WWYD: Pay the rent increase or move?

[goldenleafestate]

Our current flat's rent is up for review. The landlord wants another 15% so it's now £1,200. With commuting costs included it's about £1,400 a month. We get the train into work which is often delayed and very busy.

I've seen a flat closer to work that's £1,600 a month but there are no commuting costs because we can both walk. It is a much bigger one bed flat, but it's still a one bed.

So would you suck it up and pay the rent increase? or take the opportunity to move somewhere new and improve quality of life.

I’d move for the space and convenience at apparently no extra cost. The flexibility to do that is the advantage of renting.

That's true about being able to move. There is the cost of moving and it's £200 a month extra in rent.

I think I'd move out of principal lol. But seriously, not having a commute is great and would be worth the £200 extra unless you were struggling.

You may find your landlord has a wobble at the rent increase if you threaten to move and have been exemplary tennants.

What happens when the new place puts their prices up? (Just to factor in that eventuality!)

Is the 15% increase an annual increase or has he/she not increased the rent for several years? Is it inline with other similar rentals? How good is the landlord in general? Depending on the answers to these questions, you could try negotiating with your current landlord or even ask to postpone the rent increase for a few months. Another option or a concurrent would be to keep looking for other options. Hopefully, these are not the only two options in the area available, at least over a few months.

Sorry I misread your op - for an extra £200 a month I would be more cautious. If the new landlord puts up the rent next year it could get too expensive. I would still start looking for other options, even if only to get a good idea of whether the increased rent is in line with current rental prices.

You want to look at your tenancy agreement and see if there are any clauses around rent increases. Mine stipulates the rent goes up by the CPI % rate each year. Always try and have something like that captured in your agreement.

Speak to Shelter. You may be able to just decline the request for an increase, continue paying the current rent and wait for your LL to take further action if they really want the hassle.

@goldenleafestate how much will you save by walking to work? Is it a saving of £200 or more if so you would be in the same position or better off than now.

How much will an extra £200 affect you? Are you trying to save for a deposit to buy your own house?

The more expensive flat will rise in annual rent increases more than the cheaper flat. Say each landlord puts their rent up next year by 5% work out the difference then, and the year after?

Do you lien the area where your office is more? If so move

I’d say no thank you to the rent increase, provided it was issued legally. If it wasn’t I’d ignore. Then I’d wait for s21 notice and when I’m being evicted I’d start considering my options then