UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi,

My agency has told me that my landlord is offering me a new agreement for 12 months at a £200 monthly increase. £900 to £1,100. They told me this is the price for me alone, although would have been different if my partner had moved in (not sure this is even legal?).

Here is the clause for rent increased in my Assured Short Term agreement (12 months). Runs to 30th June. They told me about the increase on the 12th May.

"It is agreed that expressly, unless agreed in writing otherwise, the rent as defined in
this Agreement will be reviewed in an upwards only fashion on the anniversary of this
Tenancy and upon each subsequent anniversary in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI)
increases for the previous 12 months and subject to a minimum of £5.00 per calendar
month or 3%, whichever is the greater. To avoid doubt between the parties if the
Landlord chooses not to raise the rent on the anniversary date of the Tenancy in one
year the Landlord reserves the right to raise it in all future years."

Where do I stand? Can I continue living at the property on a rolling contract after 30th June at the current rent? Or on the increased rent? I guess they can evict me on a section 21. When would they need to do this and when would the eviction take place? Would this stop me from getting a new property as I've been 'evicted'.

Also, they hate me (because I call them on their incompetence, e.g. waiting 3 months to fix a toilet which has sewage leaking into the property). Can they give me a bad reference?

Sorry for all the questions!

Sounds like they want you to go.Leaving due to s21 carries no blame.I would go onto periodic,declining the current offer.Start looking for somewhere else,then hand your notice in.Did you report them to the council? If so,the rent increase could be a way of avoiding accusations of retaliation.A fair increase would be around £30-£50 max.

It's lawful for them to offer you this tenancy on these terms.  You're under no duty to accept it and I suggest that you don't.  They can then serve the section 21 on you -- you'd have two months from receipt of the notice to move out.  My advice would be to start looking for an alternative home immediately.  If you don't move out at the end of the two months then they have to follow a process set out in the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, so you won't be homeless, but with that on your record, you'll experience extreme difficulty getting other private-sector landlords to take you on.

If they give you a reference, it has to be factual.  They can't lie -- but if they hate you and you've been calling them incompetent, then they're unlikely to say you're the ideal tenant on a reference.

Assuming your current tenancy is a fixed term, and wouldn't continue on a contractual periodic basis, that clause is meaningless as it won't apply during a statutory periodic tenancy. In which case, they are required to serve you a section 13 notice to propose a rent increase unless you agreed to something different with the landlord. On receipt of a section 13 notice, you can object by taking the matter to First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for determination.

If the tenancy does continue on a contractual basis, the clause limit the raise to the RPI percentage, 3%, or £5 whichever is greater. The RPI is 1.8%, so the maximum in practice in your case is 3% or £27.

Just carry on paying rent at the existing level, and probably look for somewhere else to live in the mean time.