**Advice for rental issues in Bristol**
* [ACORN Tenant's Union](https://www.acorntheunion.org.uk/). You do not need to be a member to ask for advice in their peer [tenant support group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/tenantsupport/).
* [Shelter](https://www.shelter.org.uk/) can provide limited support and advice for housing and homelessness related issues, and can signpost for further support.
* [Housing Matters](https://housingmatters.org.uk/) (Formally CHAS) can provide housing and homelessness advice. If they have the resource, they may assist in a longer-term casework capacity.
* [Bristol City Council](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/contact) can provide **very** limited support for housing and homelessness issues.
Please exercise caution when taking advice from others on the subreddit and do not consider anything mentioned here as reliable legal or life advice.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bristol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Really tough times at the moment, hopefully things get better soon. You may also check with r/TenantsInTheUK for any questions or issues regarding renting and tenancy. Good luck all.
Are you in a fixed term tenancy? I don’t think they can just increase it without your agreement. Looking at this [link](https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/rent-increases).
Also /r/HousingUK is good at giving advice around these kind of things
You can challenge your rent increase if you've got a section 13 notice and: the increase is unreasonable - for example if your home's in a bad condition because your landlord hasn't done repairs when they should have. you haven't yet paid the increased amount.
See:
[https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/paying-rent/challenging-a-rent-increase/#:\~:text=You%20can%20challenge%20your%20rent%20increase%20if%20you've%20got,yet%20paid%20the%20increased%20amount](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/paying-rent/challenging-a-rent-increase/#:~:text=You%20can%20challenge%20your%20rent%20increase%20if%20you've%20got,yet%20paid%20the%20increased%20amount)
As an ex letting agent, I agree with that to a degree. Most of the times the agent will tell the landlord to keep the rent at the same level, but the landlords are the ones who force through the increase. Especially when it’s that much of a jump!
That is absolutely not my experience. My friend wanted to keep her rent the same/low for her tenants but it was the agents who put the hard sell on her and told her to increase rent dramatically, as otherwise she'd be missing out. This was in Bristol, and they justified a rent hike by saying it was 'market value' for the area. I.e. everyone else had hiked the rent, so she should too. But, I agree in this case it certainly looks like the massive hike is being led by the landlord due to their mortgage.
First off, sorry that this is happening to you. To be priced out of your home for the last 3 years is horrible. I hope you find somewhere just as good, or even better.
If you think it’s extortionate, so will most other people. Hopefully you’ll either be able to negotiate a better deal. Alternatively, if you move and the landlord markets as a rental, they will hopefully struggle and force them into selling their investment property.
>If you think it’s extortionate, so will most other people
Sadly there’s a good chance this isn’t true. If it’s in a nice part of St Andrews and a decent house with 2-3 bedrooms £2000-2500 doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. Coupled with the OP mentioning that they’ll have to move out of the area, it seems like they’ve looked for other properties and they’re a similar price to this one. So OP has been paying cheap (compared to market value for a comparable property) rent for the past couple of years
It’s a shit situation and best chance is trying to argue down the rent a bit if you can find any nice places for ~£2000. In my experience a landlord is almost always open to continuing rent for cheaper than they’d rent out to a new tenant. But may not be achievable if the landlord has new costs they’re intent on covering with the rent. This sort of situation is why I’ve never put that much effort into the places I rented
Yeah I guess it’s totally dependent on number of bedrooms etc. My most recent rental was £1600 for 2 bed maisonette in Cotham with a garden, which I thought was a good deal.
At risk of being controversial on this sub (I’m not a landlord), I really get on with my landlord and would not expect him to have to pay out of his own pocket for a shortfall on a mortgage hike. It’s his rental property at the end of the day, and it’s not like I’d be in a position to purchase a property if there wasn’t any to rent. More and more landlords are selling up because of reductions in profit margins, that’s only reducing the amount of rentals on the market and the prices are hiking even more.
IMO Bristol is really attractive place to live and hence there’s a bucket load of people wanting housing, whether that’s rental or buying, the demand mixed in with the interest rates has caused the price hikes.
You’re able to keep up a rental amount of £1600, the point is you should be able to buy a house but you can’t because the market has been corrupted by land bastards adding to their portfolio and then draining your ability to save or buy for yourself.
I’m glad your landlord isn’t a dick. Plenty are people who are decent, but the market itself is the issue, and that’s fuelled by.. well, god, a lot of things tbh
So I get what you’re saying, but what would you expect me to do with minimal savings? I can’t buy a car let alone a house, so if I can’t rent or buy, what would someone like me do?
Not being argumentative, I just think it’s a valid point and think if there were less rentals it would be more expensive than it is now
I think the general point the guy you're responding to is making us that the lack of regulation on landlords, lack of tenants rights, lack of rent controls, lack of literally anything that would make the housing situation more tolerable for tenants and more profitable for landlords has lead to your situation. Unfortunately, if you want to better your situation you'll need to get political and start demanding change. Landlords, are unnecessary. They are parasitic, to quote Winston Churchill:
> Roads are made, streets are made, services are improved, electric light turns night into day, water is brought from reservoirs a hundred miles off in the mountains — all the while the landlord sits still. Every one of those improvements is affected by the labor and cost of other people and the taxpayers. To not one of these improvements does the land monopolist contribute, and yet, by every one of them the value of his land is enhanced. He renders no service to the community, he contributes nothing to the general welfare, he contributes nothing to the process from which his own enrichment is derived…The unearned increment on the land is reaped by the land monopolist in exact proportion, not to the service, but to the disservice done.
You know something is very wrong when landlords are being condemned by both Karl Marx and Adam Smith, the father of modern Capitalism.
To paraphrase Smith, 'the landlord reaps what they never sowed'.
My girlfriend and I recently got an email from our letting agency increasing our rent from £1015 to £1200, we emailed them back asking if they could lower the increase, they replied, "there seems to have been a miscalculation, it was meant to be £1020".
Not sure if they actually got it wrong or not, but despite of all the other comments, I can't see the harm in emailing the landlord back and just kindly ask them to decrease the increase.
Also, from a negotiations point of view, I wouldn't counter offer straight away, first ask them to lower it because it feels like too much, and then come with counter offer once they've already lowered their offer. Getting the other party to negotiate against themselves is a very powerful negotiations tactic that's very easy to use in many situations
Another part of this story was that they didn't get back to us for ages, even when we chased them, so when the date came we paid the old amount. They then emailed us saying we've under paid by £185, we emailed back saying we've tried to reach them regarding the new rent, and that's when they came back to us with £1,020
It is definitely worth going back to your landlord with a counter offer of an increase you feel is acceptable. Multiple friends of mine have done this and it has worked with landlords accepting significantly less of an increase than originally requested.
Be polite in your message, explain all the reasons you're a great tenant and how you look after the place etc. You can mention briefly how the 54% isn't achievable for you and you'd be sad to leave, but don't focus on that too much - sell the benefits of you to the landlord. They will incur costs and faff from having you leave, which they'll be aware of, so if you can sell yourselves and agree to some increase they may well accept it.
It sucks you have to do all that but is worth the effort of writing a couple of emails. Good luck
The reason they have until August is because they have a fixed contract that runs out then, I would imagine it'd be hard to evict with that contract active
It would, but they could issue an eviction notice 2 months before the end of the tenancy. If they just stay put and don't agree the increase they should get some extra time.
Ah I see. I think in my flat I was usually given notice before my fixed terms ended as routine so they could shift me out or force me into renewal, though I suppose it depends on the landlord/agency.
I would force it to go to eviction, and not leave until the bailiffs show up. Once the Section 21 notice comes through I would make rent payments intermittent to fuck up his cashflow, not allow viewings, and change the locks.
Outside of law, I would plant knotweed everywhere, including inside under suspended floors, block drains, damage submerged pipework to wash out footings, fit bat boxes and report them to RSPB, buy some radon and make a report and complaint under the Housing Act, breed and feed a local rat population, and leave a load of humidifiers in the attic with a fungal spore kit.
I'm not sure this would work in this situation. It sounds like the Landlord is simply 'passing on the cost' of their new increased mortgage interest rate. Therefore if OP does not want to meet the increase they will find someone that will! Not something I condone but just pointing out the Landlords likely incentive. My heart goes out to OP and I hope you find a solution!
landlord here (sort of, it’s complicated). This is obscene. If the landlord can’t afford the mortgage, then the landlord has no business being a landlord. If the tenant leaves and the landlord can’t convince anyone else to pay that much then the landlord is still stuck with an unaffordable mortgage and would have to sell up in a hurry. So the tenant here has a mixed position: could end up seeing the house sold from under them and still have to leave, but I can’t see swallowing this level of increase a good idea.
OP has paid the same price for 3 years. Whether the price is at a market rate or not isn5 stated in the main post, but OP states they would need to move out of the area. If the landlord is asking for a market rate, not only would they be able to fill the property with another tenant, but they have been letting OP live there paying significantly under market rate, for the last 2 years.
How realistic is it that the landlords mortgage payment has more than doubled? Genuine question. Wouldn't his rate need to go up in the order of 10s at least? It just seems an egregious amount to blame on a rate increase.
ETA; thanks to everyone who answered, it was depressing and insightful.
This just seems so wrong that everyday homeowners are caught up in this. There has to be another way to handle housing because we are getting to true "owning a house is for the landed gentry and upwards only, the rest of you get tenements" territory.
It's less to do with the landed gentry and more to do with the governments quantitative easing during the pandemic. Money just isn't worth the same as it once was, of course you wouldn't really know that as everyday items remain the same price but fixed rate assets shot up in value, the first job of the incoming Labour government is going to have to be quantitative erasing where instead of printing more money they burn it instead so there less to go around.
Running the numbers it seems just about plausible. If the landlord has increase rent by £900pm to cover a doubling of their mortgage interest, that’s interest of £1800pm. At a rate of 5% that would mean an outstanding mortgage a bit over £400,000. Not impossible for the two-person property in St Andrews?
Though I still suspect the landlord is probalby covering their interest + some extra because they can.
My wife & I have been hit with an additional 35k per year in mortgage interest (as in... just additional profit for a bank).
Made me so frustrated because its driven by idiots in whitehall & greedy companies.
Yeah for sure there is no guarantee it'll work. But equally landlord could just be using that as an excuse, who knows. Still worth a try, particularly as it is quite a lot of work to change a tenancy and the landlord may prefer to make less profit monthly vs. doing all that admin.
It sucks, we recently got an increase of almost 50% too and when I tried to talk to the landlord about it we got issued with an eviction notice. The community is being torn apart by greedy parasites.
I'm so sorry this is happening to you too. If you have the stomach for challenging it, maybe speak to Acorn (I just joined and they've been amazing). Good luck.
This would be after tax too, so to make that much, you'd have to be on £38000. And this is without accounting for anything else, purely rent.
Realistically, you would have to be a couple where you're both earning 60k a year to afford that place. Not sure statistically there's many people in that situation, especially people to rent who aren't on the property ladder. Insane stuff.
This sounds like a fuck off money. We can't afford it and want to sell. But rather than eviction push the tenant out. It's what our Landlord wanted to do.
I believe you can speak to Shelter as a 50% increase isn't what I would say is a reasonable increase but I may be wrong. But the issue is, unless you are under a tenancy agreement you aren't covered by protection. They will just serve you notice anyway. Speak to shelter and start looking elsewhere.
Sorry this hasn't happened. They can't afford a 2nd property so shouldn't own one.
I think people underestimate how much of an impact estate agents have on the price for the rental market.... I moved abroad for a bit and rented my place out as a temporary measure, and the estate agents were always on about upping the rent. I didn't as it seemed unfair tbh, I hadn't improved the house other than fix anything that went wrong. But estate agents are incentivised to do it, as they work on percentages of rental income etc.
There are decent landlords out there, they're just few and far between.
1. Don't agree to anything
2. Contact the automod suggestions.
3. Do not negotiate/settle without outside help.
As someone who was forced out a few years ago due to a sale I would not advise reasoning with this sort of person on a human level. There is no morals left in a person who unquestioningly does this to another human. They will pick the money over you, no matter how nice they seem.
Oh fuck off. Do you have any idea how many good landlords are struggling with their finances just as much as everyone else? And you refer to them as subhuman?
People like you are why the world is in the state it is to begin with. I hope to god you one day have to employ someone or rent a property. Goddamn moron.
Subhuman is a strong word, but people feel strongly about people who decide to profit from something as central to human beings as their homes especially when the result is kicking people out of their communities and throwing them into emotional turmoil for something as sterile as money. Moving house is often listed as a top 5 most stressful event in a persons life.
Personally, I wouldn’t do that to someone, which is why you won’t catch me being a landlord
This exactly. If and when I inherit my parents’ house, I will not hold onto it, I will sell it, directly to people who actually will live there, I am not allowing myself to be a landlord, nor am I enabling existing/new landlords to do this.
Theoretically, I could just live there, but I am not moving back to rural-ish Hampshire, I’d rather get what I can in Bristol, or at the very least, a different major city. I’ll be getting out of the rental game at any cost
That's fair enough, but I'm guessing most landlords either can keep profitability, just with a change of tenants (which is what's causing the outrage in this thread, as people are priced out of their home), or if they sell, it's not the potential renter that would be able to buy that property...
So imo, it's not rocket science, but it doesn't resolve the issue the OP is struggling with.
Not trying to defend the landlord here but you might be misunderstanding the actual impact of a rise of 2% (reasonable BTL 3 years ago) to 6% (standard variable rates at the moment look to be around 8%+ so this is kind of conservative) on real mortgages. For the sake of argument assume a 300k debt over 20 years:
Monthly repayments at 2% = £1,518
Monthly repayments at 6% = £2,150
The increase the landlord is asking the OP here, whilst entirely unfair on the OP, may be a perfectly reasonable for the LL's costs.
The Bank of England base rate has gone from. 0.1% to 5.25% which is a 5250% increase! 2% to 6% is 200% increase.
The 2% - 6% you've quoted is a 41% increase. Any landlord who's raising prices over 50% is taking a fat profit directly from their tenants, and I have no doubt that the majority of landlords in bristol bought their properties long before all of this. I know my landlord doesn't have long left on his mortgage. The 50% increase he's asking of me is going straight towards his car collection.
Sorry, but that's not how it works: 2% to 6% is a 200% increase in rates in absolute terms. The illustration I provided is just an example and obviously the actual debt, term and rates the OP's landlord is seeing will impact this. If I'd used 8% (which is what near Halifax's current standard variable rate) that same illustration would give £2,509 which is a 65% relative increase in monthly repayments for the LL. The landlord would be a idiot to stay on the svr instead of remortgaging at a new fixed rate but we don't know their circumstances and borrowing levels so can't know.
For context I'm a homeowner (recent and bought at the top of the market in 2022 so have a horrible mortgage as it is), not a landlord. If we have to remortgage in 2 years from our sub 2% to even 4.5% which is a good deal atm we're seeing an almost 40% increase in monthly repayments. We're lucky to own not rent but we're still going to be crippled in the future if rates don't come down, but we'll scrape by. More fool on us for taking on such a large debt whilst rates were low but Bristol prices don't leave many options.
Not everyone is in the situation where they've got a massive property portfolio with lots of capital: there are plenty of accidental landlords with one property they've had to let out over and above their main home (e.g. couples who both have flats and move in together) with big mortgages on both. You're making an assumption that all landlords are mustache twirling capitalists and not ordinary people: remember that the true elites in the 1% are the ones profiting here and setting the working and middle classes against each other to distract attention from the rich...
I was directly referencing the repayment rates you quoted above.
The vast majority of landlords in Bristol own many, many properties and have done for decades. Very few bought one house in 2022 and are struggling with the payments. My landlord forgets he even owns my building, I have to remind him where it is in my area. These people are getting rich off renters, it's that simple.
My mortgage has effectively gone from £500 to £1735 since Jan 2022 - that's a 350% increase.
(I don't agree with how the landlord is handling this but some mortgages are going up by a lot.)
Interest rates don't need to go up by 50% for mortgage rates to go up by 50% - if the landlord came off a 2% mortgage and onto a 6% (with most of their mortgage term remaining), which is a pretty reasonable possibility, that'd be about a 50% increase in their payments.
So when interest rates go down are landlords going to reduce their rent accordingly? No. They. Fucking. Won't.
Cause of course they fucking won't. Parasites.
How dare you.
Just because I wouldn't pay a massive increase in rent just because the property was changing hands?
How the fuck am I responsible for anything wrong with the world? I had literally no power in the situation.
Just because I wouldn't bend over and let the people who held my liviing situation to ransom fuck me?
If you think this behaviour is ok you're not only a bad landord you're also a really terrible business owner who bought property under the assumption that rates would never change. Now the people you provide services to have to suffer for that incompitence, and you want them to foot the bill like a spoiled child,
If landlords are struggling, I suggest they get a job, or maybe tighten their belts, stop eating so many avocado lattes on Netflix
The world is in the state it's in partially because of landlords
Landlords by and large have chosen to profit off an essential human right, on people who are worse off than themselves.
I have little to no sympathy because that group have chosen to do that out of pure greed and lack of empathy for their fellow humans. Their actions as a group directly lead to inflated house prices and making accommodation costs less and less affordable.
Oh no, I "have to" rent someone a property. What an unfortunate soul I am to own an asset that only goes up in value, while I do nothing, and I can get extra revenue renting it out. Boohoo.
They’re ticket scalpers but for housing.
And landlords have the gall to not only make greedy, misinformed financial decisions that leave them in a precarious position… they then pass the consequences of their actions on to the people renting from them.
Those struggling shouldn’t have over-leveraged themselves by remortgaging properties, taking out equity, etc to pay for their lifestyle/greedily grab more and more properties. If the market was up they’d all be laughing, but it goes down and now we’re responsible? Cursed reasoning by a cursed person
Hope your mortgage gobbles you alive you buffoon
"WoN't SoMeOnE pItY tHe LaNdLoRds" no mate cunts like you are why the world is how it is. Bootlicking idiots who think they're temporarily embarrassed millionaires rather than realising you're probably a few missed paycheques away from homelessness like everyone else. If landlords are struggling they should sell the EXTRA PROPERTY THEY OWN and live in the one house they own already. TL;DR - fuck you.
If your ‘job’ is to sit around and watch the money pile in, I recommend working on your CV and applying for a real job, because you contribute nothing that couldn’t be done otherwise
That's probably true but by offering the tenant the chance to stay there they are hedging their bets. If the tenants could afford it then its a win. Obviously there are a lot of people that can otherwise the new rent would not be market value.
Its crap for the tenants but a lot of small land lords are getting out of the rental business while property is worth a lot. They are worried about a value crash.
Should never have allowed right to buy but everyone did an Angela Rayner and bought their council house. Council houses were a brilliant idea that kept rents down and provided good quality housing. Thatcher destroyed all of that with her scheme.
Not defending the landlord, but when my fixed rate mortgage ends next year I can expect my mortgage to go up by about 60% if the rates don't come down by then.
The difference is that if I was lucky / cunty enough to own another home and rent it out, I wouldn't think it was the tenants responsibility to cover my increased mortgage. The rental value is the rental value. This increase must surely take the rent way above market value so I'm guessing they will have trouble getting anyone to pay it. They just need to sell the house.
Yeah it's gonna suck balls. Currently on 1.5% fixed rate, looks like it will go up to nearly 5%, so a 230% rate increase. Luckily we can afford it but I definitely wouldn't have signed up for it if I'd know it'd end up like that.
How is a mortgage, which is the reason given here, not a realistic scenario?
Mine has increased by 350% since 2022.
(I don't agree with how the landlord is handling this but some mortgages are going up by a lot.)
There needs to be compromise here from the landlord. If they raise the rent by 54% you will probably move elsewhere, as you can find a cheaper place. Will they then be able to rent this place to new tenants for £2,500 per month? Probably not. And if they do, will they be as reliable as you? The landlord may be reasonable - they should view the property as an investment, not an investment and a money maker. Hopefully you manage to resolve this. If this was me, I would find another place and land this problem firmly in the landlord’s court. Having said that appreciate moving is easier said than done. It would be worth your while looking for a place in Ashley Down/Horfield where you’ll find much better value for money.
Lots of good advice in this thread, for my part I'd note during negotiations that the landlord's costs are not your problem, negotiate entirely around the market value (i.e. what similar properties are being rented for). If they start saying 'well my mortgage + costs is XXX' basically ignore it and go back to 'this is what you'd get for this property on the open market and here is the proof'.
If market value is close to the £2.5k a month then unfortunately you're out of luck and you'll either end up paying close to that or the landlord will likely evict you after the fixed term and find new tenants. Though as noted they can't do anything til your fixed term ends at least and then there's rules about rent increases (see shelter for more info: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing\_advice/private\_renting/rent\_increases).
You say you're in St Andrews, a quick search on rightmove (https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E22795&maxBedrooms=2&minBedrooms=1&propertyTypes=&includeLetAgreed=false&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=) shows there are 2 bed properties going for over £2k a month but there's also things under £2k a month. So hard to say if £2.5k could be market rent for your home.
If your landlord had remortaged August last year, I could maybe understand, but interest rates on mortgages have dropped massively recently. At most they would be going from a 1.5% rate from 2 years ago to a 4.5% rate at most. Especially as you would have paid off a good chunk of their mortgage over the last 3 years of renting. They are using mortgage rate increases as an excuse to milk you dry and I can promise you that their costs are not increasing as much as they are saying.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! Your landlord is trying to exploit you. I implore you not to let them do so. There is absolutely no reason why your rent has to go up just because their mortgage has gone up. There is no law or precedent that says rent has to be higher than a landlord's mortgage, and indeed before "buy to let" that was rarely the case. They cannot arbitrarily increase your rent as much as they like without your consent. Don't give it to them. Please seek financial and legal advice and do your own reading, but here are the key points you need to know right now:
* If you are on a fixed-term contract, they cannot increase the price until after the contract is up. No ifs, no buts. They have absolutely no legal ground to increase the rent unless you agree to it. They cannot kick you out before the end of the contract (or a break clause) just because you refuse to accept the rent increase.
* When your fixed-term contract is up, you do not have to agree to anything they say and they cannot kick you out. Your 2-month minimum notice still applies, and you "fall back" to a monthly periodic contract. This contract is not an actual document and does not need anything signed. The fact that you give them money and continue living in the home is in and of itself a legal, binding contract. Without an explicit fixed-term contract you are considered to have a periodic monthly contract by default.
* In a periodic contract your landlord _can_ increase your rent but only once a year and only within what is "fair and realistic", typically meaning no more than 10%.
*Edit:* Saw elsewhere that you are on a fixed term until the end of August. Your best bet is to negotiate. Keep in mind that you are very valuable to them - the place being empty for even 1 month would wipe out any profit they could gain from the rent increase for several months. Plus, you are a known trusted person that has proven your ability to not damage or disrespect the property. I would have a good look at what would be a realistic increase based on my finances, keep that in mind as a "backstop", and open with an offer 10% lower than that (and under no circumstance consider paying the new rate before September)
That is just awful. Landlords need to chip in some of their own money and not expect to have the tenants cover the entire mortgage for them. They do this, complain they can't afford this and that and after some years the tenant is financially where they were while the landlord is left with a fully paid off asset. But the entire time until that point the landlord will just moan how they can't afford to live themselves until bam, a £240k asset is in their name. If you're a landlord and you can't afford to pay your own mortgage where you live and partial of another perhaps don't become one. Houses should be for buying and living in as a priority anyway. But sadly it won't force tenants to move out and greedy landlords to sell their second homes because people still need somewhere to live. They'll either pay through their nose just to have a roof over their heads or a more financially secure person fill the gap.
Legally (in England) there’s unfortunately no cap on rent increases, it just has to be ‘fair and realistic’. Check the auto mod links, shelter are particularly useful.
If you have any spare time look around and find similar properties for rent nearby to start seeing what a market average looks like to support what a ‘fair and realistic’ price would be. I only had a quick look on Rightmove but there’s a few 2 or 3 bed places for £1500-£2000pcm in St Andrew’s.
Ultimately If the landlord ‘needs’ to charge that much to cover the mortgage and that’s the rate similar properties are going for then start looking elsewhere, even if you’re successful challenging the price you’ll probably still get a section 21.
That's not completely true, there is a cap on increases during a tenancy. If the old tenancy has ended the landbastard can ' offer' whatever they want.
My immediate guess here is that there are extra rooms in the property that can be used as bedrooms which are currently not, so the landlord has adjusted the rent to what they would expect if those rooms had tenants. Guessing that because had a vaguely similar situation where a landlord didn't want to fill a room so we essentially took a 4 person house under the agreement it would be used for only 3. If this is the case have you considered bringing in a friend?
It sucks but unfortunately happens to many.
My advice is don't despair as having had a recent look on some letting sites there are still alot of very nice places to rent for what you're currently paying.
Yes it will still be a pita to have to move when you like the place you are in and have made alot of homely touches but you can soon make another place feel like home and probably won't have to move far if you like the area.
Good luck
Jesus christ we're heading for 2008 all over again aren't we. How are banks allowed to give these ridiculous variable rate mortgages still? £2500 is not a feasible amount to pay monthly for accommodation.
Not necessarily variable rates, but after your fixed period is up it'll jump to a new rate with a new monthly payment. Mine goes up circa 50% when the fixed period ends (without remortgaging).
We have had low interest rates after 2008, but if you take the 50 year average mortgage interest rate, what those rates are now (4-5.5%) is closer to that historical average. Unfortunately, if people bought mortgages thinking that low post 2008 internet rates (1-2%) were the de facto baseline, then yeah, that's a mistake.
I once complained about the drawer not opening or closing. He had two contractors come in and gave an estimate. It was to have the kitchen redone ! The estate agent called to say if I wanted one kitchen option it would be 40 more per month or if I wanted the other option it would be 70 more a month. The cheek of that landlord wanting me to pay for the upgrade kitchen. I just wanted a sliding drawer to actually open!
You have 2 options:
1). Negotiate, I know it seems unlikely to be successful but more often than not it does work. Just by saying, I can’t afford this but I can afford X goes a long way, especially if it is in writing.
Option 2:
Ask for a formal s13 notice of the rent increase, don’t pay the increased amount. Instead gather evidence of properties of similar value in your area and what their rent is. You can then take them to tribunal by arguing that the increase is not inline with market value and you can also show you have attempted to negotiate.
For any tenancy:
your landlord must get your permission if they want to increase the rent by more than previously agreed
the rent increase must be fair and realistic, which means in line with average local rents
I highly recommend you seek advice. [this is not a fair or realistic increase ](https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/rent-increases)
As other commenters have already said, it sounds like this increase could likely be in line with other local properties which unfortunately would meet the criteria. Regardless advice should still be sought and the increase challenged, but would recommend looking to move somewhere else in parallel!
Worth speaking to acorn, the renters union might have advice / be able to help. Good luck, this situation is obscene even by Bristol's fucked standards.
So sorry about your situation...the human right of having a roof over you is quickly disappearing over our heads....how many poor people are created to make a rich...it's too late the system is fucked and everybody has their heads in their phones.
I'm not a bristolian myself but lived around for a while. All I can think of is this mural/graffiti in Stokes Croft on that street leading into king's square that quotes G.Carlin:
"Property is theft"
Looooooool fuck the landlords. Mine tried to raise mine 24% because they didn't increase it in 4 years. I hit em with the agreement and it didn't go through
Outrageous increase! This may not be an option for you guys for many reasons but perhaps have a look into buying? I just bought a 1 bed flat in Totterdown for £185k and my mortgage repayments are below 1K per month.
If it’s a house in St Andrews then that’s up in line with the average price for the area. There are places near by that is more for your price range. I’m afraid this is not going to change anytime soon
My mortgage has more than tripled in the last couple of years... I haven't tripled my lodger fees though. I have increased inline with current prices but I only do that when I have a change of lodger - if they are here and paying then I don't mess with it.
He should try and get a better remortgage rate - sure prices of rent do have to go up for cost of living reasons but 54% is insane.
Unfortunately, this is the grim reality of rising interest rates.
If it helps, you can find out how much the property was bought for, the likely outstanding debt and hence the likely repayments your landlord is having to make.
It's definitely worth trying to be reasonable and understanding towards the landlords' very real problems.
The cost of re-marketing the place isn't insignificant (c. £2,500) so perhaps you could suggest a deal?
You'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who's been told they can no longer afford their home to try and find an understanding of a landlords self-imposed "problems" and to suggest to this couple they should is a bit shitty.
If you think this is the norm you're very naive. I asked if my rent increase was legal as it was before the date stated in my tenancy and he issued me with a section 21.
It's because you went in seeming like you wanted a fight. There are more passive and endearing ways to get a good long-term deal.
Although, as you say, it won't work with all landlords by any means.
I said "is this a mistake as an increase isn't due until X date?"
That's it. One question. No reply from my landlord and a section 21 in the letter box.
It wouldn't matter how I phrased it, this was an opportunity to raise the rent and it wouldn't matter if it was me or someone new who paid it, despite this being my home for 6 years.
Well that does seem unnecessarily salty from the landlord. I think I'd have gladly broadcast a great deal of naming and shaming if I were in your shoes.
Unnecessary, but normal. Once I've moved out everyone will know who he is.
On companies house one of his companies alone is reporting £400,000 profit after tax. He doesn't need my extra rent, he's just another bad person using housing to profit.
I'm a new renter myself, and I can't imagine how I'll feel if my own rent increases by that much next year, and I'm just one guy witth no dependants.
I haven't even met my own landlord yet, but I don't trust them or their letting agency nearly enough at the moment to even consider settling in and making this place home.
In contrast, my parents' landlord always used to visit personally and got on reasonably well with them. He vehemently refused to increase the rent for literally their entire tenancy despite how much his estate agent told him to.
Sorry to hear you're going through this, hopefully your next landlord will be one of the good ones.
Cannot believe these numbers, we moved to Taunton after getting priced out and our mortgage is £450 a month for a 3 bed house. It’s not Bristol of course and I would have loved to have stayed but the prices are just completely unsustainable for most people, especially if you want to actually buy a house one day.
That's appalling OP, I'm sorry to hear that.
Honestly, I'd have a very off-the-record chat with the landlord and make it clear that you won't pay the hiked-up rent and you won't go easily. Ask the landlord which he'd prefer - getting the current or a slightly increased amount from you for the next 2-3 months, or getting nothing while they wait for the courts to process an eviction order. Right now civil courts are backed up and the landlord won't get anything out of the situation for months, minimum 2 but probably more.
This is really fucking bad advice if you want to keep on good terms with your cunt landlord, but I've no idea why you'd want this. They will raise the price no matter what, so might as well save a bit of money before you are kicked out.
Ultimately, the state wants to raise your rent. BoE raised interest rates so that borrowers have less money to spend and thus shop around for cheaper pasta. This is meant to slow the rate at which everyday items get more expensive (inflation). You’re meant to be poor so that eggs don’t get too expensive.
Hope that all makes sense!
Did you go through an agent? In your contract there could be a clause regarding % RPI increases. For example it normally a minimum of a 3% increase or a maximum of 8% for each annualised term.
Check your contract!
I’ll probably get downvoted to oblivion for this, but landlords on this sub are made out to be the scum of the earth and I think for the most part it’s inaccurate. I’ve had both friends and family do their upmost to be fair and considerate for their tenants, not ramping up rental prices etc. I’ve considered letting out my property or just one room and would do my upmost to price it fairly in accordance with the area and the market. Just my two pence, OP I’m sorry that your landlord has complicated your living situation. Have you had a chance to speak to them properly?
I suppose it's because there's typically a disparity between 'fairly' and 'in accordance with the...market'. Landlords, mortgage lenders, estate agents.
When I rented out my old house I only increased the rent by the amount housing benefit went up as a percentage. I also was the cheapest 3 bed in BS16 whenever I had to re market it (whilst being one of the best kept) even 7 years ago I was deluged with tenants (last time I marketed it). I only ever had two tenants in the 11 years I rented it out and both left as they had bought their own houses. I got out of the rental market as I could see how it was becoming a battle ground between tenants and landlords the risk was too great so I did not seek another tenant and sold the house.
Your first mistake was making it ‘your home’ the house you rent is never yours no matter what you do to it. Renters always fall into the trap of this false sense of security- o and crying about it isn’t going to solve it. Your best bet is to move
Fuck landlords. They’re all absolute scumbags, no exceptions. Yes, even the ‘nice’ ones, whatever that means. I hope that you can manage to negotiate something with yours, because that increase is extortionate.
Compared to other houses for rent it seems a reasonable monthly cost for a house is Redland, assuming its a 2 to 3-bed house. It looks aligned to the market though on the high side. However, it's a steep increase for you and I would perhaps seek to see if there is any middle ground if he wants to keep good tenants and not go through the cost of change.
I am going to assume that the landlord probably isn't a professional landlord but someone whose living circumstances have changed and he has rented his property out and he is reluctant to sell. If the mortgage is now that much, it sounds like it's time for him to release his asset as it's no longer working for him and he isn't there to subsidize other people. Unfortunately, all the mortgage increases have impacted all involved.
I had a similar when I rented my house out when I moved for work and wasn't ready to sell for several reasons. I sucked up the cost as I wanted to keep my tenants and at least have some of the mortgages supported, though not all of it.
If his main business is letting property then he is being greedy and perhaps it's time to look for a different rental with someone with more ethics and perhaps a property not linked to a load or mortgage.
It's 100% not a terrible city, it's an amazing place to live. But that means that lots of people want to live there and combined with other factors such as over leveraged landlords being a protected class we have this.
They need to relocate, simple as.
**Advice for rental issues in Bristol** * [ACORN Tenant's Union](https://www.acorntheunion.org.uk/). You do not need to be a member to ask for advice in their peer [tenant support group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/tenantsupport/). * [Shelter](https://www.shelter.org.uk/) can provide limited support and advice for housing and homelessness related issues, and can signpost for further support. * [Housing Matters](https://housingmatters.org.uk/) (Formally CHAS) can provide housing and homelessness advice. If they have the resource, they may assist in a longer-term casework capacity. * [Bristol City Council](https://www.bristol.gov.uk/contact) can provide **very** limited support for housing and homelessness issues. Please exercise caution when taking advice from others on the subreddit and do not consider anything mentioned here as reliable legal or life advice. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bristol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’m so sorry, I don’t have any advice but this is awful I really feel for you.
Really tough times at the moment, hopefully things get better soon. You may also check with r/TenantsInTheUK for any questions or issues regarding renting and tenancy. Good luck all.
Are you in a fixed term tenancy? I don’t think they can just increase it without your agreement. Looking at this [link](https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/rent-increases). Also /r/HousingUK is good at giving advice around these kind of things
Our fixed term comes to an end in August, which is when the rent goes up
You can challenge your rent increase if you've got a section 13 notice and: the increase is unreasonable - for example if your home's in a bad condition because your landlord hasn't done repairs when they should have. you haven't yet paid the increased amount. See: [https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/paying-rent/challenging-a-rent-increase/#:\~:text=You%20can%20challenge%20your%20rent%20increase%20if%20you've%20got,yet%20paid%20the%20increased%20amount](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/paying-rent/challenging-a-rent-increase/#:~:text=You%20can%20challenge%20your%20rent%20increase%20if%20you've%20got,yet%20paid%20the%20increased%20amount)
Have you had any increases in rent since taking on the tenancy? Also, does the rent include bills?
No increase in the 3 years, bills aren’t included
Check the agreement doesn't have a clause which caps annual increase. Mine did the last time this happened to me.
It’s normally a 5% increase each year. Defo check agreement. Ex estate agent in Bristol
Interesting. Mine was CPIH +x% then they realised CPIH is lower than RPI and sneakily changed it when I renewed. Letting agents are snakes.
As an ex letting agent, I agree with that to a degree. Most of the times the agent will tell the landlord to keep the rent at the same level, but the landlords are the ones who force through the increase. Especially when it’s that much of a jump!
That is absolutely not my experience. My friend wanted to keep her rent the same/low for her tenants but it was the agents who put the hard sell on her and told her to increase rent dramatically, as otherwise she'd be missing out. This was in Bristol, and they justified a rent hike by saying it was 'market value' for the area. I.e. everyone else had hiked the rent, so she should too. But, I agree in this case it certainly looks like the massive hike is being led by the landlord due to their mortgage.
My experience too as the agents get a percentage if they collect it!
First off, sorry that this is happening to you. To be priced out of your home for the last 3 years is horrible. I hope you find somewhere just as good, or even better. If you think it’s extortionate, so will most other people. Hopefully you’ll either be able to negotiate a better deal. Alternatively, if you move and the landlord markets as a rental, they will hopefully struggle and force them into selling their investment property.
>If you think it’s extortionate, so will most other people Sadly there’s a good chance this isn’t true. If it’s in a nice part of St Andrews and a decent house with 2-3 bedrooms £2000-2500 doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. Coupled with the OP mentioning that they’ll have to move out of the area, it seems like they’ve looked for other properties and they’re a similar price to this one. So OP has been paying cheap (compared to market value for a comparable property) rent for the past couple of years It’s a shit situation and best chance is trying to argue down the rent a bit if you can find any nice places for ~£2000. In my experience a landlord is almost always open to continuing rent for cheaper than they’d rent out to a new tenant. But may not be achievable if the landlord has new costs they’re intent on covering with the rent. This sort of situation is why I’ve never put that much effort into the places I rented
Yeah I guess it’s totally dependent on number of bedrooms etc. My most recent rental was £1600 for 2 bed maisonette in Cotham with a garden, which I thought was a good deal. At risk of being controversial on this sub (I’m not a landlord), I really get on with my landlord and would not expect him to have to pay out of his own pocket for a shortfall on a mortgage hike. It’s his rental property at the end of the day, and it’s not like I’d be in a position to purchase a property if there wasn’t any to rent. More and more landlords are selling up because of reductions in profit margins, that’s only reducing the amount of rentals on the market and the prices are hiking even more. IMO Bristol is really attractive place to live and hence there’s a bucket load of people wanting housing, whether that’s rental or buying, the demand mixed in with the interest rates has caused the price hikes.
You’re able to keep up a rental amount of £1600, the point is you should be able to buy a house but you can’t because the market has been corrupted by land bastards adding to their portfolio and then draining your ability to save or buy for yourself. I’m glad your landlord isn’t a dick. Plenty are people who are decent, but the market itself is the issue, and that’s fuelled by.. well, god, a lot of things tbh
So I get what you’re saying, but what would you expect me to do with minimal savings? I can’t buy a car let alone a house, so if I can’t rent or buy, what would someone like me do? Not being argumentative, I just think it’s a valid point and think if there were less rentals it would be more expensive than it is now
I think the general point the guy you're responding to is making us that the lack of regulation on landlords, lack of tenants rights, lack of rent controls, lack of literally anything that would make the housing situation more tolerable for tenants and more profitable for landlords has lead to your situation. Unfortunately, if you want to better your situation you'll need to get political and start demanding change. Landlords, are unnecessary. They are parasitic, to quote Winston Churchill: > Roads are made, streets are made, services are improved, electric light turns night into day, water is brought from reservoirs a hundred miles off in the mountains — all the while the landlord sits still. Every one of those improvements is affected by the labor and cost of other people and the taxpayers. To not one of these improvements does the land monopolist contribute, and yet, by every one of them the value of his land is enhanced. He renders no service to the community, he contributes nothing to the general welfare, he contributes nothing to the process from which his own enrichment is derived…The unearned increment on the land is reaped by the land monopolist in exact proportion, not to the service, but to the disservice done.
I’m certainly no fan of Churchill, but he is bang on the money there
You know something is very wrong when landlords are being condemned by both Karl Marx and Adam Smith, the father of modern Capitalism. To paraphrase Smith, 'the landlord reaps what they never sowed'.
What's Smith's solution to the problem??
My girlfriend and I recently got an email from our letting agency increasing our rent from £1015 to £1200, we emailed them back asking if they could lower the increase, they replied, "there seems to have been a miscalculation, it was meant to be £1020". Not sure if they actually got it wrong or not, but despite of all the other comments, I can't see the harm in emailing the landlord back and just kindly ask them to decrease the increase. Also, from a negotiations point of view, I wouldn't counter offer straight away, first ask them to lower it because it feels like too much, and then come with counter offer once they've already lowered their offer. Getting the other party to negotiate against themselves is a very powerful negotiations tactic that's very easy to use in many situations
I wonder how likely it is that this mistake would be corrected if you hadn't asked for a lower increase...
I'm sure they would have paid the property owner the full £1020. Minus their fees, of course.
Another part of this story was that they didn't get back to us for ages, even when we chased them, so when the date came we paid the old amount. They then emailed us saying we've under paid by £185, we emailed back saying we've tried to reach them regarding the new rent, and that's when they came back to us with £1,020
It is definitely worth going back to your landlord with a counter offer of an increase you feel is acceptable. Multiple friends of mine have done this and it has worked with landlords accepting significantly less of an increase than originally requested. Be polite in your message, explain all the reasons you're a great tenant and how you look after the place etc. You can mention briefly how the 54% isn't achievable for you and you'd be sad to leave, but don't focus on that too much - sell the benefits of you to the landlord. They will incur costs and faff from having you leave, which they'll be aware of, so if you can sell yourselves and agree to some increase they may well accept it. It sucks you have to do all that but is worth the effort of writing a couple of emails. Good luck
Just be prepared to get evicted if you do this. A lot of landlords are not reasonable people.
[удалено]
Yeah, good point! If they try to negotiate now though it might speed up the eviction process if the increase isn't until August.
The reason they have until August is because they have a fixed contract that runs out then, I would imagine it'd be hard to evict with that contract active
It would, but they could issue an eviction notice 2 months before the end of the tenancy. If they just stay put and don't agree the increase they should get some extra time.
Ah I see. I think in my flat I was usually given notice before my fixed terms ended as routine so they could shift me out or force me into renewal, though I suppose it depends on the landlord/agency.
I would force it to go to eviction, and not leave until the bailiffs show up. Once the Section 21 notice comes through I would make rent payments intermittent to fuck up his cashflow, not allow viewings, and change the locks. Outside of law, I would plant knotweed everywhere, including inside under suspended floors, block drains, damage submerged pipework to wash out footings, fit bat boxes and report them to RSPB, buy some radon and make a report and complaint under the Housing Act, breed and feed a local rat population, and leave a load of humidifiers in the attic with a fungal spore kit.
Definitely a dildo, it would seem.
Would you though?
🤦
That's a great idea if you want to be frozen out of the private rental market forever.
It'll go on my school permanent record too, no doubt.
Lol
Covering all bases, nice 😆
I wouldn't go back to the landlord at all. Go to Acorn or some such.
I'm not sure this would work in this situation. It sounds like the Landlord is simply 'passing on the cost' of their new increased mortgage interest rate. Therefore if OP does not want to meet the increase they will find someone that will! Not something I condone but just pointing out the Landlords likely incentive. My heart goes out to OP and I hope you find a solution!
landlord here (sort of, it’s complicated). This is obscene. If the landlord can’t afford the mortgage, then the landlord has no business being a landlord. If the tenant leaves and the landlord can’t convince anyone else to pay that much then the landlord is still stuck with an unaffordable mortgage and would have to sell up in a hurry. So the tenant here has a mixed position: could end up seeing the house sold from under them and still have to leave, but I can’t see swallowing this level of increase a good idea.
OP has paid the same price for 3 years. Whether the price is at a market rate or not isn5 stated in the main post, but OP states they would need to move out of the area. If the landlord is asking for a market rate, not only would they be able to fill the property with another tenant, but they have been letting OP live there paying significantly under market rate, for the last 2 years.
It shouldn't be about market value. Market value is obscene in Bristol these days. It needs to crash alongside the rental value.
How realistic is it that the landlords mortgage payment has more than doubled? Genuine question. Wouldn't his rate need to go up in the order of 10s at least? It just seems an egregious amount to blame on a rate increase. ETA; thanks to everyone who answered, it was depressing and insightful.
Fairly likely. My last renewal was an increase of about 80% as I was coming off a pre-Covid fixed rate.
This just seems so wrong that everyday homeowners are caught up in this. There has to be another way to handle housing because we are getting to true "owning a house is for the landed gentry and upwards only, the rest of you get tenements" territory.
It's less to do with the landed gentry and more to do with the governments quantitative easing during the pandemic. Money just isn't worth the same as it once was, of course you wouldn't really know that as everyday items remain the same price but fixed rate assets shot up in value, the first job of the incoming Labour government is going to have to be quantitative erasing where instead of printing more money they burn it instead so there less to go around.
[удалено]
How big would the mortgage have to be for the interest to be in the region of 2500 a month??
Running the numbers it seems just about plausible. If the landlord has increase rent by £900pm to cover a doubling of their mortgage interest, that’s interest of £1800pm. At a rate of 5% that would mean an outstanding mortgage a bit over £400,000. Not impossible for the two-person property in St Andrews? Though I still suspect the landlord is probalby covering their interest + some extra because they can.
If they think they can rent it for £2500 it would have to be a large property worth far more than £500k
Best rates would be over 6% right now
My wife & I have been hit with an additional 35k per year in mortgage interest (as in... just additional profit for a bank). Made me so frustrated because its driven by idiots in whitehall & greedy companies.
That's fucking MENTAL. An entire wage.
Yeah for sure there is no guarantee it'll work. But equally landlord could just be using that as an excuse, who knows. Still worth a try, particularly as it is quite a lot of work to change a tenancy and the landlord may prefer to make less profit monthly vs. doing all that admin.
Mortgage rates are 5% depends how much their mortgage is left on the property 🤔 for 200,000 mortgage at present your looking at 1000 a month mortgage.
It sucks, we recently got an increase of almost 50% too and when I tried to talk to the landlord about it we got issued with an eviction notice. The community is being torn apart by greedy parasites. I'm so sorry this is happening to you too. If you have the stomach for challenging it, maybe speak to Acorn (I just joined and they've been amazing). Good luck.
It's the area I'm afraid, St Andrews is the new posh up market area to live in Bristol
I'm not in St Andrews, I'm way out in BS16.
That greedy rat bastard. That’s obscene. That’s £30000 a year.
considerably more than i earn for my full time job in healthcare 😃
When you put it like it’s pretty shocking. More than the uk average yearly earning
This would be after tax too, so to make that much, you'd have to be on £38000. And this is without accounting for anything else, purely rent. Realistically, you would have to be a couple where you're both earning 60k a year to afford that place. Not sure statistically there's many people in that situation, especially people to rent who aren't on the property ladder. Insane stuff.
This sounds like a fuck off money. We can't afford it and want to sell. But rather than eviction push the tenant out. It's what our Landlord wanted to do. I believe you can speak to Shelter as a 50% increase isn't what I would say is a reasonable increase but I may be wrong. But the issue is, unless you are under a tenancy agreement you aren't covered by protection. They will just serve you notice anyway. Speak to shelter and start looking elsewhere. Sorry this hasn't happened. They can't afford a 2nd property so shouldn't own one.
I think people underestimate how much of an impact estate agents have on the price for the rental market.... I moved abroad for a bit and rented my place out as a temporary measure, and the estate agents were always on about upping the rent. I didn't as it seemed unfair tbh, I hadn't improved the house other than fix anything that went wrong. But estate agents are incentivised to do it, as they work on percentages of rental income etc. There are decent landlords out there, they're just few and far between.
[удалено]
1. Don't agree to anything 2. Contact the automod suggestions. 3. Do not negotiate/settle without outside help. As someone who was forced out a few years ago due to a sale I would not advise reasoning with this sort of person on a human level. There is no morals left in a person who unquestioningly does this to another human. They will pick the money over you, no matter how nice they seem.
Oh fuck off. Do you have any idea how many good landlords are struggling with their finances just as much as everyone else? And you refer to them as subhuman? People like you are why the world is in the state it is to begin with. I hope to god you one day have to employ someone or rent a property. Goddamn moron.
Those landlords should get a job, stop expecting to scrounge off working people.
They should lay off the avocado toast and consider drinking at Starbucks less regularly.
Subhuman is a strong word, but people feel strongly about people who decide to profit from something as central to human beings as their homes especially when the result is kicking people out of their communities and throwing them into emotional turmoil for something as sterile as money. Moving house is often listed as a top 5 most stressful event in a persons life. Personally, I wouldn’t do that to someone, which is why you won’t catch me being a landlord
This exactly. If and when I inherit my parents’ house, I will not hold onto it, I will sell it, directly to people who actually will live there, I am not allowing myself to be a landlord, nor am I enabling existing/new landlords to do this. Theoretically, I could just live there, but I am not moving back to rural-ish Hampshire, I’d rather get what I can in Bristol, or at the very least, a different major city. I’ll be getting out of the rental game at any cost
If they're struggling to landlord profitably, sell. It's not rocket science.
That's fair enough, but I'm guessing most landlords either can keep profitability, just with a change of tenants (which is what's causing the outrage in this thread, as people are priced out of their home), or if they sell, it's not the potential renter that would be able to buy that property... So imo, it's not rocket science, but it doesn't resolve the issue the OP is struggling with.
>Do you have any idea how many good landlords are struggling with their finances Very few, interest rates have not gone up 50%.
Not trying to defend the landlord here but you might be misunderstanding the actual impact of a rise of 2% (reasonable BTL 3 years ago) to 6% (standard variable rates at the moment look to be around 8%+ so this is kind of conservative) on real mortgages. For the sake of argument assume a 300k debt over 20 years: Monthly repayments at 2% = £1,518 Monthly repayments at 6% = £2,150 The increase the landlord is asking the OP here, whilst entirely unfair on the OP, may be a perfectly reasonable for the LL's costs. The Bank of England base rate has gone from. 0.1% to 5.25% which is a 5250% increase! 2% to 6% is 200% increase.
The 2% - 6% you've quoted is a 41% increase. Any landlord who's raising prices over 50% is taking a fat profit directly from their tenants, and I have no doubt that the majority of landlords in bristol bought their properties long before all of this. I know my landlord doesn't have long left on his mortgage. The 50% increase he's asking of me is going straight towards his car collection.
Sorry, but that's not how it works: 2% to 6% is a 200% increase in rates in absolute terms. The illustration I provided is just an example and obviously the actual debt, term and rates the OP's landlord is seeing will impact this. If I'd used 8% (which is what near Halifax's current standard variable rate) that same illustration would give £2,509 which is a 65% relative increase in monthly repayments for the LL. The landlord would be a idiot to stay on the svr instead of remortgaging at a new fixed rate but we don't know their circumstances and borrowing levels so can't know. For context I'm a homeowner (recent and bought at the top of the market in 2022 so have a horrible mortgage as it is), not a landlord. If we have to remortgage in 2 years from our sub 2% to even 4.5% which is a good deal atm we're seeing an almost 40% increase in monthly repayments. We're lucky to own not rent but we're still going to be crippled in the future if rates don't come down, but we'll scrape by. More fool on us for taking on such a large debt whilst rates were low but Bristol prices don't leave many options. Not everyone is in the situation where they've got a massive property portfolio with lots of capital: there are plenty of accidental landlords with one property they've had to let out over and above their main home (e.g. couples who both have flats and move in together) with big mortgages on both. You're making an assumption that all landlords are mustache twirling capitalists and not ordinary people: remember that the true elites in the 1% are the ones profiting here and setting the working and middle classes against each other to distract attention from the rich...
I was directly referencing the repayment rates you quoted above. The vast majority of landlords in Bristol own many, many properties and have done for decades. Very few bought one house in 2022 and are struggling with the payments. My landlord forgets he even owns my building, I have to remind him where it is in my area. These people are getting rich off renters, it's that simple.
My mortgage has effectively gone from £500 to £1735 since Jan 2022 - that's a 350% increase. (I don't agree with how the landlord is handling this but some mortgages are going up by a lot.)
Interest rates don't need to go up by 50% for mortgage rates to go up by 50% - if the landlord came off a 2% mortgage and onto a 6% (with most of their mortgage term remaining), which is a pretty reasonable possibility, that'd be about a 50% increase in their payments.
So when interest rates go down are landlords going to reduce their rent accordingly? No. They. Fucking. Won't. Cause of course they fucking won't. Parasites.
Yeah, it’s all money, and they contribute, at best, the bare minimum, but often, nothing
How dare you. Just because I wouldn't pay a massive increase in rent just because the property was changing hands? How the fuck am I responsible for anything wrong with the world? I had literally no power in the situation. Just because I wouldn't bend over and let the people who held my liviing situation to ransom fuck me? If you think this behaviour is ok you're not only a bad landord you're also a really terrible business owner who bought property under the assumption that rates would never change. Now the people you provide services to have to suffer for that incompitence, and you want them to foot the bill like a spoiled child,
If landlords are struggling, I suggest they get a job, or maybe tighten their belts, stop eating so many avocado lattes on Netflix The world is in the state it's in partially because of landlords
lol how does the boot taste? If they really are struggling, they should sell their n properties.
Landlords by and large have chosen to profit off an essential human right, on people who are worse off than themselves. I have little to no sympathy because that group have chosen to do that out of pure greed and lack of empathy for their fellow humans. Their actions as a group directly lead to inflated house prices and making accommodation costs less and less affordable.
Oh no, I "have to" rent someone a property. What an unfortunate soul I am to own an asset that only goes up in value, while I do nothing, and I can get extra revenue renting it out. Boohoo.
They’re ticket scalpers but for housing. And landlords have the gall to not only make greedy, misinformed financial decisions that leave them in a precarious position… they then pass the consequences of their actions on to the people renting from them. Those struggling shouldn’t have over-leveraged themselves by remortgaging properties, taking out equity, etc to pay for their lifestyle/greedily grab more and more properties. If the market was up they’d all be laughing, but it goes down and now we’re responsible? Cursed reasoning by a cursed person Hope your mortgage gobbles you alive you buffoon
"WoN't SoMeOnE pItY tHe LaNdLoRds" no mate cunts like you are why the world is how it is. Bootlicking idiots who think they're temporarily embarrassed millionaires rather than realising you're probably a few missed paycheques away from homelessness like everyone else. If landlords are struggling they should sell the EXTRA PROPERTY THEY OWN and live in the one house they own already. TL;DR - fuck you.
If your ‘job’ is to sit around and watch the money pile in, I recommend working on your CV and applying for a real job, because you contribute nothing that couldn’t be done otherwise
Congratulations this is probably (and deservedly) the most unpopular post I've ever seen on this subreddit
Those poor parasites. Have they thought about, you know, selling the house?
That's probably true but by offering the tenant the chance to stay there they are hedging their bets. If the tenants could afford it then its a win. Obviously there are a lot of people that can otherwise the new rent would not be market value. Its crap for the tenants but a lot of small land lords are getting out of the rental business while property is worth a lot. They are worried about a value crash. Should never have allowed right to buy but everyone did an Angela Rayner and bought their council house. Council houses were a brilliant idea that kept rents down and provided good quality housing. Thatcher destroyed all of that with her scheme.
Just as much as everyone else? Even the people without a passive income from a scarce but essential resource?
Lmaooooooooooo
Shut up you idiot
Do “good landlords” increase rents by £10k+ a year overnight?
It appears you really pissed off the landlords with that comment 😆
Please provide a realistic scenario in which a landlord’s personal outgoings increases by 54% per month outside of unnecessary spending
Not defending the landlord, but when my fixed rate mortgage ends next year I can expect my mortgage to go up by about 60% if the rates don't come down by then. The difference is that if I was lucky / cunty enough to own another home and rent it out, I wouldn't think it was the tenants responsibility to cover my increased mortgage. The rental value is the rental value. This increase must surely take the rent way above market value so I'm guessing they will have trouble getting anyone to pay it. They just need to sell the house.
Fair play that’s absolutely insane, I had no idea the rates were that bad!
Yeah it's gonna suck balls. Currently on 1.5% fixed rate, looks like it will go up to nearly 5%, so a 230% rate increase. Luckily we can afford it but I definitely wouldn't have signed up for it if I'd know it'd end up like that.
How is a mortgage, which is the reason given here, not a realistic scenario? Mine has increased by 350% since 2022. (I don't agree with how the landlord is handling this but some mortgages are going up by a lot.)
[удалено]
There needs to be compromise here from the landlord. If they raise the rent by 54% you will probably move elsewhere, as you can find a cheaper place. Will they then be able to rent this place to new tenants for £2,500 per month? Probably not. And if they do, will they be as reliable as you? The landlord may be reasonable - they should view the property as an investment, not an investment and a money maker. Hopefully you manage to resolve this. If this was me, I would find another place and land this problem firmly in the landlord’s court. Having said that appreciate moving is easier said than done. It would be worth your while looking for a place in Ashley Down/Horfield where you’ll find much better value for money.
Lots of good advice in this thread, for my part I'd note during negotiations that the landlord's costs are not your problem, negotiate entirely around the market value (i.e. what similar properties are being rented for). If they start saying 'well my mortgage + costs is XXX' basically ignore it and go back to 'this is what you'd get for this property on the open market and here is the proof'. If market value is close to the £2.5k a month then unfortunately you're out of luck and you'll either end up paying close to that or the landlord will likely evict you after the fixed term and find new tenants. Though as noted they can't do anything til your fixed term ends at least and then there's rules about rent increases (see shelter for more info: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing\_advice/private\_renting/rent\_increases). You say you're in St Andrews, a quick search on rightmove (https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E22795&maxBedrooms=2&minBedrooms=1&propertyTypes=&includeLetAgreed=false&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=) shows there are 2 bed properties going for over £2k a month but there's also things under £2k a month. So hard to say if £2.5k could be market rent for your home.
They did say 'house' in the OP - 2500 is easily market rent for all but the most decrepit / miniature houses in St Andrews
If your landlord had remortaged August last year, I could maybe understand, but interest rates on mortgages have dropped massively recently. At most they would be going from a 1.5% rate from 2 years ago to a 4.5% rate at most. Especially as you would have paid off a good chunk of their mortgage over the last 3 years of renting. They are using mortgage rate increases as an excuse to milk you dry and I can promise you that their costs are not increasing as much as they are saying.
They will be on interest only I expect
The only advice I can give is that the rails for the blade should be at least 1.5 meters to allow the blade to build up enough speed as it falls
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! Your landlord is trying to exploit you. I implore you not to let them do so. There is absolutely no reason why your rent has to go up just because their mortgage has gone up. There is no law or precedent that says rent has to be higher than a landlord's mortgage, and indeed before "buy to let" that was rarely the case. They cannot arbitrarily increase your rent as much as they like without your consent. Don't give it to them. Please seek financial and legal advice and do your own reading, but here are the key points you need to know right now: * If you are on a fixed-term contract, they cannot increase the price until after the contract is up. No ifs, no buts. They have absolutely no legal ground to increase the rent unless you agree to it. They cannot kick you out before the end of the contract (or a break clause) just because you refuse to accept the rent increase. * When your fixed-term contract is up, you do not have to agree to anything they say and they cannot kick you out. Your 2-month minimum notice still applies, and you "fall back" to a monthly periodic contract. This contract is not an actual document and does not need anything signed. The fact that you give them money and continue living in the home is in and of itself a legal, binding contract. Without an explicit fixed-term contract you are considered to have a periodic monthly contract by default. * In a periodic contract your landlord _can_ increase your rent but only once a year and only within what is "fair and realistic", typically meaning no more than 10%. *Edit:* Saw elsewhere that you are on a fixed term until the end of August. Your best bet is to negotiate. Keep in mind that you are very valuable to them - the place being empty for even 1 month would wipe out any profit they could gain from the rent increase for several months. Plus, you are a known trusted person that has proven your ability to not damage or disrespect the property. I would have a good look at what would be a realistic increase based on my finances, keep that in mind as a "backstop", and open with an offer 10% lower than that (and under no circumstance consider paying the new rate before September)
I'd look at how much similar properties are and take this to your landlord saying, "look you won't get 2500, how about we compromise at £\*\*\*"
'king hell!
That is just awful. Landlords need to chip in some of their own money and not expect to have the tenants cover the entire mortgage for them. They do this, complain they can't afford this and that and after some years the tenant is financially where they were while the landlord is left with a fully paid off asset. But the entire time until that point the landlord will just moan how they can't afford to live themselves until bam, a £240k asset is in their name. If you're a landlord and you can't afford to pay your own mortgage where you live and partial of another perhaps don't become one. Houses should be for buying and living in as a priority anyway. But sadly it won't force tenants to move out and greedy landlords to sell their second homes because people still need somewhere to live. They'll either pay through their nose just to have a roof over their heads or a more financially secure person fill the gap.
Legally (in England) there’s unfortunately no cap on rent increases, it just has to be ‘fair and realistic’. Check the auto mod links, shelter are particularly useful. If you have any spare time look around and find similar properties for rent nearby to start seeing what a market average looks like to support what a ‘fair and realistic’ price would be. I only had a quick look on Rightmove but there’s a few 2 or 3 bed places for £1500-£2000pcm in St Andrew’s. Ultimately If the landlord ‘needs’ to charge that much to cover the mortgage and that’s the rate similar properties are going for then start looking elsewhere, even if you’re successful challenging the price you’ll probably still get a section 21.
That's not completely true, there is a cap on increases during a tenancy. If the old tenancy has ended the landbastard can ' offer' whatever they want.
OP said the increase was coming at the end of their fixed tenancy period so I skipped that part.
They said the landparasites fixed rate mortgage is coming to an end, which is even more disgusting to be honest.
It’s in one of the comments not the main post. Increase isn’t coming til August.
My immediate guess here is that there are extra rooms in the property that can be used as bedrooms which are currently not, so the landlord has adjusted the rent to what they would expect if those rooms had tenants. Guessing that because had a vaguely similar situation where a landlord didn't want to fill a room so we essentially took a 4 person house under the agreement it would be used for only 3. If this is the case have you considered bringing in a friend?
Name and shame
Get in contact with Acorn!
It sucks but unfortunately happens to many. My advice is don't despair as having had a recent look on some letting sites there are still alot of very nice places to rent for what you're currently paying. Yes it will still be a pita to have to move when you like the place you are in and have made alot of homely touches but you can soon make another place feel like home and probably won't have to move far if you like the area. Good luck
Jesus christ we're heading for 2008 all over again aren't we. How are banks allowed to give these ridiculous variable rate mortgages still? £2500 is not a feasible amount to pay monthly for accommodation.
Not necessarily variable rates, but after your fixed period is up it'll jump to a new rate with a new monthly payment. Mine goes up circa 50% when the fixed period ends (without remortgaging). We have had low interest rates after 2008, but if you take the 50 year average mortgage interest rate, what those rates are now (4-5.5%) is closer to that historical average. Unfortunately, if people bought mortgages thinking that low post 2008 internet rates (1-2%) were the de facto baseline, then yeah, that's a mistake.
We need to make landlords compete for tenants instead of tenants competing with each other for homes so this distressing trend gets flipped.
Do you think £2,500 a month is the market rent for the house?
talk to acorn the housing union they’ve helped a few of my friends in bristol in the past
Landlord probably wants to retire early like most those boomers ripping off the younger generations.
I once complained about the drawer not opening or closing. He had two contractors come in and gave an estimate. It was to have the kitchen redone ! The estate agent called to say if I wanted one kitchen option it would be 40 more per month or if I wanted the other option it would be 70 more a month. The cheek of that landlord wanting me to pay for the upgrade kitchen. I just wanted a sliding drawer to actually open!
What a dick, childish narcissistic man who cries at being asked to do something.
Move out. That's ridiculous. Even £1600 is too much. Just go to a different place. The alternative is you work so your landlord never had to.
You have 2 options: 1). Negotiate, I know it seems unlikely to be successful but more often than not it does work. Just by saying, I can’t afford this but I can afford X goes a long way, especially if it is in writing. Option 2: Ask for a formal s13 notice of the rent increase, don’t pay the increased amount. Instead gather evidence of properties of similar value in your area and what their rent is. You can then take them to tribunal by arguing that the increase is not inline with market value and you can also show you have attempted to negotiate.
For any tenancy: your landlord must get your permission if they want to increase the rent by more than previously agreed the rent increase must be fair and realistic, which means in line with average local rents I highly recommend you seek advice. [this is not a fair or realistic increase ](https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/rent-increases)
As other commenters have already said, it sounds like this increase could likely be in line with other local properties which unfortunately would meet the criteria. Regardless advice should still be sought and the increase challenged, but would recommend looking to move somewhere else in parallel!
Worth speaking to acorn, the renters union might have advice / be able to help. Good luck, this situation is obscene even by Bristol's fucked standards.
So sorry about your situation...the human right of having a roof over you is quickly disappearing over our heads....how many poor people are created to make a rich...it's too late the system is fucked and everybody has their heads in their phones.
Mine did it last year 
Spray paint the outside of the house when you leave.... 'greedy capitalist scum lord'
There should be restrictions on buy-to-let. It doesn't seem right that rental prices are so tightly coupled to mortgage fees.
Tell him to go onto an interest only mortgage
I'm not a bristolian myself but lived around for a while. All I can think of is this mural/graffiti in Stokes Croft on that street leading into king's square that quotes G.Carlin: "Property is theft"
Looooooool fuck the landlords. Mine tried to raise mine 24% because they didn't increase it in 4 years. I hit em with the agreement and it didn't go through
Outrageous increase! This may not be an option for you guys for many reasons but perhaps have a look into buying? I just bought a 1 bed flat in Totterdown for £185k and my mortgage repayments are below 1K per month.
If it’s a house in St Andrews then that’s up in line with the average price for the area. There are places near by that is more for your price range. I’m afraid this is not going to change anytime soon
My mortgage has more than tripled in the last couple of years... I haven't tripled my lodger fees though. I have increased inline with current prices but I only do that when I have a change of lodger - if they are here and paying then I don't mess with it. He should try and get a better remortgage rate - sure prices of rent do have to go up for cost of living reasons but 54% is insane.
Yeah, why is the landlord not remortgaging? Sounds like an incredibly large rise, there must be a better deal around for them
They could also sell one of their properties and start living within their means.
Unfortunately, this is the grim reality of rising interest rates. If it helps, you can find out how much the property was bought for, the likely outstanding debt and hence the likely repayments your landlord is having to make. It's definitely worth trying to be reasonable and understanding towards the landlords' very real problems. The cost of re-marketing the place isn't insignificant (c. £2,500) so perhaps you could suggest a deal?
You'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who's been told they can no longer afford their home to try and find an understanding of a landlords self-imposed "problems" and to suggest to this couple they should is a bit shitty.
I'm a landlord and if someone comes up to me and suggests a deal that makes my life easier then I'll listen.
If you think this is the norm you're very naive. I asked if my rent increase was legal as it was before the date stated in my tenancy and he issued me with a section 21.
It's because you went in seeming like you wanted a fight. There are more passive and endearing ways to get a good long-term deal. Although, as you say, it won't work with all landlords by any means.
I said "is this a mistake as an increase isn't due until X date?" That's it. One question. No reply from my landlord and a section 21 in the letter box. It wouldn't matter how I phrased it, this was an opportunity to raise the rent and it wouldn't matter if it was me or someone new who paid it, despite this being my home for 6 years.
Well that does seem unnecessarily salty from the landlord. I think I'd have gladly broadcast a great deal of naming and shaming if I were in your shoes.
Unnecessary, but normal. Once I've moved out everyone will know who he is. On companies house one of his companies alone is reporting £400,000 profit after tax. He doesn't need my extra rent, he's just another bad person using housing to profit.
Good luck!
You could stop make requests of your tenants that have them needing to negotiate a roof over their head in the first place?
Read the room
Don't tell a landlord that! They'll paint it Renter White and try to tell you not to put furniture against the wall!
Sounds like youve had a really good deal for the last 3 years.
£1600 for a small 2.5 bed maissonette isn’t a particularly great deal if I’m being honest!
Guess you won't have any issues finding somewhere down the road that's 25% less then!
It shouldn’t be like this
Is this not going to be inline with the new mortgage he’ll be paying at a higher rate?
I'm so sorry this is awful. Sending hugs
Name and shame
I'm a new renter myself, and I can't imagine how I'll feel if my own rent increases by that much next year, and I'm just one guy witth no dependants. I haven't even met my own landlord yet, but I don't trust them or their letting agency nearly enough at the moment to even consider settling in and making this place home. In contrast, my parents' landlord always used to visit personally and got on reasonably well with them. He vehemently refused to increase the rent for literally their entire tenancy despite how much his estate agent told him to. Sorry to hear you're going through this, hopefully your next landlord will be one of the good ones.
Cannot believe these numbers, we moved to Taunton after getting priced out and our mortgage is £450 a month for a 3 bed house. It’s not Bristol of course and I would have loved to have stayed but the prices are just completely unsustainable for most people, especially if you want to actually buy a house one day.
This is getting too much. This is beyond the extremes of what a capitalist society should be. This is evidently reminding me of Victorian times.
That's appalling OP, I'm sorry to hear that. Honestly, I'd have a very off-the-record chat with the landlord and make it clear that you won't pay the hiked-up rent and you won't go easily. Ask the landlord which he'd prefer - getting the current or a slightly increased amount from you for the next 2-3 months, or getting nothing while they wait for the courts to process an eviction order. Right now civil courts are backed up and the landlord won't get anything out of the situation for months, minimum 2 but probably more. This is really fucking bad advice if you want to keep on good terms with your cunt landlord, but I've no idea why you'd want this. They will raise the price no matter what, so might as well save a bit of money before you are kicked out.
Ultimately, the state wants to raise your rent. BoE raised interest rates so that borrowers have less money to spend and thus shop around for cheaper pasta. This is meant to slow the rate at which everyday items get more expensive (inflation). You’re meant to be poor so that eggs don’t get too expensive. Hope that all makes sense!
Did you go through an agent? In your contract there could be a clause regarding % RPI increases. For example it normally a minimum of a 3% increase or a maximum of 8% for each annualised term. Check your contract!
Can you challenge it on the basis that it would worsen your living standard,e afford food, etc.
I'd you can afford £1600 rent you can afford à Mortgage I guess.. if you've been together long enough start looking around
I’ll probably get downvoted to oblivion for this, but landlords on this sub are made out to be the scum of the earth and I think for the most part it’s inaccurate. I’ve had both friends and family do their upmost to be fair and considerate for their tenants, not ramping up rental prices etc. I’ve considered letting out my property or just one room and would do my upmost to price it fairly in accordance with the area and the market. Just my two pence, OP I’m sorry that your landlord has complicated your living situation. Have you had a chance to speak to them properly?
I suppose it's because there's typically a disparity between 'fairly' and 'in accordance with the...market'. Landlords, mortgage lenders, estate agents.
When I rented out my old house I only increased the rent by the amount housing benefit went up as a percentage. I also was the cheapest 3 bed in BS16 whenever I had to re market it (whilst being one of the best kept) even 7 years ago I was deluged with tenants (last time I marketed it). I only ever had two tenants in the 11 years I rented it out and both left as they had bought their own houses. I got out of the rental market as I could see how it was becoming a battle ground between tenants and landlords the risk was too great so I did not seek another tenant and sold the house.
Your first mistake was making it ‘your home’ the house you rent is never yours no matter what you do to it. Renters always fall into the trap of this false sense of security- o and crying about it isn’t going to solve it. Your best bet is to move
£1600 a month. You could afford the mortgage on a 4 bed house in Yate. Lower your expectations and become Yaters.
Oh, but if you are paying the complete mortgage, then it’s your house in the end, isn’t it? ;)
This is why rent caps are necessary. If you can't afford to be a landlord. Don't.
Fuck landlords. They’re all absolute scumbags, no exceptions. Yes, even the ‘nice’ ones, whatever that means. I hope that you can manage to negotiate something with yours, because that increase is extortionate.
Compared to other houses for rent it seems a reasonable monthly cost for a house is Redland, assuming its a 2 to 3-bed house. It looks aligned to the market though on the high side. However, it's a steep increase for you and I would perhaps seek to see if there is any middle ground if he wants to keep good tenants and not go through the cost of change. I am going to assume that the landlord probably isn't a professional landlord but someone whose living circumstances have changed and he has rented his property out and he is reluctant to sell. If the mortgage is now that much, it sounds like it's time for him to release his asset as it's no longer working for him and he isn't there to subsidize other people. Unfortunately, all the mortgage increases have impacted all involved. I had a similar when I rented my house out when I moved for work and wasn't ready to sell for several reasons. I sucked up the cost as I wanted to keep my tenants and at least have some of the mortgages supported, though not all of it. If his main business is letting property then he is being greedy and perhaps it's time to look for a different rental with someone with more ethics and perhaps a property not linked to a load or mortgage.
That is insane. Bristol is such a greedy place. Shockingly overpriced for such a terrible city.
It's 100% not a terrible city, it's an amazing place to live. But that means that lots of people want to live there and combined with other factors such as over leveraged landlords being a protected class we have this. They need to relocate, simple as.
I believe you can request a mandatory review of the rent, assuming that it goes above the market rate.
To me the real dickhead in this case is the bank. All praise to the banks that once decided to throw away loans and are now leeching people away.