else.

He’s obviously not bothered if you stay or not and is confident he’d get a new tenant at the increased price.
How much is the market rent for a similar proportion your area?
Is the flat even safe?

First question, what does your tenancy say about rent increases? My LL tried to do similar but the EA told him that there was no mention of rent increases happening within my time there so he had to wait until my tenancy was up.

If it does say that the rent can be increased by anytime then that’s a different matter

We moved into our 1 bed flat flat in 2018 and the rent was 425 , it got increased to 475, 545 and now I pay 645 a month .

I think you need to be grateful you haven't had to pay the increase over the last 6 years . Rents are ridiculous now.

He's never done deposit protection and he never inspects or provides smoke alarms etc I pushed him to update the electrics

You’ve not had a rent increase for 6 years so I think it’s fair to increase the rent.

However I don’t think it’s fair to increase by such a lot in one go, landlords do better to increase rents by smaller amounts each year.

We’re landlords and increase rent each year to stay in line with average rents for the areas our properties are in.

Speak to your landlord and see if he’ll do a more gradual increase.

He should have done all of that - especially the deposit protection,

The risk you run is that if you hassle him about that he will evict you.

There are two legal ways to evict you - section 8 if you have broken the terms of the tenancy or section 21 if you have not.

A section 21 is not valid if he hasn't done the deposit protection so you can make that argument.

www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants/section-21-and-section-8-notices

I would be moving out to somewhere that is legally maintained

He’s not a good LL, that’s disgraceful.

I've just received a message off him believe it or not he is increasing it to £525

Ive negotiated £500

Wow, fast moving thread. 🤔

With no safety checks, deposit protection etc your landlord is breaking the law.

I would ask for the required gas certificates, deposit protection documents etc BEFORE paying more rent.

I would have suggested 10% incidentally, and then maybe the same next year.

I have electrical certificate

good result OP, £500 is very reasonable.

Also can you share roughly what part of the country you’re in? Is it a city? I’m just curious as most one beds in the places I’ve lived, even back in 2018, were not as cheap as that.

are you and your partner working full time though? I’m surprised you’d struggle with £675 split between you especially after having low rent for so long.

However, i do agree rent increases shouldn’t be that much.

Perhaps start using the money you’re saving now to make plans to move somewhere better where the landlord is following the rules and you don’t need to push him on basic issues like safety.

The sad reality is, there's nothing you can do about it.
The landlord knows he can get that amount of rent and he intends to. If you won't pay it, he will simply give you notice and find someone who will, easily, because there's a housing crisis.

Then you will have to find somewhere else and wherever you find will be that price anyway because that's the market rate.

Landlords have tenants by the balls and they know it.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

@Applescruffle Op has negotiated it down to £500.

Oh just seen you've negotiated £500, I'm happy for you OP, well done :)

I think a 58% rent increase is unacceptable. I am a landlord and
felt guilty raising the rent from £425 to £475 in one jump after 8 years, but my mortgage has gone up and the condition of the mortgage is that the monthly rent must be 25% more than the monthly mortgage repayment.

Market value is £550.

No I've asked for 500 but he hasn't responded

You confused people by saying you have negotiated £500, making it sounds like it was a done deal.

We are not in a good place right now financially both minimum wage jobs and have a big essential we are struggling to save for.

well if you say he put it down to 525 so you’ll either be paying -500 or 525 if you decide to stay . Not a massive difference.

Definitely still lower than most one bedroom flats.

Sorry about that I've tried to call him and he declined the call