UC PLEASE HELP. Need to prove housing costs, landlord refusing to give proof/tenancy agreement/letter? What to do?

[Lele101]

Landlord recently raised rent by a 300.

i reported this to uc and they need proof of housing costs.

but landlord doesn’t want to sign new tenancy agreement or give a letter about rent increase.

he says verbal agreement is enough.

im scared to explain to him too because im worried he’ll want to do an affordability check, when I first rented I wasn’t receiving universal credit.

the only thing I have is his text message.

what should I do???

Please do post on the Tenancy Matters UK FB Group as you will get landlords and tenants giving you very, very good advice OP.

Best to not reply by Text or WhatsApp on something like this ... always reply to your Landlord by email if it something official/serious or send something like this on WhatsApp if you have to : 'thank you for your message I will reply by email re the rent increase etc ... '.

Do you have an AST/Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement as I am pretty sure that a Landlord cannot increase the rent until that has expired ...

If they are registered as a Landlord then there is no reason for them not to give you an updated Tenancy Agreement that does not quite make sense ...

If I can find any more info I will post it for you OP!

When does your AST expire?

Some more links for you OP!

Renting out your property: Rent increases - GOV.UK

Section 13: How to Serve Notices Quickly + Compliantly

Shelter Legal England - Statutory rules for rent increases for assured tenants - Shelter England

Hope this helps!

Also just to let you know that Post Covid rules have now changed re UC and the Housing Element of UC.

You will need to give them copies of the following documents and usually you will add them in your Journal :

BOILER, GAS, ELECTRICITY Certificates
BILLS in your name (Electricity, Gas, Water)
BANK STATEMENTS will need to be at the SAME ADDRESS

They will ask for your Landlords ADDRESS, EMAIL and PHONE NUMBER but they RARELY actually contact the LANDLORD.

Is the COUNCIL TAX in your name too or your Landlord?

Once you have given them all the documents they will follow up with a PHONE CALL and you will talk them through your living arrangements eg. do you have a shared space, any other rooms, flatmates, landlords address etc, do you have access to a garden, kitchen, how many bathrooms, loos, which floor etc ... just be honest and courteous with the agent who calls you.

During Covid they had a lot of 'dishonest' claims so it is understandable that they are now being more vigilant but I am not happy that you have to put the EMAIL and PHONE number of your Landlord on any documentation and that is a new requirement ... on the older Housing Benefit Forms you had a choice as they used to ask you "Do you give us permission to contact your Landlord?" and you could tick a BOX saying either YES or NO ... not sure when it changed but I am guessing in the last 5/10 years or so ...

Hope this all helps OP.

You do not need to pay the additional amount without the landlord serving proper notice if the rent increase. Yes he may then start eviction but thus also needs to be done properly to be valid. His actions indicate he doesn’t actually have a clue about his legal obligations. Contact CAB to get advice

presumably you were able to provide a tenancy agreement from him when you first applied for UC so why is he now refusing? And i know it's not helpful but if he's got something to hide he probably won't be evicting you.

I might be wrong but I believe that landlord doesn't have to give you new/updated contract if you live there more than 5 years. We had some issues and were told that verbal agreement is ok .

One other thing OP - have you managed to work out that the rent increase entitles you to more UC? The amount you can claim for housing is capped by local housing allowance rates which are well below average rents.

I would hate to you to go through a lot of pain trying to get a proper S13 notice from your landlord only to find you aren’t entitled to anything more than you receive at the moment.

The EntitledTo website is good for checking.

Do you have an AST/Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement as I am pretty sure that a Landlord cannot increase the rent until that has expired

This isn’t correct - you are conflating ASTs and a fixed term. Most private rented tenancies are ASTs. Often they start with a fixed term (e.g 12 months) - after that unless tenant and landlord agree to another fixed term the default to being rolling periodic (within which rent can be increased at any point unless the tenancy agreement specified something else). It is still an AST though when it is periodic.

Never heard this before, that doesn’t sound right at all.

A verbal agreement is OK if both landlord and tenant agree. And it becomes legal once the tenant has paid they increased amount (but not until).

He's needs it in writing or you're not paying it, you legally need a new tenancy agreement! There pulling a fast one

just a thought but have you checked that UC will actually increase your housing element? The max they will pay is based on LHA rates (local housing association) so even if your rent has increased by £300pm your housing element may not increase if you’re already at the max. You can check LHA rates here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/

Oh OP, never do anything without it in writing.

I'm guessing there's no letting agent involved?

Your landlord sounds awful and you really should leave to protect yourself. Written contracts are essential. You've said it's hard to rent with UC but we've moved in the last year and not found it as hard on the UC side as 5 years ago. It is illegal for a landlord (both your current and others in the future) and letting agents to discriminate against people based on benefit income. As long as you can afford the rent and have legit income that can be proved from employment and or UC, it shouldn't be an issue. The rental market is hard because of demand but people are more open to UC. We did a cover letter to the landlords to sell ourselves when we wanted a property and our landlord now has said it helped him to decide over other applicants.

If you're considering a move, staying on a rolling contract is likely more beneficial to you in terms of giving notice etc. As the pp has said, check your LHA rates to see if it will actually make a difference in how much you get. If you're staying, I'd be honest with the landlord and say you get UC. If he kicks up a stink and tries to evict you on grounds of UC, he doesn't have a leg to stand on. You've been a tenant for a while and have shown him what kind of tenant you are (assuming you're paying rent on time, maintaining the property as you should), the UC shouldn't make a difference.

For goodness sakes do not forge documents to send to UC. If they find out, you'll lose the UC, then as a consequence lose your home because you can't pay rent.

Yes I mentioned this earlier and based on OPs earlier thread about the landlord increasing the rent I am doubtful the increase is going to be covered by the LHA rate.

It isn’t clear if OP is claiming UC for the first time or updating the claim to account for the higher rent.

If claiming for first time, and if the rent was already at or above max LHA, then she could use original tenancy agreement as documentation for DWP.

If she is just trying to update the claim because of the change in rent, the whole exercise could be futile.

This is a good point. When I increased my tenants rent I just sent a letter I'd typed and printed out.

If you know your landlord's address, you could just type it up. Add copies of your bank statement showing the new payment going out AND a copy of his text message.

Just had another thought - are you asking him for a new fixed term agreement? Because you don't need that, you just need proper notice of your new rent, you can stay on rolling periodic.

If you are asking for or your landlord thinks you are asking for a new fixed term, then it would be understandable if the landlord doesn't want to do this.

But to be absolutely clear: a S13 notice is what you need an it does nothing to change the terms of tenancy other than the rent. If you are rolling periodic now, it can stay rolling periodic.

If he doesn’t know you’re claiming UC you are probably in breach of your tenancy agreement.

My landlord insurance specifically makes reference to tenants using housing benefit/UC as a different category of insurance (and it’s bloody pricey!!)

Unless the Tenancy Agreement says that then OP won't be in breach and I have never seen one that did (I see quote a few for my job).
I have never seen one that stated what source the rent had to come from.
It may be an issue with regards to Landlord insurance though I agree

He wouldnt be able to without proof of the new agreement in a formal format, where it was issued within the legal parameters and that you have agreed it and that you are then in arrears.

This!

It is very difficult for a landlord to evict a tenant - it takes absolutely ages. It would not be in his interests to do this. And if you are paying the amount in your contract during that time, on what grounds exactly can he evict you? (He can't).

He is obviously trying to wriggle out of paying an expense or tax dodge or something. Don't let him!!

There is newish legal framework in place which stops landlords being able to discriminate against benefit claimants. So what if it's pricey?

Also, a contract doesn't mean anything if any of the stipulation is in breach of the landlord / tenant act.

I'm not sure how he can evict you for not paying the increased rent, when due to no paperwork, he can't prove he has increased the rent.

It would be unlawful for the tenancy agreement to stipulate you can’t be in receipt of UC/HB.

He can’t evict for non payment of rent but (for now) he could issue S21 notice for any which reason he liked. These should be banned from sometime around summer, after which a landlord will no longer be able to evict a tenant “just because” - they will have to state a legally valid reason and prove it.

Sorry just to be clear obviously rent arrears can be a legitimate reason for eviction, I mean in this case he can’t evict the tenant on the basis they haven’t paid a rent increase which hasn’t been legally agreed. Though he can evict via S21 and that can be motivated by whatever spurious reason the landlord dreams up.