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.

Greedy cunts. This angers me greatly and similar has happened to me.

S/he can't put your rent up until the initial fixed term is up then it's up to them - you either accept the new terms go move out.

I'd tell them that unfortunately you won't be able to afford a 25% increase at the end of your fixed term, but would love to stay on if something can be negotiated

Your spoutings are just pure stupidity.
I keep the rent low, I have a good relationship with my tenants, I fix any faults and try and upgrade between tenancies, buy new appliances when required, and would never dream of evicting someone.
£39K to £200K over 23 years is a small percentage annual increase, probably equivalent to PO savings. I’ll do the sums later, but sounds a low increase for property in the UK.
£165K rent over 23 years is £600 per month, which probably barely covered the mortgage.
Your point is what?

But, hey, I actually hate being a landlord. So very happy to sell my property (which I bought as an alternative to investing in a pension, silly me). It is a 2 bedroom flat in central Cambridge, probably worth about £450,000 (I know!), and it is yours for a private sale of £400,000. Less CGT I’ll invest £300,000 at 4-5% for a MUCH better yield, and zero responsibility. One less place for an affordable rent, one more home for a nice middle class couple in Cambridge. Problem solved.

Seriously. Open to offers.

@SecondUsername4me 😂

@TravelInHope this is why only truly wealthy people should rent out homes. My family have many properties and charge less than the market rate because they know they are making money on the capital. It’s a good plan for retirement for you but no other good comes from it.

But what’s wrong with that? We all could do with some extra income sometimes so why not if you are able to?

Exploiting other people for "extra income" is immoral. If I needed extra income, I'd work myself for it.

Is providing other people with a safe well repaired place to live immoral then?

It costs me (net) about 3 grand a year to provide that for my tenant. I make a loss overall. It's worth it to me as I will need the property (or the money from the property) in a decade or so.

In the meantime she gets a place to live.

Her options are rent from me or rent from someone else.

Or do something extreme like move hundreds of miles I suppose, although I don't know what she'd do for work.

Landlords do work for it. They update a house to the standards that the legal system tells them to. They maintain a working and functional home. They repair stuff when it breaks.

there’s no exploitation. The tenants have choices and agree to terms and conditions and rent before they move in!

@wilderthan please put your new rent and monthly salary into https://www.entitledto.co.uk/ as you may well qualify for working tax credits

and maybe try with your existing rent as well

Just an update that landlord has compromised for a 13% increase with immediate effect or they put the house on market. I don't want that as my contract ends in 2 months and I will struggle to find another place.

I don't qualify for any benefits. Thanks to all who suggested I check. I did, but the tool said I'm entitled to nothing. I work and earn a full-time salary, have no partner or children, and have no health conditions preventing me from working.

I work Monday-Saturday. I will need to figure it out as always. Find a Sunday job perhaps. I just changed jobs and still trying to find my feet so it's not a great time to begin looking for a job that pays more.

When I can no longer do life on my own, I understand there's the choice to pack it in. But for now, I'll keep trying.

Evening.
We're just bobbing on here to say that we're so sorry to hear you're going through this, OP.
We hope you don't mind, but when these threads are flagged to us we like to link to our web-guides, which we hope may be helpful. If you'd like to, please do feel free to take a look at our Mental Health page.
Very best wishes from all at MNHQ