Rent increase above contract clause

[jacksonbartelli]

Hi,

We rent a 4 bed house (3bed and a study room bungalow house) back in Dec/2019 for £1550 and a deposit of £1780 and have only signed a contract back in that year and never renew it or changed anything except the rent increases via email with agency.

They did increase the rent first time in June 2022 5% to £1628 which matches the contract clause must follows inflation but limited to max 5% per year. We were happy with that.

Then in 2023 they tried to increase 15% to £1880 and I fought back mentioned the contract and they said that they couldn’t do 5% as mortgage was too high and property rent was lower than current houses in same area. After few emails we did agree in 10% to £1790 increase because we couldn’t move out at that time. Not happy about it but ok.

Now, this 03/04/24 they emailed us and want to increase almost 30% to £2300/month, £500 in one go and didn’t give us any options… Again saying that rent is below market and mortgage is too high and LL can’t keep payments with my low rent. Not happy at all, won’t pay that

They gave me until 01/05 to give an answer and they said payment increase will be from 15/07.

Now, we have decided that we won’t accept it but we didn’t tell them yet. We are now viewing houses and we will buy a freehold property which is way better than paying such abusive rent of £2300/month + bills which is about £600. We have an agreement in principle… All good so far and just need to find the right house. I have seen 4 houses this month so far.

What are my options?

Are they going to try to evict me and my family soon I say I won’t accept the new rent?

Should we keep paying to actual rent even though they try to evict us, section 21? Should we just discuss that we are buying another property and they must wait untill we find it and let them know the move out date?

My idea is to let them know that we won’t accept the increase and we have decided to purchase a property and we would let them know when we would move out, is that the best approach?

Any opinions please, this is giving a lot of stress and worry.

PS: They send somebody to inspect the house every year and it is always good, I do all the repairs and never asked them for anything since we moved in. We have a good relationship with letting agency, I believe. We never missed and delay rent during this over 4 years, always paid on the 15th each month.

Copy of contract here:

Adobe Acrobat

Thanks, Jackson

[David122]

I think your idea is basically sound. Their rent increase request is informal and you are not legally obliged to comply. They could impose a 5% increase though. My assumption is that they will then serve you a s21 notice. That gives you 2 months notice to leave. If you dont, they will apply for a court order and ultimately bailiffs to evict you. That would give you about a further 6-8 months. You would likely end up having to pay their court costs of around £500. They might be prepared to delay the court action if you promise to give them weekly updates on progress or something similar.

[jacksonbartelli]

Thanks David,

How they could impose a 5% increase now and start to follow the contract which says max 5% if the did increase 10% last year instead of 5%? So the contract only works for them and not for us?

It doesn’t seem fair.

I am actually getting really upset with this and if they try it, honestly I would think to just stop paying rent and let them take me to court. I would pay the arrears via court order only. That would hurt them for sure and give a whole new level of headaches. I would delay paying them as a lesson to follow the contract.

Kind Regards,
Jackson

[David122]

They could impose 5% now because the contract allows them to. The 10% increase was by agreement.

[tatemono]

whatever you do, don’t pay the increase if you disagree with it because by paying it you are accepting it and are then legally bound to continue paying it.

[Louise9]

Hello. Landlord here who is just going through an eviction from the other side. My advice to you would be to tell the landlord you don’t intend to leave. Keep paying the rent at the current amount. It will take them SO long to get a possession order and then a warrant for possession and then a bailiff (likely at least 6 months) that hopefully you will have bought a house by then. As someone above said, they may be able to claim the £355 court fee, but that is going to cost you less than a rent increase if a judge does order you to pay it. They won’t be able to claim rent arrears if you keep paying at the current amount because you are just rolling over your current AST. The fact that they want a new contract with higher rent is irrelevant if you don’t intend to stay in the property. That’s the next tenant’s problem.

I say this with the bitter experience of really needing to sell my flat so I can buy myself somewhere to live (post-divorce) and being unable to because my tenant has refused to leave. I am paying extortionate rent at the moment while I’m between homes and extortionate solicitors fees to do the eviction process, but the only thing I have been able to claim is that £355 court fee. It’s a bitter pill to swallow but the reality is that the law protects tenants so you might as well use it to your advantage.

You don’t need to explain why you are not leaving to your landlord. You can if you want, out of courtesy, but it’s not actually necessary. The only reason it might prove useful is to give them confidence that there is no need to go through a formal eviction. In fact, thinking out loud… you might want to email your landlord and say that you don’t intend to leave the property immediately, nor do you agree to the rental increase. You understand that they may want to start legal proceedings to recover the property, but want to let them know out of courtesy that you will leave the property as soon as you have purchased a home, so from your perspective that is not necessary.

You might find that they apply for a possession order anyway, but that’s their call.

[jacksonbartelli]

Thank you, I did actually reply the agency that we do not intend to stay and they already gave me a section 21…
I did tell them I am looking for a property, didn’t disclosure I was buying, and soon I find it I would let them know… My leave day is 15/07 but I won’t leave untill my house is sorted. Fingers crossed, it will be done by end of June. Mortgage on going and offer been accepted with conveyancing been done.

Even if they decide to take me to court, they will have to explain why they increased the rent once above what the contract says and tried to increase a second time even higher… I could even be able to claim some money back if goes to court. Not sure.

Kind Regards,
Jackson.