Potential £370 a month rent hike. What should I do?

[ArtemisW]

I’m a single woman in my 40s, battling mental health problems (and therefore rather struggling financially due to not being well enough to work full-time). I live in a rented flat in what’s known as Build To Rent. This means it’s a building purposely built for renters and is owned by a corporation that owns the entire building (in this case around 200 flats) rather than an individual landlord. The rent is just normal market rent.

I moved in on a three year lease during Covid lockdown, at a time when rents were relatively lower. My rental contract comes to an end later this summer and I’ve been terrified by the horror stories I’ve been hearing about rent hikes in general. I’ve just found out that a flat identical to mine, three floors up in my building, is being rented at a price that’s £370 per month more than I am paying now.

I had intended to stay here but I just do not have an additional £370 a month. I had expected a rent increase of up to £100 a month which I could have just about handled.

I’m really not sure what to do. I’m seeing that rents in general (I’m in London) have gone up by hundreds and hundreds of points since I moved in here.

I’m terrified of having to leave London entirely and no longer have access to my Mental Health Team and support network.

I’m a good, reliable tenant, never been even one day late with the rent etc. Is there a chance property management might let me renew my contract at a more reasonable rate given that they already know I’m a reliable long-term tenant?

Anyone else got any other advice?

I’m not going to be able to get any form of social housing or council housing and I don’t have the deposit to try to buy a flat. I had considered the possibility of Shared Ownership as the mortgage/rent on it would be cheaper than just renting a flat and I could just about pull together a modest deposit on a small share of a Shared Ownership flat.

Look it up, they're only allowed to increase by a certain percentage. Do you work? If not the government will pay the increase, if yes consider working less than 16 hrs and the government will pay the increase. Landlords need to be strung up for the misery and greed

I don’t think any of this post is true

I would go and speak to the property management company and understand what is coming. They may want to rent to
you at a lower increase if it avoids them having an empty flat, needing to do painting work etc.

Re staying in London - could you rent a room in a shared flat if needed?

Please ignore this OP. The government don't just pay the increase. There are local housing allowances in place which you can claim if you are eligible for benefits. Where I live you can claim up to £600. If your rent is £800, you claim £600 which can be reduced depending on how much you earn. If your rent was to go from £800 - £900 you would still only be able to claim the £600.

Also, unfortunately, landlords can increase the rent by whatever amount they like.

Benefits are capped at £1835 per month!

Nonsense! My rent is £1025 a month and after MY universal credit I pay £100 a month out of my wages as I work less than 16 hrs. Yes it's capped at £600 for the housing element but housing is only part of the total amount .....there's nothing stopping me using all the benefit money towards housing!! If you actually checked you'll find benefits are capped at £1,835 a month

So how is this linked to you saying that the government will pay the increase? The OPs rent is going up. If she's already claiming all of the benefits she's entitled to then unfortunately she won't be entitled to anything more just because her rent has increased.

And the OP’s contract is coming to an end, this is not a rent increase within a current contract.

@Emz6103 this thread is over three months old. Why did you bump it?

@KievLoverTwo She/he has clearly got too much time on their hands.