RENT increase from £700 to £1750!

[yosemite78]

Hi, my mum has rented a property for over 30 years. Her rent for the last 10 years has been below average at £700. However, for most of that she put up with rotten wooden window frames do more! The landlord had to replace these and upgrade to central heating to comply with energy performance laws. She has just received notification it will be increasing over£1000 pcm from November. Is this legal or is there a cap per year it can increase? TiA

i would speak to Shelter if I were you. Or Acorn renters union.

Thanks, I’ve been trying to get through to shelter all morning ☹️

Definitely Shelter. The key thing will be if she has a regulated tenancy from before 15th Jan 1989. Different laws apply if this is the case

You said "over 30 years" - getting the start date is going to be key to this, I know 30 years back from today is 1992 - if you can find proof of it going back further then you will need it

what is the market rate for the type of property in the area?

@NothingIsWrong it is an assured shorthold tenancy from April 1992

I thought rent increases had been capped this year but after a Google that's only social housing. I really feel for her it's so so unfair.

Sadly yes they can.

What does her AST say about rent review? Does it have a clause? If so nothing she can do.

If it doesn’t they have to do a section 13 to increase it. See here. www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/during-your-tenancy/challenging-a-rent-increase/

I would advise your mum to make sure she is on council waiting list too.

Whatever happens do not let your mother pay the "new" rent figure. If she does this then she will be deemed to have accepted the increased figure and this will legally become her new rent payment. See this link here england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/rent_increases

She can apply to a rent tribunal who will assess the fairness to see if the rent is commensurate with other local rents. If it is she will be unsuccessful. Otherwise there is nothing she can do except move.

Only if a section 13 has been served.

I do not think is illegal but keep us posted. Good luck 🤞

@CornishTiger she has been issued with a section 13

@StPaulandTheBrokenBones she can’t possibly find an extra grand a month so will have to appeal. But then is she loses, she would have to still pay. It’s so stressful !

That is shocking - how has it been justified? I've no advice sadly but want to wish her luck.

@Overthebow its difficult to tell because it’s rural. They also own a farm house across the road and put that up the same. The tenants are leaving anyway though as they’re emigrating! So really, that’s the only thing to compare with. However, they’re struggling to get anyone to rent it at that price apparently!

Your local council will have a private rental department, you could contact them for further advice and they can also work as mediators between landlords and tenants

you may want to check that your mother is receiving everything she is entitled to with regards council tax relief etc

@JacquelineCarlyle thanks! They’ve said it’s because it’s not been increased in 10 years and it’s inline with market.

Out of interest, why did she stay in private rent rather than buy or rent from the council? Will her pension cover the rent plus increased bills in future? Sounds like a tricky situation.

Can she rent from a social housing provider instead? If there are no council properties try a housing association.

Unfortunately though it might be that she has to move to a cheaper area.

In the end private landlords get away with a lot and they probably did this so they could get her to leave and find new tenants who will be prepared to pay more for their accommodation.

Awful situation.

There will be more landlord putting rents up with the current mortgage mess...

so

1. take it to Tribunal.

2. support your mum to apply to local housing register. Yes she’s going to be a low banding but at least she’s on it.

3. maximise her income. Is she in receipts of any benefits?

4. look at other rentals in area too.

I strongly suspect the landlord will issue a section 21 notice btw.

Just for interest, that's a 9% increase every year for the past 10 years....
I know things went a bit crazy over covid, but that's still quite high.

If there a mid value your Mum could afford? Say she offered 1200? Could she afford that? Might the landlord go for it? That's 5% a year increase, BTW.

Please bear in mind I'm doing this from a mathematical point of view, not a financial or legal opinion.

Guessing as it was so low before it seems a massive rise but if landlord has done stuff to the property

but look at similar properties in area to rent

it’s £1500 for 3 bed house where I am

assuming hers is a smaller place

so £170

I'd honestly tell her to start searching for a new place/ register with the council. She can appeal via tribunal but that will cost her and landlord will likely serve s21 if he loses.

It is outrageous though I think rent increases should be linked to consumer price index plus 2%.

Maybe now they are done up the landlord might rent them out as air bnbs.

Going to tribunal is an entirely pointless endeavour. You’d be better off just finding somewhere else that is affordable.

It doesn’t seem that outrageous either, I’d guess that tribunal wouldn’t argue it based on:

Say the £700 rent was set in 2012 the RPI at that time was 173. It’s currently at 345 which gives you a 99.54% change which would bring rent today £1,396 based on absolutely nothing changing.

However, the landlord has now installed a central heating system which makes the value of the property higher for rental purposes. Even when the Valuation Office assess Assured Tenancies for increased rents they’d take into account things like that for improvements. I’d guess they’ll have a raft of comparable evidence too.

If the landlord has mortgage on the property, then the rent will rise accordingly if the mortgage rises.

This is the risk with private renting. Is the new price in line with local rent prices, or more/less?