I bought a property a few years ago at auction which had an Assured Tenant already residing in it. The property was advertised by the auctioneers as having an Assured Tenant residing in the property so I was aware of this when I bought it and I accepted it. There is no tenancy agreement in existence and the tenant pays her rent monthly on 20th of each month which is the date that she later advised me she has always paid her rent on.
The tenant who resided in the property when I bought it also later advised me that she had always lived in the property with the original Tenant who was a regulated Tenant and when that Tenant passed away, she had remained in the property and she took the tenancy over from them, making her an Assured Tenant. The death of the original Regulated Tenant occurred several years before I bought the property.
An initial rent increase was agreed mutually between the Tenant and myself in early May 2023. Notwithstanding this, a Form 4 Notice (Section 13) was sent to the Tenant giving the required minimum 1 months notice and the monthly rent increased from 20th June 2023.
A 2nd rent increase was then proposed last year. Again, a Form 4 Notice (Section 13) was sent to the Tenant giving the required minimum 1 months notice and the monthly rent increased from 20th June 2024.
I now need to propose a further rent increase and I intend to inform the Tenant of this by sending her another Form 4 Notice (Section 13) early next month proposing a new rent from 20th June 2025.
I am somewhat confused by paragraph No 3 on Form 4 which asks “The first rent increase date after 11th February 2003 is…..” and a date then needs to be inserted.
Guidance note 11 is also referred to but this is very confusing. It states “Unless the tenancy is a new one, or one of the exceptions mentioned in note 17 applies, you must insert in paragraph 3 of the notice the first date after 11th February 2003, on which rent is proposed to be, or was, increased under this statutory notice procedure. That date determines the date that you can specify in paragraph 4 of the notice. See also note 16.”
The tenancy is not a “new one” so that part of the above can at least be discounted but reading the rest of the note, it does seem to suggest that the date that I should insert in paragraph 3 should be 20th June 2023 but I cannot see how that date would have any bearing on anything to do with increasing the rent in June 2025?
Based on all of the above and the previous rent increase dates referred to, my question is, do I insert 20th June 2023 or 20th June 2024 into paragraph 3, or some other date?
Many thanks in anticipation of any responses that are received.
