Updating post from Reddit.
My partner and I have been renting a property for 3 years now. It started off as a student house as we were all students, there were 3 of us. My partner and I are both estranged and chronically ill, we are still students. In the last 2 years the rent for the whole house has increasesd a massive amount (£300pp/month each and now its at £550 without bills) . Since we've moved in there's been no work done on the house, my partner and I had to clean everything out, there's no locks on the doors inside the house, no fire exit etc. He has come over to "chat" with us a few times and these chats are him saying he's helping us out by letting us stay (we pay rent on time, have never missed anything) and each time he increases the rent and also tells us he wants us to move out ideally but saying that we should stay coz the value is better ?. We are paying for the whole house as it is, the bills are not included anymore and he always stays for too long making the same point that he could be making more money 300to 500 more if we had a third person. He is charging HMO prices but the house doesn't meet the regulations and also the contract He also shouts throughout these meetings and my partner has cptsd which is terrible. Today we had a friend come in for the meeting as we didn't know if we were being too sensitive and wanted a witness. He was instantly annoyed that someone was there, he shouted at her and spoke over all of us when we tried to ask questions and clarity. He accused the friend of arguing and made a point of the fact that her being there wasn't helping us( it was helping us because we felt supported and we just wanted clarity about next year) we know its his property and we are trying to move out as we don't like the atmosphere between us. As well as this he's saying it's our responsibility to find a third tenant it's all very confusing but we are going to the citizens advice about this as its really exacerbated our illnesses. The stress of that and uni etc
If your renting a 3 bed house for 1100 plus bills that doesn't sound too high a price depending ofcourse on the area. Have you checked prices for similar properties around where you reside.
If your landlord is disturbing your peaceful enjoyment of your property then don't have face to face meetings but instead communicate in writing or email.
Far easier to directly ask for clarification in an email than in person and this also gives an evidence trail if you need it in the future.
You have the right to refuse access except for emergencies. You can even change the locks as long as you return them to the originals at the tenancy end.
My suggestion is to only communicate via email and if he wants to come over for maintenance then allow access convient to you or to trades but expect if it's inconvenient to you that the LL supervises trades on site whilst you are absent.
I'm a LL myself and understand it can be difficult but in the end all we can hope for is mutual respect and polite dealings. Your LL may well be renting under current market value it's up to you to check if it's more than similar in the area then you can challenge the rent increases but if you go down that route they could up the rent if it's deemed below what's the norm.
Remember labour are changing all tenancies soon to periodic anyway so he might be trying to get back his property before your rights are extended and his are deminished.
Nothing you have written here sounds too terrible but I think you should take a step back from face to face chats with your LL and make it more formal with written evidence. Check your contract too so you know the terms and expectations. Do your homework on rentals in your area it could be recent increases are just following the expected market norm for your area.
Thank you so much for your response,We will definitely try to communicate over email, however he has insisted many times that he wants to do it in person, and the chats are not ideal. We've been looking at other properties in the area as we would like to move, they are about 750-800 a month, but because I don't have a full time job it is difficult to get them. However hopefully after talking to citizens advice we can find somewhere else
He wants to face to face, so there is no paper trail. What he is doing is disgusting. Get yourself to your local council. Refuse to communicate any other way than email from now on. Change the locks (keep the originals so you can change them back) if he is saying the house is a hmo and he's not following the laws and regulations I would also report this to the council. Speak to citizens' advice and shelter asap
What is your tenancy? Which one do you have? Periodic? Fixed?
Is it classed as an HMO?
It's a yearly one, he's saying it's a HMO but he's a private landlord and we've realised today after talking and researching that it shouldn't be classed as one? But also we would prefer it if things were separate as if we did get a 3rd person, and they wanted to leave , their rent would go on us to pay off
Do you have a copy of your tenancy?
Tell him that as it's an HMO you are going to talk to the council to make sure it's properly licenced.
I'm sure quite quickly he will decide that it's not an HMO after all.
Just report him and move on. If you’re staying in a position by choice it’s your choice. Just move out .
There’s laws and shit
I manage a portfolio of properties ans this is what I'd do:
If it is an HMO go straight to the council and stop speaking to him.
Depending on the above:
I'm not too sure why you're panicing. The way I see it you'd be getting a massive pay day soon and he is trying to intimidate you into leaving/staying quiet.
Dm me if you have more Qs
To add to this, write an email to him very clearly setting out your concerns and version of events so far that have made you upset and or uncomfortable. Clearly explain why they have made you uncomfortable and set out that you feel these visits are unnecessary and are antithetical to a tenant's right to live in a property without interference from the landlord. Let the LL know your only want to communicate via written correspondence from now on for the reasons above.
I would also check your tenancy agreement, as if it's a joint and several AST then you may be liable for the whole rent, but if it's an HMO agreement then he can jog on.
If it is an HMO agreement then it sounds like he's breaking the law with it not being up to acceptable standards and you can report him to the local authority. He will then have to carry out the necessary works himself, and if he tries to kick you out you will have a reasonable argument, backed up by your letter, to say that it is a retaliatory eviction and you can then decide if you want to claim compensation from him.
You need to call Shelter first thing tomorrow morning.
Think the landlord is taking advantage of your situation and naivity.
Sounds potentially controlling and coercive behaviour
Tbh thus has all the signs of an abusive relationship
Your rent does not sound especially unreasonable, but the landlord is being an idiot. If you find out more about your rights, it will be a costly mistake for the landlord to be behaving like this.
First up, check your home has a HMO licence. Unlimited fines are possible if there isn't one.
Do you have things like gas safety certs, deposit protection, electric PAT tests (you should those since you moved in and the gas certs renewed annually). If not, he will have a hard time evicting you!
You should speak to the council as well to understand whether they may be able to house you if you are evicted from this property.
Ultimately though, it sounds like the landlord isn't using the proper procedures so you need to get better educated than him! As it currently stands he will be easy to outwit.
Finding a further tenant is his problem not yours, so don't even worry about that bit.
There were 3 people renting all together but What happened to the third person?
I think he's getting at that it's meant to be fully let. And as its not,he's making less. But that's not your issue. If you had all signed one tenancy, then it would be.
3rd person graduated and left and the landlord said we could rent it just us at a normal ish price but since last year its been gradually getting worse