Obscene rent increase

[user97213982742]

Landlord has served Form 4a increasing my rent by £205 a month from October. This is a 46% increase.

The accompanying letter states

“After careful consideration, we have made the decision to implement an increase in the rent. This reflects the continued rise in property maintenance and operating costs, aligns the rent more closely with current market values, and will help support planned maintenance and improvement works to ensure the property is kept up as best as possible with future regulatory changes to the private rent sector”.

I understand that maintenance costs and improvements are the landlords responsibility and shouldn’t be a reason for a rent increase. And it is the landlords responsibility to ensure property meets the forthcoming EPC standards coming into force for private rented accommodation.

My wages haven’t increased by 46% a month.

I’ve lived here for 20 years. And the property only has one door. No fire doors, only 1 double glazed window that has blown, and does not meet fire escape route standards If there was a fire downstairs I have no other means of exit?

What can I do please

Agreed, all-caps included!

How do you know they don't have mortgages/loans on the properties?
As plenty of previous posters have said, it sounds like you've have very cheap, under market rent for decades (probably a previous LL who was either very kind/naive and not making much profit) and now you're being asked to pay the going rate.

I understand this might be frustrating for you but just think how much money you've saved over the decades from benefiting from low rent payments.

Mortgages have also gone up massively so homeowners are feeling the pinch too, not just renters.

Going around in circle.

Most businesses don't double their prices overnight unless they want to lose their customer base.

As far as I am concerned a landlord who does not even have a mortgage on a rental property but thinks it is OK to hit a long term tenant with a 40% or more rent increase is absolute scum.

You are welcome to disagree but nothing will change my mind on this.

Even if you were earning minimum wage your rent is not even a third of your wages, I think that puts you in a very fortunate position compared to the majority of renters.

@user97213982742 I don’t understand what you were looking for with this post. Your opening post asked “what can I do”. You’ve ignored everyone who has offered you sensible advice and instead repeated comments about refusing to state the approximate location, how many windows are double glazed and whether or not the landlord has a mortgage. None of these are helping you move forward. Why even bother posting?

The point is though it sounds as if the previous owner of the property was charging the bare minimum and not spending any money on the property probably because he wasn’t making much/any profit!
the new owners are obviously going to have to spend the money and won’t be doing so out of the goodness of their heart! It’s farcical!
it’s like the new proposed landlord tax whereby a landlord pays an extortionate amount of tax instead of the tenant paying council tax. Is a landlord going to swallow those extra expenses and reduce the minimal profit most are making? Nope they’re going to increase their rents to maintain their profits. The vast majority of landlords are just about matching what you can get in a lock away savings account so why would they bother for anything less with all the red tape and legislation not to mention risk and aggravation of potentially awful tenants.

The landlord changed as the properties were bought (op shared this earlier). New landlord has realised that the property is being let at less than market rate and so has increased to market rate.

The rent is 650 a month, that is peanuts. The OP lives in a town with other available rental properties, many of which are well appointed, and so could move but has chosen not to.

We do not know that there is no mortgage or finance on the property, the OP claims there isn’t but they would not be in a position to know how the purchase of a large number of rental properties was financed. I would suspect that it is likely financed because people do not risk several million of their own liquid cash to buy property portfolios and instead use finance agreements and let the income pay the finance.

This is not a Landlord raising rent from 1200 to 1750 (46% increase) it is a new landlord purchasing the property and increasing the rent by £200 because the current rental income is not even close to market rate (evidenced by rightmove for the Redcar area). Just because the old owner was undercharging doesn’t mean the new one should.

I was a landlord who sold up when this gvt was elected. Can easily get the same amount of income now from investment without the endless hassle. The only reason to keep a rental now is for potential capital growth, but with changes to CGT even that is just not worth it. So a lovely rental with fair rent and conscientious landlord was lost to the rental market as a direct result of gvt policy.

It wasn't this government it was the last government who brought in the new rules. Whoever was in power now it would be the same.