[Chrysalis]

thanks I didnt know, I will give him a ring during the week.

[broadgate]

Topher Bear, on Sep 21 2006, 09:44 PM, said:

Did you know . . . .

You can refuse to accept an unfair rental increase. Do not change your standing order payment as soon as you get notice that they propose a rent increase, instead respond stating why you think the proposed increase is unfair.

'Unfair' broadly speaking is when it is higher than comparable properties on the market and other things that *may* hold water are improvements made to the property in the last 12 months by the tenant and lack of affordability.

You need to make your case though and this can be done initially by letter to the Landlord or via their agent. If you are successful all well and good, if not you will need to go to the next level which revolves around the mysterious document known as the LTA no 206.

This is a PRE- TENANCY -DETERMINATION ( this stands even though you are already in the property) you can get one of these from the the district council for your area. Your landlord can only request this once a year if you have already had one done in the last twelve months your landlord cannot request another, your rent will be assesed by a fair rent officer who will determine whether you are paying the correct amount of rent for your property, it is also dependant on the income of your household, you may be eligible for some help with the rent through housing benefit if your income is below a certain level, or it may turn out that your landlord cannot increase the rent , anyway i hope this is of some help to you.

Copy of a letter sent to our agent with the important details erased to protect the 'innocent' below to give you an idea of how to tackle the first stage of objection. Just make sure you meet all the deadlines in your notification letter.
Dear Ms Letting Agent

Thank you for your letter dated xth of month received today yth of month notifying us of a proposed change to the monthly rental charge and the Section 13 Notice as of xy of month 2006.

We have the following objections to this rental increase:

Firstly the Landlord and his agents have not recognised the investment we have made in the property, while having given permission for us to make imoprovements. It has cost us personally approximately £500 to make the following improvements

List any works here

Total value of improvement by the tenants in the year 2005/2006 £500

This far exceeds the £300 that the Landlord would gain through a rental increase of £25 a month in the year 2006/2007.

Secondly, the rent as it stands at £xyz is commercially competitive and at the higher end of what is reasonable, I refer you to the following examples from your own current list, one of which seems to be an identical property on the same estate, available from xth month this year.

[Insert weblinks to properties advertised on their own property website as evidence]

And these from other lists:

[http://www.rightmove.co.uk/ (put in the view details web links)]
Thirdly the number of properties available to rent in ZXYville is higher than anywhere we have previously lived and currently a number of properties are up for sale (probably due to the rise in interest rates). The likelihood is that these too will be bought as buy to let investments, thus reducing the commercial rental rate due to saturation over the next six months.

Our intention is to remain here longer term which means that the Landlord will not suffer any periods void of rent nor have costs associated with frequent (6monthly - annual) changes of tenants who may or may not have the excellent references we have justifiably supplied. We have never defaulted on rent or left a property in anything less than the state in which we found it. In many cases we have considerably improved upon it, in this case specifically to a value greater than the £25 gain a month which accumulated to a year would be wiped out with even just a two week void period.

This email will also be sent to your offices by letter, recorded delivery, but we would be grateful for a response as soon as possible.

Regards and thanks

Mr and Mrs Topher Bear

*******

Hope this helps

Missus TopherBear x

Given that the laws regulating tenancies with private landlords are so heavily biased in favour of the landlord you have in reality little choice but to accept the situation. Any victory resulting from the suggestion above would only be of benefit if your landlord showed goodwill towards you. Most of them are stone-hearted barbarians so your would be extremely lucky to succeed.

At the end of the day you are at the mercy of your landlord as your tenancy can be terminated without reason, by giving you a short period of notice to move out, after your initial assured period (usually six months) has expired.

Good luck anyway. You will certainly need it.

[Mr. Gruff]

I'm a little confused by my tenancy agreement...

Initially, I signed up to a 12 month lease. Circumstances have changed, and now I want to leave about a month earlier than my lease expires. I have asked the agent, and the owner has said that that's OK if they can get a new tenant in before that time. However my rental agreement is as follows:

"1. You are proposing to take a tenancy of ..... which will commence on 9th Aug 2006 for a period of 12 months.

2. This document is to tell you that your tenancy is to be a short assured tenancy. Provided you keep to the terms of the tenancy you are entitled to remain in the dwelling for at least the first six months of the fixed period agreed at the start of the tenancy...."

Later on...

"1.5 Rental period starting from 9th August 2006 and ending on 9th August 2007"

"Temination of lease

Either party may terminate this agreement by giving written notice of termination by recorded delivery to the other party at least two calender months before the termination dats and on the expiry of such notice the tenancy will come to an end without prejudice to any right of action which either party or both parties may have against the other for any breach of this agreement."

So, can I send them a notice to quit by recorded delivery for the middle of July? That's what I get from this, even though my lease is until 9th August. Any help on this is greatly appreciated.

[Topher Bear]

broadgate, on Apr 12 2007, 08:23 PM, said:

Given that the laws regulating tenancies with private landlords are so heavily biased in favour of the landlord you have in reality little choice but to accept the situation. Any victory resulting from the suggestion above would only be of benefit if your landlord showed goodwill towards you. Most of them are stone-hearted barbarians so your would be extremely lucky to succeed.

At the end of the day you are at the mercy of your landlord as your tenancy can be terminated without reason, by giving you a short period of notice to move out, after your initial assured period (usually six months) has expired.

Good luck anyway. You will certainly need it.

Actually it did work...for 6 months.

We were going to stall again after 6 months, but by then advertised rents had risen and it would have been harder to argue the case. The rise though was not £25 but only £20!

[Topher Bear]

Mr. Gruff, on May 3 2007, 12:44 PM, said:

I'm a little confused by my tenancy agreement...

Initially, I signed up to a 12 month lease. Circumstances have changed, and now I want to leave about a month earlier than my lease expires. I have asked the agent, and the owner has said that that's OK if they can get a new tenant in before that time. However my rental agreement is as follows:

"1. You are proposing to take a tenancy of ..... which will commence on 9th Aug 2006 for a period of 12 months.

2. This document is to tell you that your tenancy is to be a short assured tenancy. Provided you keep to the terms of the tenancy you are entitled to remain in the dwelling for at least the first six months of the fixed period agreed at the start of the tenancy...."

Later on...

"1.5 Rental period starting from 9th August 2006 and ending on 9th August 2007"

"Temination of lease

Either party may terminate this agreement by giving written notice of termination by recorded delivery to the other party at least two calender months before the termination dats and on the expiry of such notice the tenancy will come to an end without prejudice to any right of action which either party or both parties may have against the other for any breach of this agreement."

So, can I send them a notice to quit by recorded delivery for the middle of July? That's what I get from this, even though my lease is until 9th August. Any help on this is greatly appreciated.

I'm sorry to see that no-one has replied, but here goes..and hope its not too late.

Unfortunately since the cotract was for a fixed term, you are indeed liable for the rent up until the end date of the contract. In your case that is 9th August. However, if they do find someone else to take it on, then you will only be liable up until the date at which the new contract starts.

What the above part of the contract means in the case of the fixed term is that notice to quit (either by yourself choosing to leave or by the landlord/agent wanting you out) MUST be provided at least two months prior the end of of the contract (ie 9th June). If notice is not provided by either party then the contract rolls into a statuary periodic tenancy, which provides all the rights and responsibilities as before, but the notice can be given to terminate at any date after (ie some arbitrary date after 9th August) as long as the require notice has been given (ie two months).

However, one more thing to check into. Re-read the pinned posts at the top, but I "think" that you as a tenant have a legal right to only provide 1 month notice, it is only landlords that must provide 2 months. I "believe" that this is something enshrined in law and no written contract can circumvent...but please double check this, as I may have mis-remembered it.

Sorry the news was not so good for you, remember next time to only sign up to 6 month contracts, unless you have a worry that you might get kicked out before 12 months is up...in which case, find somewhere else! Also resist re-signing new fixed price contracts, they are only to provide for rent guarantees for landlords....and you end up paying the exhorbitant administration fees.

As a quick aside. I know my name is at the top of this forum as a leader to it, but in truth I haven't been a regular on this forum for nearly 2 years, and only pop back in occaisionally (usually when things are looking interesting on the house price front! :-)

Regards

Topher Bear

[viva]

i live in an underdwelling & have a few problems 1st problem being i get live woodlice crawling around the place in the bathroom floor on the tiles,in the kitchen on the floor around the sink & even the worktops,+ in the living room & bedroom,even when there dead for example when get home from work every night i still have to either vac or sweep them up ! but it really does aggitate me when eating my tea in kitchen only to see one crawling across the floor putting me off eating ! ive made the landlord aware of this but to no avail... is it something i should put up with in general or should i see it as unhiygenic and a case for enviromental health or something ? 2nd problem "noise" from above as im in an underdwelling my bedroom is underneath a house where a shift worker lives who comes in from work around 11pm-1am and then proceeds to do the washing housework cooking cleaning etc as well as stomping around the house ! problem is..is that the dividing floor between us is wooden & i can hear everything pretty much(imagine somebody in your loft when your in bed),landlord said soundproofing was installed when he refurbished the flat recently but i find this hard to beleive ? isnt a sound test required on newly refurbished flats under part e of the building regs ? as it causes me sleepless nights and great distress.. i even wear a pair of building site ear defenders when the noise is prominent .. although to be fair it isnt every night.. tried telling person above me but said dont make exessive noise ans will walk around whatever time they want.. + told landlord and he just says oh they might hear your tv or something..which is highly unlikely as its at the other end of the flat..what can i do with landlord or with person above me ? ok cheers

[Matt Henson]

I thought you would apprecaite the effort I put in to this issue I had with my landlady claims for repairs, it is very important you understand your rights under the two housing acts

Both are listed with some guidance on a website I created you also need be confident in the difference between explicit and implied law, an implied law is an act of law can not be signed away in a contract. I also recommend that you have any contract that has any "house/flat specific" clause checked by CAB (most solicitor have scant knowldge of basic consumer tenancy laws as there is little or no money in it) If it is doctored it is likley to be unfair

Have a look at the site, it is clean, it is named after the house I still live in and whilst it is mostly serious it has a comical blog

www.bennells.com

[simhar]

Thanks Matt - that was a really useful site!

[Chucky]

I'm 2 weeks into a 6 month tenancy agreement, and living in the property with my partner and 3 month old daughter.

I've received a notice that the landlord is about to be repossessed !!!! - Where do we stand legally as tennants?

Presumably he's been pocketing the rent and not paying his mortgage ! - Should we cancel the rent?? - Our contract states there would be a 6% interest charge on late rent, but surely the landlord is in breach of contract for not keeping up his associated payments on the property?

Also what happens with the bond? - It's safeguarded with TDS....

Help please!!!!!!!

[Matt Henson]

Chucky, on Aug 19 2008, 03:03 PM, said:

I'm 2 weeks into a 6 month tenancy agreement, and living in the property with my partner and 3 month old daughter.

I've received a notice that the landlord is about to be repossessed !!!! - Where do we stand legally as tennants?

Presumably he's been pocketing the rent and not paying his mortgage ! - Should we cancel the rent?? - Our contract states there would be a 6% interest charge on late rent, but surely the landlord is in breach of contract for not keeping up his associated payments on the property?

Also what happens with the bond? - It's safeguarded with TDS....

Help please!!!!!!!

Book an appointment as the citizens avice bureau ASAP and take their advice, the LL has acted fraudulently and you can seek criminal action against them for fraud but they may not be able to kick you out for 6 months depending on the circumstances but CAB will advise. I would seek compensation action against the LL in the small claims court, it will cost you £50 and may only result in a CCJ against him (and not money for you) but that would stiff him for a while, also criminal action should hammer him as well

[Busybee]

Isn't everyone rather jumping the gun here?

It is quite likely (as I know from experience) that the landlord has fallen behind with mortgage payments because people are not paying their rent. I have been in my place for almost 6 years now and my landlord has at times had less money than I have becasue he has been covering mortgages on places he is getting no rent from. I have known h im for years and I know landlords are not all fat cats who sit there raking it in. I have on occasion helped him out with paperwork and typing and stuff and I have seen the mess a bad tenant can couse so I think before people jump to conclusions of landlords 'breaking the law' or whatever they should arm themselves with some facts. Or is this a case of not letting the truth ruin a good moan.

I have rented all my life and I am 43 now I wouldn't dream of buying. Not all tenants are suffering from some sort of inferiority complex. Some of us choose to be tenants and we actuallyrespect and understand the vagaries of life and the problems faced by landlords.

I just felt I had to say so as there doesnt seem to be a lot of opinion from my side of the fence.

[Ferienwohnung oder Apparte]

hi topher bear, the links you've shared are very interesting and useful to read. I was also renting before until I bought a property. I'm planning to put up one of my properties for rent in the near future. So, I think the info about the rights and responsibilities of tenants will be very useful for me.

[Haventaclue]

Just found this thread and seen there are some really poor posts on here....... my first point is, if you dont know what your talking about, then stay stum......

To address some key issues raised;

Repairs.......... Always always always put your repair issues in writing. 7 days notice to act end of. If no action taken, then second letter stating unless a response is received within a further 7 days, rent will be witheld. (I use 7 days in the sense of an urgently required repair i.e. the poor posters shower being unuseable and it being the only means of bathing). You MUST document this (recoreded delivery is best) and you MUST give the LL reasonable time to act. After that, and still no action, then get of your asses, get the repairs done and deduct the bill from your rent. End of problem. You cannot force this position however, if you're demanding a relatively minor repair issue, i.e. a tile has cracked.

Secondly, noise, environment issues. Its no difference if you were an owner or a tenant. The LL is NOT responsible for the bloke next door/upstairs. Get onto your council environment department immediately and report the nuisance. They WILL act. So many tenants believe their 'right to quiet enjoyment' of a property means the LL is responsible for nuisance. This is absolutely wrong, he is not. 'Quiet enjoyment' in tenancy terms refers to the LL harassing the tenant. Noise and neighbours are a civil matter and councils are pretty good at getting the ball rolling.

Notice periods - are statutory by law. End of.

And finally, the most ridiculous one, If your landlord (your tenanted property) is being repossessed, the LL HAS NOT acted fraudulently. So for starters save your £50 in small claims for 'compensation (as advised earlier). You are protected under your AST irrelevant as to whom 'owns' the property, so firstly dont panic. Seek CAB advice.

[Topher Bear]

Haventaclue, on Mar 19 2009, 12:10 AM, said:

Notice periods - are statutory by law. End of.

You are protected under your AST irrelevant as to whom 'owns' the property, so firstly dont panic. Seek CAB advice.

Not true.