Rent increase.

Sinister Kid

Hi All,

I'm in my rented apartment just over 4 years. I got notification of an upcoming rent increase. All done how it should be, 4% & two years since the last one.

The thing is, my landlord swapped letting agents just under a year ago & they are under the impression I am paying €100 less that I have been paying.
All correspondence from this letting agent says that the rent will increase 4% to X amount, which is €50 below what I am currently paying.

My landlord has a good few rental properties & I'd be willing to bet that the letting agent is just increasing any of the rents that they legally can.




My question is, What should I do!?

Do I keep my mouth shut & keep my direct debit the same amount as it has been the last two years? (which is €50 more than the new paperwork says)

Do I speak up? Tell them what I am currently paying & take the increase.


My initial thinking was to keep quiet & just put the extra few quid by in my bills account so it is there if I'm ever asked for it.

km991148

If a new lease comes with the agreed amount as X - 50 and is signed I would reckon its all ok. Sneaky as fu(k but all ok.***

*** Fair warning - I am just some random person on the internet with no legal qualification.

handlemaster

Perhaps be honest. Carry that through to the rest of your life and you will be ok.

Tenigate

I'd ignore the letter and continue paying the standing order as normal. No harm at all having some of the landlord's money in your bank account.. think of it like a deposit in case they breach conditions of your lease.

bikeman1

This happened to one of my friends. His apartment was part of a big group purchase. The wrote to him with his previous rent, stating it is now to be paid into such an account. He never received a lease for the higher amount. So he just paid the revised lower amount. Nobody said anything and when he left he got his deposit back.

If it was me, I would pay the lower amount, but save your current rent plus 4%, just in case they come looking. Sounds like they have their paperwork all mixed up, not your fault.

jobbridge4life

Sinister Kid wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm in my rented apartment just over 4 years. I got notification of an upcoming rent increase. All done how it should be, 4% & two years since the last one.

The thing is, my landlord swapped letting agents just under a year ago & they are under the impression I am paying €100 less that I have been paying.
All correspondence from this letting agent says that the rent will increase 4% to X amount, which is €50 below what I am currently paying.

My landlord has a good few rental properties & I'd be willing to bet that the letting agent is just increasing any of the rents that they legally can.




My question is, What should I do!?

Do I keep my mouth shut & keep my direct debit the same amount as it has been the last two years? (which is €50 more than the new paperwork says)

Do I speak up? Tell them what I am currently paying & take the increase.


My initial thinking was to keep quiet & just put the extra few quid by in my bills account so it is there if I'm ever asked for it.

Tell the Landlord cc'ing the agent. If you have sense you will not do anything to put your tenancy in danger.

dudara

If you decrease your payments, the landlord will surely notice.

I’d be upfront on this. I know it’s not in your favour, but for me, the consequences aren’t worth it.

BrokenArrows

Pay the lower amount but expect to be contacted and asked to pay the proper amount. Whether or not you want to pay this is up to you.

If you sign and accept the new agreement with the lower amount then there is nothing the landlord can do about it. Im pretty sure a signed contract will hold up regardless of who made the mistake in the price.

diceyreilly

My last rent increase was Aug 15. We got a new lease in the post now starting for Jan 18.
Rent has done from €1450 to €1590. Is that legal as it's over the 4 per cent?
There was some formula how they worked it out.

On a side not there is a fair bit of work to be done to the house like carpets need a deep clean and a bed or 2 prob need to be changed and some plumbing work, need a new vacuum cleaner. Is the landlord/letting agency liabile for all this.

Fian

diceyreilly wrote: »

My last rent increase was Aug 15. We got a new lease in the post now starting for Jan 18.
Rent has done from €1450 to €1590. Is that legal as it's over the 4 per cent?
There was some formula how they worked it out.

On a side not there is a fair bit of work to be done to the house like carpets need a deep clean and a bed or 2 prob need to be changed and some plumbing work, need a new vacuum cleaner. Is the landlord/letting agency liabile for all this.

No. Maximum rent is 1520. You are also entitled to 90 days notice of rent increase.

https://onestopshop.rtb.ie/calculator/rpz

diceyreilly

Fian wrote: »

No. Maximum rent is 1520. You are also entitled to 90 days notice of rent increase.

https://onestopshop.rtb.ie/calculator/rpz

Sent the letting agent an email. Cheers.

diceyreilly

This is the reply?


Thanks for your email, and I understand your concerns, but you will see the breakdown of the formula worked out on the new Lease, this is a new Tenancy as your four years are not expired... So its treated as a New tenancy, the formula and 4% still applies but you will see the workings are slightly different to the standard renewal of a lease within the Part 4.




Hope this makes sense...

Askthe EA

diceyreilly wrote: »

This is the reply?


Thanks for your email, and I understand your concerns, but you will see the breakdown of the formula worked out on the new Lease, this is a new Tenancy as your four years are not expired... So its treated as a New tenancy, the formula and 4% still applies but you will see the workings are slightly different to the standard renewal of a lease within the Part 4.




Hope this makes sense...

Doesnt make sense to me anyway. How is it a new tenancy? I think they misunderstand the definition of a tenancy. I make out it to be maxed at 1520 and I also question if they have served you the appropriate 90 days notice.

conf101

diceyreilly wrote: »

This is the reply?


Thanks for your email, and I understand your concerns, but you will see the breakdown of the formula worked out on the new Lease, this is a new Tenancy as your four years are not expired... So its treated as a New tenancy, the formula and 4% still applies but you will see the workings are slightly different to the standard renewal of a lease within the Part 4.




Hope this makes sense...

That sounds awfully shady to me. They're not allowed increas the rent by more than 4%, no matter how they try and explain it.

diceyreilly

They did give notice alright it's been lying at home for a while, I will email her back. Thanks.

diceyreilly

Just before I reply to her. The lease expired in August, we never heard anything from them so kept paying every month as normal for last few months. They did sent a new lease with the new price 90 days ago, left it as was 3 months notice as was not sure that we were all staying in the house.

So 4 per cent in the max they can charge?

Sinister Kid

Thanks for all the replies.

Just to clear one thing up, I was never going to decrease the amount I am paying to what was on the new agreement... that would be pure cheeky & bad form!

I was just thinking of leaving it as it is now which is €50 above what all the new paperwork says.

I use a separate account for all my bills, I will put the extra aside so if it is asked for It will be there; If not, I'll use the cash to replace the carpets in the hall & two bedrooms (will keep receipts).
I have already re-painted the entire apartment & put a wood floor in the living room at my own expense.

Caranica

Sinister Kid wrote: »

If not, I'll use the cash to replace the carpets in the hall & two bedrooms (will keep receipts).
I have already re-painted the entire apartment & put a wood floor in the living room at my own expense.

Did you have the landlord's consent?

dudara

conf101 wrote: »

That sounds awfully shady to me. They're not allowed increas the rent by more than 4%, no matter how they try and explain it.

The rent increase can be more than 4% depending on when the rent was last set and when the tenancy commenced. If you plug your figures into RTB calculator, it will tell you the allowed amount.

For instance we have been in our property for more than 3 years, without any rent increase, and the landlord recently notified us of an increase which is more than 4%, but it is the correct permissible amount

Sinister Kid

Caranica wrote: »

Did you have the landlord's consent?

Yes, he is fine with any improvements. I always email first anyway.

the_syco

diceyreilly wrote: »

this is a new Tenancy as your four years are not expired...

This part makes no sense.

Michael D Not Higgins

the_syco wrote: »

This part makes no sense.

It makes sense if you read it as "now expired". The RTA does define the further part 4 as a new tenancy in section 41 (1).

FinanceDublin

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

It makes sense if you read it as "now expired". The RTA does define the further part 4 as a new tenancy in section 41 (1).

But that doesn’t matter? I mean he could be a brand new tenant, makes no difference. 4% is the max increase on the property, not on the tenant

That being said, the point earlier re it potentially being more than 4% is valid, bang the figures in the RTB calculator.

Their email reads like pure waffle though.

Michael D Not Higgins

FinanceDublin wrote: »

But that doesn’t matter? I mean he could be a brand new tenant, makes no difference. 4% is the max increase on the property, not on the tenant

That being said, the point earlier re it potentially being more than 4% is valid, bang the figures in the RTB calculator.

Their email reads like pure waffle though.

It makes a difference to how the formula is worked out. The value of m would be 24 in an existing tenancy but 12 for a new tenancy. That would double the amount the rent could be increased and 1590 would be the new rent.

I'm not sure the RTB would agree that it's a new tenancy although the legislation says it is in plain text.