Hi. I’ve had the same tenant for three years. Our initial agreement was £1300 a month including bills. I want to now transfer the electricity, council tax and water bills to her, about £125/month, although I’ll still pay the heating as this comes as part of my service charge, which I’m also still paying. The increase takes effect from September 1, as I told her I would honour the rent of our existing AST which was from September 1 last year. I know I need to submit an F4 form, but do I need to submit anything else as technically it’s just the bills that are changing. Thanks!
Form 4a is for changing rent amount
Youll need a variation on the tenancy agreement (or a new tenancy agreement) saying what is now included /excluded i think - tenancy agreement generally specify this (and eg that tenant should tell LL if changes supplier) - check your TA
Good luck
Does the tenant agree? This is not a cost you can impose unilaterally.
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Ah, right, that makes sense that I would need to change the tenancy agreement as it says bills included. I’ll look into how i do that now.
@Cassie3 also bear in mind you can only increase rent (has to be done by s13) once every 12 months under RRA
If amount paid to you each month will be same not sure there’s any need for a s13 /form 4 rent increase
-Unless rent amount increases to cover electricity, council tax and water bills, rent amount will be same - why not just get tenant to start paying these direct to the utility companies and to the council by setting up accounts with these, taking meter readings etc on last day of august and telling the co.s ?
Good luck
Hi David, Yes the latter is exactly what I want to do, for her to start paying bills directly to the utilities and council. Would you know what the process is for that, under the new RRS, or is it just a straightforward new lease? Thanks!
David122’s question above is really important.
Are we right to assume the T has agreed? If not, changing the agreement would be illegal.
As @tatemono says, this is a change to the contract so needs to be agreed by all parties- LL, tenant, guarantor (if any).
You can either do this by
A) a deed of variation to the contract to change the bit which says you are responsible for these bills at moment/tenant isnt, to say tenant us responsible,
or
B) just replace with a new tenancy agreement setting out the new terms
Things to consider -
B) means its a new tenancy with RRA considerations (cant evict on grounds 1/1a in first 12 months, cant increase rent in 1st 12 months I ‘think’)
Best
Hello, yes, she’s in agreement about paying the bills directly. I will probably do a new tenancy then, as I also need to change the date of her paying the rent. Right now, it says she pays on the 28th of the month, even though the tenancy starts on the 1st, and I don’t think I can do this any more under the RRA. It’s not a problem about eviction and rent increases as I hadn’t planned to do either of these in the next 12 months anyway.
Thanks again.
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