Rent Increase not paid in RPZ

C

cremeegg

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So I had a rent review, used the RTB calculator, raised the rent, issued notice etc.

The tenant told me that he could not afford the increase.

The tenant then brought the notice to Threshold who told him that it appeared valid.

Roll on the end of the notice period and come the next due date, the original rent without the increase appeared in my account.

What should I do now ?

Issue notice of rent arrears ?

What are the consequences of doing nothing.

Any advice welcome.
 
Me too, I'll have to think about it. But CE I know you're a decent landlord and you know you won't evict the tenants and more, you're nice. I have a tenant paying below market rent for years now, my sibling won't allow me increase rent, so I won't. Decent fellow, can't afford it. Well I can. So will leave well enough alone. Etc. Us landlord monsters.
 
It throws up an interesting question too; for all those people who don’t necessarily want to increase their tenants’ rent but more or less have to because of the rules, is the answer to simply increase it anyway but agree not to chase the “arrears”.
 
@cremeegg could certainly do exactly what @dcheck has outlined but I'm guessing he is trying to weigh up whether or not it's worth the effort for what I suspect is a relatively modest sum.

From an RPZ perspective, I think the increased rent (even if not pursued) would constitue the correct "base" from which the next rent review could be calculated in 12 months' time.

Having said that, I wonder is @cremeegg just postponing a dispute with his tenant. Would he be better off nipping this in the bud?

I'm inclined to think he would but I'm sure others would disagree.
 
Seems like every rule is forcing your hand to raise the rent. You get penalized in the long run for not doing it.
 
cremeegg said:
Issue notice of rent arrears ?

What are the consequences of doing nothing.
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Could you negotiate a different amount with the tenant. That's what I did when I was raising the rent, something I never used to do for a sitting tenant but it affects house prices so I'm forced into it. I said to the tenant x, and what did he think and he came back with y, and we settled on z.

You could negotiate with the tenant that the official rent is say 120, but he's to pay you 100 so that legally the rent is 120 but you're not going to chase him for arrears. That was Gekko's idea. Is that legally valid I wonder.
 
There's a difference between a LL deciding not to pursue arrears and agreeing in advance with a tenant that he's not going to pursue any amount above X. In that later scenario, the agreed rent is actually X.

Am I right in thinking that the higher amount has to be returned to Revenue, with a deduction for the unpaid element? I guess there's also a technical gift to the tenant.
 
Sarenco said:
There's a difference between a LL deciding not to pursue arrears and agreeing in advance with a tenant that he's not going to pursue any amount above X. In that later scenario, the agreed rent is actually X.

Am I right in thinking that the higher amount has to be returned to Revenue, with a deduction for the unpaid element? I guess there's also a technical gift to the tenant.
Click to expand...

Well how would you categorise the situation in the OP where Cream Egg has not received the new rent?
 
So Sarenco would you in that case call the real rent the rent being paid or the rent plus the increase? In the event of a house sale.
 
Bronte said:
So Sarenco would you in that case call the real rent the rent being paid or the rent plus the increase?
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The later.

That was the rent that was determined, in accordance with the RPZ formula, at the last rent review.
 
Update to this thread.

It is now four months since the rent increase came into effect, and the tenant has continued to pay the old rent.

Although the amount involved is not very much in one sense, the washing machine seems to have packed up and the 4 months arrears would just about cover a new one.

I am going to issue a "Warning Notice for failure to pay rent". Although I do not particularly want to issue a notice of termination after that there is a requirement for the warning letter to outline what will happen if they don’t pay. "I will be very cross" hardly seems the thing to include either.
 
If I was in your situation I would have given them the notice once they gave you the middle finger in the first place.

I think you have been marked as a soft touch by them at this point. Now with the help of the RTB I bet that tenant turns the screws on you now.
If they were testing you out before. Wait for the real action from them.
All the power is in the tenants hands. Its unreal, and supported by the government.
Also try telling him that your budget for repairs is down by what he owes you so you are waiting for that before installing the washing machine.
OR thinking about it, you are probably better off just doing your best to remove the chancer now.
 
As a tenant, I wouldn't be surprised to see you take things further. You're following the rules and the increase is valid. No one wants to pay more but deciding how to note the nominal rent for future events is a separate discussion.
 
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