I have lived in the family home with my parents since 1969. We had no written rent agreement with our old landlords of many years, just a tatty old rent book, often they forgot to collect the rent and we had to take it round and remind them! It was just a bit of extra income to their main business which was in the same building.
Mum did all the finances, even down to giving dad money to spend, she would pay them by cheque each month, always the same amount for years.
Dad passed away in 2008, then around 4 years ago our old landlord sold the building and we got new landlords, they nearly doubled the rent and fixed it for 3 years, they listed all the work and improvements they were going to do for putting the rent up, many of which are uncompleted.
Sadly, after years of poor health mum passed in 2021 and then I took over paying the rent.
The landlords have now said that I am now an assured tenant and, although I have the right to remain as long as I wish, they will now be putting the rent up to market value.
Although the property is in poor repair, its location means that the rent will double again to around 4x what we paid our old landlord.
Is this correct, it is a massive increase, with only me left to pay.
they can increase to market value. Can you get help with rent from council?
If they are increasing it to market value but your property is in a state of disrepair you should ask them to address this or , albeit emotionally difficult, look for somewhere else that is in a better state of repair for the right price ( this may include a room in an hmo / bedsit / studio)
They may serve notice though if you do raise issues
Could you bring in a housemate to help cover costs
You can ask the Council to inspect if you think there is serious disrepair and they can force the landlord to Act. However, they are correct about your status and the rent. You can also challenge the rent increase at the First Tier Tribunal.
this is in line with everything else .In 1969 a gallon of petrol was1/3 of a pound .!! A pint of bitter was the equal to todays 10 pence A joiner earned £20 a week . And so on. Now is a shock to you .You have to try to cope, get help or move out .Tricky one
It seems very fair. You have confirmed that it is the Landlords intention to increase the rent to ‘market rent’ levels, so they are not increasing excessively.
It sounds like you & your family have had the benefit of rent substantially below the market rent for many years, so you have been very lucky.
It is fair that Landlords receive the market rent for their investment.
You can of course try to negotiate a mutually agreeable rent level, bearing in mind the property condition compared to others advertised in the market. Bear in mind, that the more ‘upgrades’ you request, the more the rent is likely to increase.
There has been a case similar to yours that appeared in the rent tribunal who ruled in favour of the landlord