WHAT CAN I DO IF MY LANDLORD INCREASES MY RENT?
It can be very worrying when your Landlord threatens you with a rent increase. With the interest rates rising the landlords may be looking to increase their rents because of the increase in their mortgages.
So the first thing you should do as a tenant is:
- Get hold of your tenancy agreement and check what it says about rent increases. It is usually unlawful to increase the rent during a fixed term contract (or periodic) unless your tenancy agreement specifically states otherwise.
- If you are unhappy about the rent increase, then try and negotiate a lower rent with your Landlord, and if the landlord is unwilling to agree to your proposals, then ask for a rent review. Please remember that rent reviews can go up as well as down.
- keep up the dialogue between you and the Landlord
If a landlord serves you with notice to leave, you should get help and assistance immediately; it is possible that the notice is invalid. There are a number of procedures a landlord must have followed before he/she/they can serve a notice on you. We are finding a lot of notices are invalid.
Disclaimer: the above does not constitute legal advice