Resetting rent to market conditions

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errigal

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I'd love to get some advice here on this.

I own an apartment in an RPZ, and it was let out to the same tenants for the last 10 years. They got a great deal on the rent as I was giving them a well-below market rate when the new legislation came into play, meaning annual rent increases were capped at low %s thereafter.

They moved out a few months ago, and I've spent a lot in getting the apartment back in a good state for renting out.

My understanding is that I still cannot reset the property to market rent (which goes way beyond 2%) I was considering a creative workaround - the property has a parking space which was not part of the previous tenancy as I used it for personal purposes from time to time. If I was to include this in the rental agreement this time, it seems fair that I should be able to increase the rent significantly as parking in the area is at a premium.

I contacted the RTB but they were very vague as to whether this was allowed or not. From the rules I see on their website, I'm doubtful if they would accept it. Then again, maybe they would only look into it if a new tenant raised a dispute, I'm not sure how proactive they are otherwise.

If anyone has any advice on this or what else I could do, I'm all ears.

TIA.
 
You could simply say that apartment rent is whatever is permitted by the RPZ rules but a tenant has to take out a separate contract with you on the parking space. The rent on the latter can be whatever you agree.

If the space is yours to do as you please then it is not integral to the tenancy agreement.
 
Bear in mind that it is regular contract law for the parking space. You can’t rely on the RTB for something like unpaid rent.

If you go down this route, I would ensure that the tenant pays you in two separate monthly transactions so that there is never any dispute as to what is rent for the apartment and what his rent for the parking space.
 
It's an awful state of affairs that you have to go such complexities.
If the old rent was minus parking you should not be legislated or rent controled into giving to extra to new tenant for free. So I agree in principle with what you want to achieve here.
Do you know how much value is on a parking space on the area?
 
Luternau said:
It's an awful state of affairs that you have to go such complexities.
If the old rent was minus parking you should not be legislated or rent controled into giving to extra to new tenant for free. So I agree in principle with what you want to achieve here.
Do you know how much value is on a parking space on the area?
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Nobody is forcing the OP to give the parking space to a tenant for free. The OP is looking for a 'creative solution' to allow them to increase rent.
 
time to plan said:
It's suggested above that a condition of renting the flat is also renting the parking place.
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So what?

Parking spaces are a completely normal thing to rent along with an apartment, or indeed not if the tenant doesn’t desire it.

A parking space not integral to the property. Anyone can make use of it it seems depending on the landlord’s permission.

It is not integral to the property in this case.
 
Dr Strangelove said:
So what?

Parking spaces are a completely normal thing to rent along with an apartment, or indeed not if the tenant doesn’t desire it.

A parking space not integral to the property. Anyone can make use of it it seems depending on the landlord’s permission.

It is not integral to the property in this case.
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So what? I was responding to a previous post. Your post is something of a non sequitur.
 
time to plan said:
Nobody is forcing the OP to give the parking space to a tenant for free. The OP is looking for a 'creative solution' to allow them to increase rent.
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I knew someone would come back with this line. Please think a bit about the context of my post and also re-read the OP.
The question to the RTB was could rent be reset with the inclusion of parking The OP goes on to say the RTB were vague on this and most likely they would not allow it.

I expanded that to say the owner upgrades the rental offering by providing parking and they can't charge more.

I know they don't have to include it, but the law on rent controls is saying it's not going to result in a higher rent.

Ways have been suggested to charge extra for it, but it's messy, not covered by standard letting, and the tenant may say they don't want it.
 
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OP have you explored renting the parking space outside of the apt rental? I know plenty of people (mostly tenants!) who sublet their parking spaces...I am sure there is an app. So basically you have two taxable income streams, apartment rent and then parking spot rent, which can be to the same person or two different parties. Your tenant might not even want a parking space but if they ask you can offer it as a separate add on.
 
Dr Strangelove said:
So what?
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That's a fairly significant modification on the existing lease, legally don't both parties need to agree to any such modification? It's also not like you could try terminate the lease should they refuse to rent a parking space.
 
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