Landlord wants to increase rent by 20%

[wilderthan]

I moved into a flat about 8 months ago.
I have a one year contract.
I've always paid rent on time.
My landlord has just informed me that he'll like to increase the rent by approximately 20%.
I definitely can't afford it. The new rent will be about 80% of my salary. I'm literally living from pay check to pay check at the moment with my rent taking most of my income

I'm not a regular poster, so not sure this is the right AIBU kind of post.
Please I need advice. What are my rights and how should I respond to them?
I've had a nervous breakdown since the landlord told me this.

they didnt put the deposit in the dps? you havent any information about where your deposit is

I’m pretty sure if you have a year contract he can’t increase it until after the year is up.

Id maybe call his bluff and say no you don’t agree to it and not sign anything and then see what happens. He may back down as a 20% increase seems excessive.

It can only increase annually. I hope the PP who said "no one has it harder than landlords" was fucking joking. Prepare in advance for the increase kicking in after the end of your 12 month contract and find another place giving the required notice.
I’m in a 3 bed house, £625 per month and I've been here eight years, soon to be nine. Not once has the rent been increased (I suspect because there is damp throughout the structure and black mould in the property every autumn/winter, condensation coating the windows and sometimes dripping from walls and I’m the only tenant who hasn't complained. Just bleach/suction it away as necessary) Landlady is obviously aware, as that is the exact reason previous tenants left (neighbours filled me in). Can't move as any other property, even a two bed is hundreds more pounds per month and do not ever want to downsize to a flat again.

It sounds like your landlord has tried to rent his property to you privately, but hasn't done so properly as you haven't mentioned that he provided you with a How to Rent booklet, hasn't given you a valid gas certificate, and hasn't provided an EPC. He will be in huge trouble if you decide to not pay rent and he tries to evict you. Basically it will be very difficult for him to serve a Section 21 AFAIK. You should seek advice from Shelter to find out what the latest guidance is and where you stand legally.
Your landlord is also not allowed to ask for more than 5x the weekly rent as a deposit so if he's not followed that rule, again, he will be in big trouble.

If I were you, I would email your landlord and point all of this out to him. It would strike fear into the marrow of his bones and I assure you he will think twice about increasing the rent.

Then your contract is not legal. You can give LL one month's notice if you want to leave but the LL must give you 2 month's notice if they want you to leave. With a 12 month contract the LL would need to serve you 2 month's notice at 10 months if he wanted you to leave and 1 month's notice at 11 months if he wanted to increase rent at end of the year.

This economics is wrong though the sentiment is right. Fewer rental properties does not mean higher demand. It means there is less supply, creating a housing shortage which pushes prices up to get to a new equilibrium price and quantity. So a supply rather than demand problem.

If your LL hasn't sorted your deposit with the Deposit Protection Scheme he will be in big trouble if you report him to your council. There is no excuse for not protecting deposits. You should get a letter from the DPS telling you your deposit is safe within 14 days of paying it.

Do you expect less than market rate for any work you do/ services yoj provide if self-employed, or any property of yours that you decide to sell?

What a weird comment. Why would you expect anybody to engage in a business transaction with a stranger at below market rate?

But I would be a mug not to charge the going rate.

Well you're something else instead then.

I'd take mug over that any day.

OP sorry you're struggling. I don't have any advice other than to say, make sure you know your rights. Sounds like they might be chancers from your update.

Look into the history of rent control before you fall off your chair in mock horror.

It's not "weird", it's the kind of measure needed and well implemented in many places at different times to rein in landlords who are otherwise greedy to the point of being cruel.

Do you expect less than market rate for any work you do/ services yoj provide if self-employed, or any property of yours that you decide to sell?

We actually do charge under ‘market rate’ because I don’t like the fact that housing (to me an essential) is left to the market to ‘manage.’

We rent our house because of circumstances and realise how lucky we have been so want to try and alleviate some of the pressures that face our tenants that we did not have when we were young and renting in London.

I agree that interventions in the market can have mixed results so have to be cautious in making them, but I’m not sure that this should be left to pure market force in the way it is in terms of pricing.

oh, and agree that it your LL has hit followed what they need to do on deposit protection etc then they are on very difficult ground.

Not followed

It’s impossible to know whether you have a greedy landlord or it’s just their circumstances dictating the increase.

I had two properties, the mortgage on one shot up to £630 from £250 with a rent of £535.

The other a similar story.

Thankfully I managed to sell both within 5 months of the increased, and made significant losses when they were empty. Both sets of tenants were lovely people, paid rent on time, looked after the properties. It was horrible giving notice but I explained the circumstances and gave them as much time as they needed to find somewhere else as well as paying removal costs as a gesture. Thankfully they both found other local properties quickly. What I would never have done is raise the rent by the hundreds of pounds a month needed as the families simply couldn’t afford it.

One property is now private the other has gone back on at a rent of £850! Thus denying at least two families the chance of a reasonably cheap rental home. So there is a place for good landlords even though they have a bad name. It is the greedy landlords who can affect tenants so negatively.

OP speak to your landlord first, they may discuss options with you. I really feel for you and hope you sort a reduced rent/ different property.

Check the benefits calculators.

Also are you being paid market rate at work or have you been there a while and your work are underpaying you (ripping you off). You may need to look at new jobs and negotiate a better wage.

Women in the workplace are often kept on a low wage and are not happy to negotiate. Employers take advantage of this.

Are there any repairs that need doing to the property? I’ve avoided a rent increase in the past by emailing the landlord saying we would be happy to consider the increase once he’d repaired the long list of various issues with the house (which included damp). He hadn’t been maintaining the property and clearly didn’t want to fork out to do so, we didn’t hear back about increased rent again.

@caringcarer I think the poster is referring to the tenant notice period not the landlord

@wilderthan be aware that notice to leave (s21) is not enforceable by the landlord. Only a court or a tenant can end a tenancy.

You may not want to go through a court process and be formally evicted but it would give you more time to explore your options.

However be aware that if it does end in court and the judge rules in favour of the landlord then you are liable for court costs.

Always pay your rent regardless as you don't want to end up with a CCJ.

It's very easy to check, may be worth doing.

Early retirement on someone else's money is grim. I don't care.

And it's a CHOICE. Landlords need to stop pretending they're lovely generous people giving someone a place to live. They're leeching off someone else's wages and doing it for their own gain.

I do understand. The whole system needs overhauling and more social housing built. I live in social housing myself and look at private renters struggling paying double what I am and it makes me sick.

Erm well my mortgage rate has increased significantly and my payments increased by almost 50% . So maybe the landlord just needs the money to cover the mortgage?

A landlord doesn't need rent to cover mortgage though because that essentially means the landlord is getting someone else to buy the house for them and given house prices go up long term - the return on investment if the tenant pays the rent will way exceed any normal returns which to me is greed or profiteering at someone else expense - someone who is paying a rent may well fail affordability checks for that level of mortgage

Most mortgages are interest only.