Would you feel ripped off?

[Tash0]

If you found out that a previous tenant was paying nearly £200 less than you are when they moved out a month ago? No improvements made to the home or anything like that.

No because it’s up to you to decide whether the rent you are being asked to pay is an acceptable amount or not regardless of what previous tenants had been charged.

Probably but there is nothing you can do about it. Do you feel you are paying the going rate?

That is true but options are very limited in the area

Presumably you're paying market rates?
Maybe previous tenant had been there a long time and rent hadn't been raised.

No it's the state of the market
I was talking to my landlord about a problem he had with another property - his current tenant feels the neighbours shouldn't be allowed dogs or something equally weird, weird because the neighbours own their house so he has no control over their pet ownership. They threatened to move out and he said to me great it means I can put the rent up as they've been there a few years. Where we are I moved in to a house that's rented at 950pcm and same size houses in my area are now going for 2400pcm - thankfully my landlord won't put the rent up while I'm here but I'd expect them to match market rates when I leave.

I think it's pretty normal, maybe they'd been there a while without an increase and prices had gone up during their tenancy?

No. Obviously the landlord is going to up the rent with a new tenant! As you say options are limited.
In one property my tenants paid the same rent for four years, because rents were stable. Then they gave notice and my agent said a 15% increase was appropriate and I got a new tenant the first day. When they left 18 months later I increased it by 10%. Again I got a tenant the first day. Market forces.

Sometimes, it's the express reason for a landlord 'encouraging' a tenant to leave: specifically so they can start afresh with a new tenant paying a much higher price.

That would be why they can charge 200 more than last time.

Surely you have the choice if you want to rent the property or not . No one is making you ? Like going to the supermarket 1 and yesterday item A was £2 but today it’s £2.50 however supermarket 2 has it for £2.10 . Supermarket 1 isn’t forcing you to shop with them but the price is the price . The new price is what you agree to pay regardless of yesterday’s price .

Sounds like they’ve upped it to market rate ? Maybe the previous tenants hadn’t had a rise.

I haven’t raised mine for a couple of years.
It’s now below market rate but they are tenants.
If they decide to leave I will raise it to be more in line with local prices.

That's what happened when I rented. I was in my flat for 8 years, the landlord never once put the rent up. He knew I was looking after the flat well, caused no problems & paid my rent on time.

By the time i moved i was paying under the market value and the rent rose considerably when it was relet

As a landlord we rent two houses well below market value. We have great tenants and it would be awful to increase the rent so dramatically for these current tenants. If a tenant chose to leave I would absolutely advertise the property for current market value rent. Then it is up to anyone as to whether or not they want to pay it.

Depending where you live, there could be a limit to how much the rent can be increased each year for a tenant in place. And even if that isn't the law, many landlords will try not to make it too much of a jump, especially for good tenants.

So, when a new tenancy begins, they will typically jump to the market rate.

Which may or may not be highway robbery.

It's pretty standard for rent to increase when there is a tenant change. I'm not a landlord, but owning a home is not a fixed cost; my mortgage is always the same, but my property taxes and homeowner's insurance increase annually. At some point you'd have to increase the rent to cover the costs, I assume.

No, because some landlords don't keep current tenants rent in line with market rates (so no annual increases when the market allows), and just put it up to market rate when re-letting.

So assuming you're not paying OVER market rate, then the rent is fair for the current market.

It's irritating, yes!
But....
You are perfectly able to negotiate surely?

Also most landlords aren't charities and will charge the most rent they can get according to market forces?

Neighbours just moved out... They said they were paying just over 1000pcm, they were there 6 years and no increases.... Landlord keen to retain them!

Advertised at 1495 now...

So almost 50 % increase from one day to next!

In this small market town there are 4 houses for rental....

There is a huge shortage..

No, thats just what landlords do. Its a business at the end of the day.

@Tash0 if you arent happy then move out!

Well, if people hadn't insisted on hounding the casual landlord to death, you wouldn't have to worry about an extra £200 as there would be loads of cheap rentals available.

But for some batshit reason, people think that restricting the supply of rental accommodation is something that tenants would be grateful for. More competition, higher prices, what's not to like.

Sorry, but it's the ideal time to raise the rent.

It's also a good time to repair or redo the property, while it's empty.

You are not annoying the old tenants.

The new tennant looks at the cost of rent on offer and decides to rent or not rent the property.

It’s normal for LLs to raise the rent when someone leaves, especially if they have been there a couple of years.

Every rental place I left in London was put back on the market for a couple of hundred pounds a month more that I was paying. Rents can’t stay the same for years on end.

I'd be pissed but who's to say they weren't a long-term occupant who hadn't had their rent increased with inflation anyway?

My partner had that. Because they were very clean and actually returned then place in better condition than they rented it in, were reliable and friendly, the rent wasn't changed in 5 years. When they moved out, of course it went up to 'standard' rates.

I had a house I rented out as kept mine when I moved into my partners house. I switched to a buy to let mortgage and when I started the interest rate was incredibly low so I could reflect this in the rent to my tenants. When my mortgage was up for renewal at the end of the fixed period, the cheapest I could find meant the repayment went up by £700! In the end I decided to sell the property but had I have had new tenants, the rent would have had to have gone up considerably to make it viable. Not every landlord is out to make as much money as possible.