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

[Lele101]

Just got a text from landlord

“mortgage gone up and I’m paying 300 more for service charges and insurance to the council I have no choice but to raise rent by 300”

we live in ilford, Barkingside. It’s a 2 bedroom flat. Currently paying 1400, now he wants 1700.

last increase was 16 months ago. (From 1225 to 1400)

im shocked. Is this normal?? Please advice. I don’t know what to do.

Contact Shelter in the morning OP - they are very good at this kind of situation and will be able to either advise you or point you in the right direction to get advice.

I don't think they can do it mid contract?

But yes, get advice.

Under the Renters Reform Act a LL can put up rent once in a 12 month period. Your LL hasn't put up rent for 16 months so can put it up but they must give you a month's notice. This will be 2 months notice under RRB once it's put into law. Mortgages have gone up a lot. If a LL was in a 2 percent fix but that has now expired they would be on about 4.5 if buying in their own name or 5.89 if buying through a ltd company. Those are the best rates around atm. The LL will be having to find a lot extra so needs to increase the rent. My personal opinion is I'd never raise tenants rent more than £80 pcm and I'd only do that if the rate I had to pay jumped. I'd suck up the rest because house prices where I live are on the rise. Is the new rent at market rate or higher? If higher you could move.

You have to agree to it, Write back and tell the landlord that you can’t afford to pay that amount. You will probably have to pay some sort of increase but legally you are permitted to negotiate.

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

That's rude.

Don’t reply until you’ve spoken to Shelter and make sure that you have your tenancy agreement in front of you when you speak to Shelter.

Not a renter, but a quick google says that a private tenancy landlord has no limit on the ammount they can raise your rent by, BUT that they can't do it during a fixed tennancy period without your agreement, and can only impose a raise once in a 12 month period.You also have the right to try to negotiate a lower increase.

So since its been 16 months, hes allowed to by that condition. As its a private landlord, he can raise it by £300 a month. Are you in a fixed term contract, say, 4 months into a 12 month fixed term since last increase was 16 months ago? If yes, he's not allowed to raise the rent til that 12 month contract has concluded unless you agree to the raise. If you're not on a fixed contract but just a rolling one where either party can give notice at the end of any given month, then he is allowed to make this increase now. You have the right to try to negotiate a lower increase, say £200 a month, or as much as you can actually afford, but he can reject your offer and counter negotiate too. Ultimately if its not a fixed tennancy and hes set on £300 a month raise and nothing less, then i think you will have to pay it or find somewhere else to live.

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.

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.

I agree with @ReadingSoManyThreads. I am also a landlord and stunts like this really piss me off.

I would first see what the rent review clause in the tenancy agreement is first and make them take you to tribunal for the increase.

You are renting, not a bank for the Landlord's lifestyle/gambling/coke habit - who knows? Why would a mortgage go up twice in 16 months? Interest rates were cut twice in 2024.

A 40% increase in 16 months? FUCK OFF.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/paying-rent/dealing-with-a-rent-increase/

I had similar recently and contacted Shelter. Unfortunately as my LL hadn’t raised the rent in the past 12 months at the time and was raising the rent in line with market rates they advised I was unlikely to be successful if I contested it. My local council did help me for three months to bridge the gap in the rent increase but they did it on an exceptional basis. It gave me some breathing room to try bring down other bills, e.g. change internet provider, phone contract came to an end and I went sim only, I alsoincreased night shift hours, to make up for shortfall. It sucks.

You’ve had great advice, including the CA link above which is comprehensive. A further caution: if you refuse / try to negotiate this increase (assuming this brings you in line with prevailing market rents) the landlord is likely to start eviction proceedings. So maybe start thinking about plan B

That’s awful. Mine went up to £1400 (£50 rise) for a 2 bed flat (surrey). I can understand that mortgages rise, especially with many transferring onto higher interest rates, as I know many people who were paying £600 more plus. But it’s so hard to find that extra money. I am hoping to buy next year finally, at 49yrs old. Single income in the South East is not easy. It’s so hard to magic up another £300 a month

Husband has some BTL properties and since mortgage hikes in recent years, has seen a significant decrease in any ‘profit’. He is a conscientious landlord who has only passed on minimal increases to tenants. Some properties he ended up barely making anything, one he was actually making a loss for some time. But he understands it’s a business and accepts the above.

My point being that the £300 increase your LL is asking for, could be to ensure his/her profit is maintained at a certain level, and not to actually pay their mortgage, as such. I would push back and say you can’t afford any increase - that sounds too much of a jump to me…

Seek advice from Shelter ASAP.
The thing is mortgages are going up, by crazy amounts in some places, and as long as the landlord follows the correct legalities, then they will have to put rents up to cover costs. It's a no win situation.

@Lele101 that is a whack of an increase! I am just away to increase mine too but only by £10 per month and they havent been increased for 3 years. my rentals are 460 for a two bed but i understand that i keep them intentionally low to preserve the long term tenants I already have.

Clearly you’re clueless! Whilst interest rates dropped last year, prior to that they have been at the highest level for years. LL was probably on a fixed rate which has now come to the end like many people with mortgages, so has seen a rise in his mortgage payments. If the building has a service charge that has probably risen as service charges are the biggest rip off! Should he increase it that much probably not, but if they’ve not increased it for 16 months OP is probably paying below the market value. Hopefully OP hasn’t got your attitude as that’s the surest way to be issued a section 21 no fault eviction notice!

Some good advice above re. counter offer. Ultimately though if that's the market rate for the area, he's probably just aligning with that.

Agree with this. Some of my team live in flats and their service charges are going up 10-20% a year and have done for a couple of years now - their flats are unsellable as no one will buy anything with a service charge now (at least not if they’ve got a brain) and so they’re stuck. Mortgage rates are also high and lots of post-covid 5 (when it was insanely low) year deals are coming to an end this year.

LL may well not be being a total fuckwit.

Even if he is, being stroppy will not help. With the changes labour are considering making, and the bonkers costs of some properties, I think being a landlord is a bit of a losers game ATM so some may well be looking for any reason (outside of s.21 which can be messy) to try and get tenants out so they can sell.

To be fair, none of that means the flat is worth more, or is the tenant's problem. It's a cost of doing business.

Great post.

I completely agree, it's terrible that landlords just pass on mortgage increases directly to tenants. They should be absorbing some of it themselves - not least because they are the ones actually benefiting from owning the property.

All businesses raise their prices when their own costs do increase, supermarkets for ex. Why would LL do differently?