AIBU to put tenants rent up?

[HarpoBoy]

As part of my Buy to Let portfolio, I have a flat in Clapham that I rent out for £1,850 pcm. Fixed term interest only mortgage of approx £600 until the end of 2026.

Long standing and good tenants, but I know the main tenant works for a major accounting firm who has just given their staff a 9% pay rise. He is quite senior, so can afford the rent.

The rent is up for renewal at the year end. I usually put it up £50 or so.

EA reckons the local market has gone bananas and I should put it up at least £250 this year.

AIBU to put it up by £150 to take it to £2k a month? Should I put it up more or less?

What they said.

I'd certainly increase it is part of your income and costs are rising elsewhere. I'd not go to £250 but £100 seems a balanced increase.

This can't be real, surely no one is this foul!?

Another greedy landlord!!! No you should not put the rent up. You don't need it. It's pure selfish greed.

And this is why when interest rates keep rising and property prices keep reducing, I'd like to see some hard working owner occupiers kept in their properties at affordable arrangements with their lenders... and Landlords going to the wall.

YUK.

And this is one of the reasons why it's so shit having to rent.

I once rented a flat , when we moved out they advertised it at more than £350 a month than we had been paying . We had lived there 6 years but they only increased the rent minimal - we paid our rent on time, kept on top of the property never cause an issue with neighbours etc That was more important to them. They also knew it did need a new kitchen, bathroom and windows! Which they did all replace when we moved out.

the cost of advertisement and the EA fees? Worth the hassle? Then risk of having difficult tenants? If they decent and pay regularly what’s more important to you , money would you put that at risk or people moving in that stop paying 3 months in?

Exactly!

What has his salary got to do with what rent he should pay?

And people wonder why landlords are considered the villain.
Not including EA fees already at 1200+ profit a month. Only part of a PORTFOLIO.
Some people just can't read the room, don't care or are bad eggs

The op’s clearly pondering how much money he can squeeze out of him while his tenant desperately tries not to lose his home

If they’re good tenants, I wouldn’t.

How about not putting the rent up at all, your making over 1k a month as it is, you don’t know his situation, he might have had a pay rise but his expenses will have gone up possibly more! Stop exploiting your tenant and act like a nice human being knowing it’s a difficult time for most people ( except you)!!!

Before you go putting up the rent, you might want to consider all the money a long standing good tenant has saved you. No marketing costs, inventory fees etc, no void periods, reduced redecoration costs... Those are going to cost you a month or two's rent. Savvy landlords know letting to longstanding good tenants at below the market rate often makes more profit than keeping the rent at market rate and having a frequent turnover of tenants.

You'd be mad to risk losing a long term professional client for the sake of 5% of the rent a month especially as the 9% pay rise is really only a cost of living increase this year. A big increase in the rent might well be just the incentive they need to decide that they could WFH most of the week, move to a cheaper area and buy their own place. Then you will potentially be left with a void and all the costs of moving one tenant out and a new one in.

I am a btl landlord. What state is the property in? Will you need to do a lot to it if the tenant moves out? Market rent is a bit bonkers atm. Getting work done unless you know someone in the trade or paying massively over inflated prices right now is difficult.

These factors need to be weighed up and people telling you to go for market rate are wrong imo. With long term tenants, I normally keep them around £100 below market rate - I’m talking about rents now fetching 1.1k. It’s expensive to change tenants. The void period. The turn around costs. The risk of getting a non paying tenant etc. I also took a tenant on, who is known to me and is a model tenant. I agreed a price of a little below market rate.

Posted too soon. In essence, I’d raise by £100.

I advise doing the decent thing rather than the most lucrative thing.

Money doesn’t make you happy. Why not share some of your good fortune with someone who has less?

I'm a landlord and I wouldn't put it up that much. £100 to £1950 seems a good middle ground.
Bear in mind that good tenants are worth a lot, and if a "discount" (in relative terms) makes them stay longer it can save you a lot of money in months empty, withheld rent, etc.
The increase would be written off by a couple of months empty, and a full recarpet/repaint for example.

Personally I would leave it. There's a lot to be said for good, trust worthy tenants in a good job. I'm sure they'll probably be saving up to buy somewhere, meaning you'll be able to advertise the flat for whatever you want when the time comes.

Don't be too greedy.

My mother has a flat in South London which she should be getting £1700 for.
However , the tenant pays £1500.
My mother will not put up the rent because she has an excellent tenant, who pays on time and keeps the flat in excellent condition.
The most you should put it up by is £75.

We have always done RPI rent increases (and specified this in the tenancy agreement) it has always seemed the fairest way.

I’m a landlord and I think increasing the rent every year by £50 a month is quite a big increase, presumably your costs are not increasing by £600 per year every year..

I think the rent increase you are proposing, especially when everything else is increasing, is blatant piss taking.

You deserve for your tenant to leave if you do.

I’m a landlord and I think increasing the rent every year by £50 a month is quite a big increase, presumably your costs are not increasing by £600 per year every year..

I think the rent increase you are proposing, especially when everything else is increasing, is blatant piss taking.

You deserve for your tenant to leave if you do.

I think that'd be a pretty shitty thing to do.

I only have one tenant (accidental landlord) and other than the actual mortgage being paid and insurance I don't make anything from it. I recently remortgaged and dropped the rent by £100 pm to reflect what I was saving. It's currently rented at less than half the (horribly inflated) market value.

I suppose it's different if you're doing this as a business but remember that these are people's homes your making a profit from, and lives you're potentially screwing over.

you have a rental portfolio, but come to mumsnet for advice?