Landlord request feels unfair

[Uberbeeboo]

Hi, I'm looking for some advice about our rights as tenants. We have lived in our rental property for coming up to 5 years and were made aware in March our landlord wanted to sell when our tenancy ended on 31st august 2024.

We therefore purchased a new build property which we believed would have been built by now, however we now have been given the completion date of 30th September 2024.

Today we asked the estate agent who manages our property if we can stay until our new property is ready to move into and they have responded with an ultimatum saying we can stay, but there will be a £400 increase of the rent per month starting next week when the rent is due.

The rental house is not sold and we've only done 2 viewings since April. We've been good tenants and were disappointed we had to move anyway. We really can't afford an extra £400 next week, so I was hoping if someone would kindly give me a little guidance with this please?

It's not a new tenancy agreement- it's the original agreement that just automatically becomes a 'rolling' tenancy after the 31st August.
The LL can increase the rent at this point by either mutual agreement or by issuing a S13 (see my post above)

Agree that the managing agent is dodgy, I am unsure that the LL Is aware at all.

No the tenancy hasn't ended. Serving section 21 notice doesn't end the tenancy. What the landlord wants is irrelevant and the OP doesn't owe him any favours.

The tenancy isn't ended though. Service section 21 notice doesn't end the tenancy.

As a landlord you should know that a rolling tenancy doesn't need to be set up at all, it just exists following the end of the fixed period!

Call shelter as they open and get advice, I don't think it's legal. Even threatening to take you to court on the 20th looks dodgy. I went with a friend to a court case about rent arrears and she did not have to pay costs as it was deemed her landlord applied too soon. Applying for court to evict someone who has notified you they're leaving in 11 days would, I think, be seen as unnecessary so costs would not be awarded, but do double check.

I think the simplest route would have been to pay the additional rent, as it was due to be for such a short period of time. The landlord was actually being helpful by agreeing to it full stop as you were due to be out on 31st and they wanted to get on with selling the property with vacant possession. Now you’re embroiled in all this…

Ok if the tenancy doesn’t end till 19th, how long did you ask to stay for? You can argue the increase until the 19th. But not a moment longer.

The S21 ends on the 19th September, but we've been told the new house will be ready between 16th and 30th September. The agent then said rent will increase on 1st September by £400, even though we are still in tenancy.

My solicitor is pushing for a solid date for the new place. We requested to stay until the 30th September which is 11 extra days and we may not even need that. We were honest and explained our exact predicament.

@Bitchette why, because they don't get to dictate all the terms?

So far we have put up with everything asked by them. We've worked from home to facilitate viewings and made sure the house was nice for potential buyers. We've put up with broken appliances because they're apparently too expensive to replace. We've never refused entry and we've always paid in full and on time. This is the first time we've for asked something because of something out of our control. I don't believe they're acting legally in their responses, I'm just confused about why. The house is still for sale, now at a reduced price. It's oddly overpriced compared to similar houses in the area and there are no viewings.

@Bitchette no they shouldn't. You're talking about people's lives. It has to be fair to both parties.

The lack of integrity shown by so many on this thread is depressing.
I hope I never have to have any dealings with you all! You would apparently look for any way to get out of your side of an agreement.

Inwould hate to be a landlord!

At this point I would be contacting the landlord directly.

They are just trying to put the frighteners on you with the legal route. £3000 would be a high end of costs if you refused to leave till the bitter end and waited until there were bailiffs at the door.

Is there a clause in your tenancy agreement where you have agreed to cover any legal costs connected to the landlord obtaining possession? If there is no such clause, the landlord is responsible for legal costs. You are doing nothing wrong and are not breaking your contract if you stay on the existing terms and existing rent until the landlord obtains an eviction order. If there is such a clause but you are only needing 11 days or a few weeks the real costs will only be a few hundred pounds for them to put in the court application after the 19th September because you'll be gone by the time you get a court date and as they know this upfront, any additional costs they choose to incur eg appointment of a solicitor will be deliberately vexatious (ie they choose to malevolently inflate their costs to punish you) and a reasonable judge wouldn't agree to you paying costs in those circumstances.

The reason there's no viewings is because you are still there and any buyer knows that a property with an occupying tenant is a bad buy and worth a lot less than the same property vacant so obviously they are keen to have you gone, and that's understandable, but they don't have the right to sidestep the law because of it.

You haven't said no to the rent increase, you have just asked them to abide by the law and give you 30 days notice so no rent increase can possibly apply before 1st October. By which time hopefully you'll be gone!

This is not correct. A LL can just give one month written notice. It doesn't have to be on a particular form.

OP there is a very useful group on Facebook called Tenancy Matters. They may be able to advise you.

Have you contacted the landlord directly? I'd do that pronto but I'd not reply to the estate agent at all for now. You don't need to reply to them urgently. Just pay your rent payment, the normal amount on the beginning of September not the increased amount.

Hopefully landlord is helpful but if not get further advice. It sounds to me like an aggressive estate agent trying their luck.

I'm a LL and I'd agree these are your 3 options. If you refuse to move out after you agree your LL has issued all paperwork correctly if LL takes you to court it will be expensive for you but more importantly if his paperwork was given to you correctly as you say it was it will ruin your credit score. If you get a CCJ against you it takes 6 years to fall off your credit file. Just find an Airbnb for a month and store your things. You should be angry at house builders who have let you down on completion not LL who has done everything by the book

Why would they get a ccj? The OP has said nothing about any sort of money order. The LL's agent has only threatened a possession order. And it will likely never get as far as a judge as by the time the paperwork gets to the court, the OP will have moved out so there is no possession claim to be made.

And even if there was a money order AND the judge awarded it, the OP would still not get a CCJ if it was paid as required.

A LL can write their own letter instead of using Form 4 but it must contain all the same information, including the tenant's right to refer to the rent tribunal.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/assured-tenancy-forms#form-4