Can a landlord increase the rent by over 50% without improvements?

[Imatorturedpoet]

My BF lives in a small flat. His landlord sold the whole house recently and less than a month since purchase he has been told by the new landlord that the rent will be increased by over 50%. There are no plans to make any improvements to the flat, but they have given him the option to give notice with two months to decide. All the flats are facing the same increase. Is this legal?

Yep, the landlord can charge whatever they want. The main decision really is whether the increased rent is value for money relative to other available properties on the market

Welcome to Tory Britain.

Interesting, I'd say it's more likely preparation in response for the threatened rent controls by Labour.....

The problem is that he’s got a new landlord. This new landlord that has bought the property might be paying a completely different higher mortgage than the previous landlord. Hence the rent increase. It’s not the original landlord that has increased the rent.

He doesn't have to do anything to improve the properties in order to charge more rent.

Awful! Poor boyfriend

Ours did 40% once.
sadly, yes they can. Is it in line with what’s local or are they trying to push him out?

Welcome to Tory Britain.

Well said. People seem to be brain dread these days.

Wait till Trump gets in. ;SHUDDER;

What type of contract does he have?

If it's a rolling tenancy, they can only increase the rent once a year and it has to be a reasonable (in line with average local rents). If it's not reasonable, your boyfriend can disagree with the rent increase. If he's in England, he might then be asked to leave with the correct amount of notice in his contract.

If he's in Scotland it's much harder to evict tenants and I don't think they could (as long as the rent increase is actually unreasonable)

It's at the top end of properties in the area, but the flat needs a lot of attention, there's damp, very old fashioned bathroom, tiny bedroom, ancient boiler.

I suspected they could increase as much as they wanted tbh. Awful though. There are very few rental properties available in the area at the moment, affordable ones are awful, poky and damp.

Option 1) bf pays the new rent
Option 2) bf gives 2 months notice and leaves before the new rent comes into effect
Option 3) bf continues paying the old rent as stated in his existing shorthold tenancy agreement and does not sign any new agreement. eventual outcome will be new landlord serving a section 21 notice, applying to the court for an eviction order and then arranging for that eviction to take place. This will take many months. Possibly a year or more. However bf will never be able to rent from a private landlord again due to having a terrible reference so only recommend this if he's not far off being able to buy and likely to do so before the above process finishes.

They can increase according to tenancy restrictions if any , or to market rate.

Market rate is massive round here

This is (one reason of many) why the country needs more social housing.

Everyone deserves a decent affordable home.

To anyone who might not care, it's not only a moral issue. It's good economics too. For taxpayers (which is everybody).

Substandard, unaffordable, or insecure housing, poverty, and health are interlinked. Insufficient social housing costs the welfare benefits and NHS bills loads.

Your BF needs to raise these issues with the new landlord although I would assume they’d already be aware from when they viewed property and when surveys completed.
It is down to the new landlord to repair and fix.
Keep all communication on email/text so you have a paper trail.

Whatever you do. Don’t withhold the rent. If the new landlord does nothing to repair then look to leave.

And yes - to elude - the landlord can increase the rent giving adequate notice. Although, it’s not ethical to do so given the current conditions of the property.
As another poster has said, the new LL will have a different mortgage product most likely on the property and they’ll need to be able to ensure that the rent covers this.

He can refuse the increase, and the landlord can then serve notice.
Is there anything about raises in the contract? Some have annual raise in line with whatever index in them.

Unfortunately the laws in the UK in respect to renting are nowhere near strong enough.
Fingers crossed Labour finally implement similar laws to the ones in Europe where this type of increase would be impossible without substantial improvements being made to the property.
Sounds like the new LL is an arseh0le and it’s time the BF moves on. At least then he’ll get a nicer place for the money.

Has his contract changed? Is he renting via an agency? There are conditions about percentage raises and when they can be implemented. Speak to Shelter.

He may well be an arse hole but his mortgage may be dictating the rent he is asking for. The interest on his loan is likely to be well in excess of the previous freeholder.

If he’s a property investor it’s just as likely that he paid cash and just needs to fund holidays in the Caribbean.

There aren’t any conditions around % increases outside of the fixed term of a tenancy.

Well not quite, they need to issue the correct notice for rent increase otherwise it’s irrelevant. You ignore any communication until the correct legal process is followed.

You can also say no to the increase and the landlord can decide to serve notice. He can only do this if the deposit is protected, is it? You then will have notice but also can over stay until the court battle begins so you’d have a solid 6 months.

I think the landlord's offer that your boyfriend can pay more or give notice is an attempt to distract him from the third option that he can continue to pay the existing rent and the landlord can choose to evict him. Your boyfriend should not give his notice if he has nowhere to go.

If your boyfriend is served notice of eviction he does not have to leave by the date specified in the notice. Only a tenant or a court can end the tenancy. The date only allows the landlord to then go to court to reclaim the property. The court fee can be reclaimed from the tenant so the tenant should only overstay the notice if they have nowhere to go.

Remember OP that housing is devolved so the answer will be different if you’re not in England. Ask Shelter for advice.

land lord sounds like a parasite. His outgoings are nothing to do with the tenants or their contracts. If they leave, the landlord will have to invest even more money to upgrade the accommodation. Basically, feck the landlord if he’s over levered.