Rent Increase

jma

Hi! Hoping to get some advice...

Two friends of mine came to Donegal to study. They rented an apartment through a holiday letting agency. The agreement was that they could stay until September 2019, but the written agreement was from start of Feb 2019 to end of Feb and then, renewable monthly up to 18th September 2019. The agreed price was €90 per week.

However, they received a letter today from the agency, announcing a price increase to €120 per week, starting June 1st. They cited an increase in management costs, but it's fairly obvious that it's because they're coming into the Summer season and this is in a tourism area. I'm sure this was the plan from the start, as this is a ghost town in the winter months. They were lucky to rent it out Feb to June.

But I'm wondering if anyone has had similar experience and if there is anything they can do about it.

Technically, they are renting out the property long-term, but under what seems like a holiday letting.

It's very deceitful, if you ask me, especially since my friends are not from Ireland and would not have known what to expect, etc.

Fol20

jma wrote: »

Hi! Hoping to get some advice...

Two friends of mine came to Donegal to study. They rented an apartment through a holiday letting agency. The agreement was that they could stay until September 2019, but the written agreement was from start of Feb 2019 to end of Feb and then, renewable monthly up to 18th September 2019. The agreed price was €90 per week.

However, they received a letter today from the agency, announcing a price increase to €120 per week, starting June 1st. They cited an increase in management costs, but it's fairly obvious that it's because they're coming into the Summer season and this is in a tourism area. I'm sure this was the plan from the start, as this is a ghost town in the winter months. They were lucky to rent it out Feb to June.

But I'm wondering if anyone has had similar experience and if there is anything they can do about it.

Technically, they are renting out the property long-term, but under what seems like a holiday letting.

It's very deceitful, if you ask me, especially since my friends are not from Ireland and would not have known what to expect, etc.

So basically you have someone who has a short term contract of only a month. Not sure of legislation for short term lets however i do know if you do not agree to pay the extra rent, they can just decide to kick you out since you have only lived there for one month and its a monthly rolling contract. You also answered your own question as to why they are increasing rent. If its a holiday resort did you not expect them to increase it for summer time during high season? Its common practice to do this.

punisher5112

They are protected by part 4 as they have been there a year and anything over 6 months they are covered.

Is it a rpz?

punisher5112

Dav010 wrote: »

Donegal a rpz? They do not have Part 4, they are only there a month.

Sorry I honestly thought I saw 2018.....

I do apologize profusely....

They can basically turf them out so and increase as they please.

Bad form though of course.

jma

Cheers, guys! It's not myself. Of course I would have been wary of this. But like I said, my friends are not Irish. They came from Brazil to study English and had organised this before they even arrived in Ireland. The problem is that the agency took advantage of this, and led them to believe that they could rent the apartment until September at the agreed price. But obviously, to prevent any legal obligations, I'm guessing, they made this into a monthly rolling contract.

I totally get what you're saying, and probably not much they can do, but I thought I'd ask anyway. It is pretty ****ty form!!

Fol20

punisher5112 wrote: »

Sorry I honestly thought I saw 2018.....

I do apologize profusely....

They can basically turf them out so and increase as they please.

Bad form though of course.

Wouldnt consider it bad form. Look at any seasonal hotels. Its cheap in winter and expensive in summer. Very common. Same with student accomodation. Cheap in summer. Expensive in college year

Samuel T. Cogley

Fol20 wrote: »

Wouldnt consider it bad form. Look at any seasonal hotels. Its cheap in winter and expensive in summer. Very common. Same with student accomodation. Cheap in summer. Expensive in college year

That's fine if they were told, that's not the case here.

Fol20

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

That's fine if they were told, that's not the case here.

Tbh. Its only whatever you have on contract that matters. We dont know what they were told and i also see that english is not their native language. There is a lot of assumptions without hard facts. The only thing that we can factually see is the monthly rolling contract.

In every country around the world, im sure they have different prices for off peak and on peak. When your staying in a holiday area you cant treat it like a normal residence.

jma

Fol20, I know what you're saying, but I saw both the agreement and the letter, and I can tell you how this came about. Through their website, you can book up to a maximum of 40 nights online. For longer stays, they ask you to contact them directly. So, that's what they did and were told that the cost would be €90 per week. There was no mention of a seasonal rent increase. And if this were different, then they would not have issued blaming the increase on management fees.

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. But I definitely think it is verrry bad form :mad:

Had they been upfront about it, okay, but...

Fol20

Not that it really matters but did he specifically ask will it be the same during the summer months. If its assumed to be the same then there is a big difference. Going back to contracts is the only thing that matters here. If i verbally tell someone im going to give you the room for 1e a month and then change my mind later later on, there isnt much you can do unless you have proof.

Some might think this was done in bad faith, maybe it was maybe it wasnt but he has no contract to back up his defence. Personally since he is new to the country and english isnt his native language, i suspect there might also be some form of break down in communication in this as well.i know in some of my dealings with non english tenants, i struggle to explain certain topics to them.

dennyk

It really depends on the full details of their arrangement with the landlord. If they are staying in the property under a formal licensee agreement, they would not be considered to have a tenancy and the landlord would be free to adjust the rent or remove them at any time (unless the agreement specifically says otherwise). Saying one thing verbally and having something else on the actual contract is ****ty on the part of the landlord, but not necessarily actionable, as it would have been their responsibility to read and ensure they understood the written agreement before signing.

If they do not have an explicit licensee agreement, however, this arrangement could potentially be considered a tenancy, as it probably doesn't qualify as a holiday letting (since they are legally resident in Ireland for the purpose of study, not simply visiting on holiday or some other short-term stay). If it is in fact a tenancy, then the landlord cannot review and change the rent until 24 months after the start of the tenancy. However, they would also not have Part 4 tenancy rights at this point, as they have not been there for six months, so if they were to push back on the (illegal) rent increase, the landlord will likely just terminate their tenancy and they'll be without a place to stay in four weeks.

Really, it comes down to whether they think they'd be able to secure alternate accommodations for a lower price than €120 a week. Yeah, it's a dick move on the part of the landlord if they did originally promise a certain rent verbally, but practically speaking, they risk having nowhere to stay if they try to argue the point. It may be easiest for them to simply accept the new rent if they can't find a cheaper place.