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

Nope- you are clearly paying hugely below market rates

Also out of over 110,000 rentals available on right move in the uk, there are only 6 flats of 2 bedrooms or more (excluding shares and retirement/student) that are 450 a month…half are in the worst estates in Teesside

How do you expect the landlord to fund the EPC demands? Of course rents are going up.

Have you had regular rent rises in the past? If youv'e been there 20 years and the property has not been upgraded it must have deteriorated considerably since you moved in. The tribunal does not just look at market rate for the area. Market rate would be for a modernised updated property. They also look at the current state of your property in comparison. You say it has not been upgraded for the 20 years you have lived there. So the property would be regarded as unmodernised in tribunal terms.

You lose nothing by going to a tribunal because the tribunal cannot make the new rent higher than the LL has proposed. Plus there is a 6-8 month delay for a hearing so you are buying yourself some time. During that time you can look around in your area in case you wish to move. Your LL probably will not want to go to a tribunal because it imposes a bureaucratic burden upon both parties.

I would write back saying you cannot afford the new rent.Remind him that you have been a good tenant, paid the rent regularly, and would prefer to remain. You realise you have the right to escalate to the tribunal. However you would prefer to negotiate a reasonable settlement of £££ per month. You can also remind the LL that these increased costs which he is citing are tax deductible business expenses which he can and should pass back to the tax man. Whereas you have no way to pass them on to a third party.

You can use an AI to help compose your reply. Try co-pilot.

If you apply to the tribunal the rent remains the same until the tribunal reaches a decision so you lose nothing. It costs £47 and there will be details on the form telling you what to do.

The new laws were brought in by the last government - it's a Tory bill, passed under them.

Labour has ruled out rent freezes.

are you quite well? OP has asked for advice dealing with a landlord, not an anti-immigration rant.

Why should the taxpayer house somebody that refuses to pay their rent?

@Summerhillsquarei don't think @JFC26is the one coming across as hysterical

@ShushAndLetMummySpeak The gov website tells you what landlords are allowed to do with rent increases under the new Renter Rights Bill (I.e increase rent once a year, not above market rate, must use proper form and give two months notice, etc.)

It also says what you can do in return (i.e challenge if you think rent is above market rate).

https://www.gov.uk/assured-tenancy-agreements-a-guide-for-landlords/rent-increases

Brilliant idea! Avoid immigration by becoming an immigrant.

Seeing as people have to pay rent in a council house I don’t think that being a non paying tenant will get you on top of the council list. The council evict non payers from their properties.

OP should get proper housing advice from their local authority, Citizens Advice, Shelter.

You have more protection now since May under the Renters Rights Act.

You can challenge the rent increase and you cannot be evicted for challenging

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/rent_increases

Sorry you are experiencing this OP. However your logic is flawed. The maintenance is the Landlord’s responsibility, but how does the landlord get the money for it? Through rent. That’s how it works. The landlord bears the risk of the immediate expenses and any capital outlay that exceeds the rental income, and seeks to recoup the costs steadily through rent. The rental system can’t exist any other way. I say with kindness, you are thinking you can have your cake and eat it by expecting the landlord to pay for the maintenance and for you not to contribute to it through your rent. Which sounds extremely cheap, by the way.

@JFC26you have gone to the effort of writing this lengthy reply ranting about immigration whilst actively encouraging the OP to become an immigrant. I hope you can see the irony and maybe rethink the anti-immigration stance given you have no issue with the OP being one.

Sorry to derail, OP, I’m just so tired of seeing this sort of stuff said without being challenged.

Sounds cheap either way.. I'll move there.

In my area the increases are 50-100 a week if/when they go up.

I’d use this as your opportunity to get the repairs done. “I agree to the rent increase on the proviso that this list of repair jobs are completed within the next six months. I am happy to pay closer to market value if it is brought up to a standard reflected in these similarly priced properties (include links)”.

Or move.

Time to move out then, into a better property.

When did the landlord last put the rent up?

If the rent was only £450 in the UK that’s insane and you have been very lucky. You say your wage has not risen over the last month. Has it risen over the past 20 years? If it hasn’t can you ask for a wage rise at work.

I do think taking a landlord to tribunal to avoid paying increased rent for a few months, if the rent is market rent and s/he has charged under market rate for years is not on. I can see why landlords are selling up - which increases rents further for tenants as lack of stock will increase rents further.

Of course immigration over the past 20 plus years has pushed up rents. I assume the politicians who have encouraged this are landlords or have friends who are landlords who would benefit from rising house prices and rents! Or want cheap labour as it pushes wages down/keeps wages low (making it harder to pay rent).

You gripe about the rent increase to market rates but you have not thanked the landlord for all the years where you saved money on a well below market rent. The issue is labour’s tax and policies is forcing landlords to take a harder stance, by harder I mean run the business as a professional business, not more kind gestures to tenants who cannot afford to lay the correct rent to enable the business to operate. It’s a business and the landlord has to make a profit or the ‘high risks’ are not worth it.

Say you can't afford it and go back with a counter offer. It sounds like they'd have trouble getting another tenant to pay the market value.

I have rented out a small flat for about 10 years now. I've had 2 sets of tenants, neither initially paid the market rate so I don't ask it when it's reviewed. But rents need to go up a bit to avoid this situation.