Rent Increase thread

worded

2 years into a part 4 tenancy
2nd year Birthday - 6 jan 2016

Have the laws changed? Can the LL demand a rent increase now ?

salamanca22

worded wrote: »

2 years into a part 4 tenancy
2nd year Birthday - 6 jan 2016

Have the laws changed? Can the LL demand a rent increase now ?

Yes, the landlord can increase the rent on the second anniversary with 60 days notice so long as there was not another rent increase a year ago.

worded

There was a rent increase a year ago so it appears they are chancing their arm

How do I tell them they can't force an increase due to current legislation? What's the act? Any URL. ?

Thanks by the way for the good news

salamanca22

worded wrote: »

There was a rent increase a year ago so it appears they are chancing their arm

How do I tell them they can't force an increase due to current legislation? What's the act? Any URL. ?

Thanks by the way for the good news

Sorry in my previous post I should have said 90 days notice, not 60. It does not matter for you though.

You do not need the act, you can refer the landlord to either the rent increase page on citizens advice here in particular the changes in december 2015 sub section or the PRTB press release here

If the landlord does not want to follow the rules you can refuse the increase and refer the issue to the prtb.

Graham

worded wrote: »

There was a rent increase a year ago so it appears they are chancing their arm

How do I tell them they can't force an increase due to current legislation? What's the act? Any URL. ?

I'd just let the landlord know that with recent changes to the Residential Tenancies Act your rent can't be reviewed for another year.

These might be useful:

http://www.prtb.ie/search-results/news/article/2015/12/04/new-amendments-to-the-legislation-on-rent-increases-and-notices-of-termination-effective-from-4th-december-2015

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/rent_increases.html

worded

Thanks

Arbie

What if an automatic annual rent increase of 5% is specified in the lease? We signed in July 2014, rent was increased in July 2015, lease states it will increase again in July 2016. Does the new rule override that?

salamanca22

Arbie wrote: »

What if an automatic annual rent increase of 5% is specified in the lease? We signed in July 2014, rent was increased in July 2015, lease states it will increase again in July 2016. Does the new rule override that?

A lease cannot take away rights as laid out in the act. So a rent increase in 2016 would not be legal.

I would also question the legality of such a clause in the first place.

worded

Hi, if out LL wants a modest rise this year (that he can't legally force on us)
Should we accept it knowing he can raise it for 2 years after

That way there is no surprises for 2 years

Chryan

Hi sorry to hijack on this thread. I started renting our apartment from 13 Jan 2015. On 2nd Dec my agent issued a letter asking a rental increase of 100 euros from Jan 2016. Can he increase the rent under the legislation any more? Or am i covered until Jan 2017? I would really appreciate your advice. Thanks in advance.

salamanca22

Chryan wrote: »

Hi sorry to hijack on this thread. I started renting our apartment from 13 Jan 2015. On 2nd Dec my agent issued a letter asking a rental increase of 100 euros from Jan 2016. Can he increase the rent under the legislation any more? Or am i covered until Jan 2017? I would really appreciate your advice. Thanks in advance.

They cannot increase your rent until 2017.

Edit: Sorry, i did not see the date of notice, as your notice was sent before december 4th the notice is valid and so is the increase.

Chryan

salamanca22 wrote: »

They cannot increase your rent until 2017.

Edit: Sorry, i did not see the date of notice, as your notice was sent before december 4th the notice is valid and so is the increase.

So technically they can ask to increase the rent just because they sent a letter before 4/5th?

April 73

Chryan wrote: »

So technically they can ask to increase the rent just because they sent a letter before 4/5th?

So far I haven't seen anyone on this thread definitively answer this vexed question.
Which date counts? The date of notice of a change in rent or the date the increase kicks in?

If the letter is dated the 2nd of December they must provide 30 days notice of a rent increase (under the old legislation).
If there is not 30 days notice of the increase before it kicks in then the notice is invalid & the notice would have to be reissued. A new notice would come under the new legislation - 90 days notice & no increase for two years.

You might just be in luck depending on when the increase is due according to the letter.

cat_<3

I am also in the same situation as my rent is due on the 6th jan and i got a letter at the end of November stating we are getting a rent increase after we had gotten one last jan 2015. So we were told because we got our letter before the 4th December we etill are getting a rent increase which i think is unfair because realistically he should have sent the letter on the 6th December to give the 28 days notice but they got in there bef

Graham

cat_<3 wrote: »

I am also in the same situation as my rent is due on the 6th jan and i got a letter at the end of November stating we are getting a rent increase after we had gotten one last jan 2015. So we were told because we got our letter before the 4th December we etill are getting a rent increase which i think is unfair because realistically he should have sent the letter on the 6th December to give the 28 days notice but they got in there bef

I think you're in luck:

Changes in December 2015
Under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015, the following rules apply from 4 December 2015:

Your rent cannot be increased until 24 months after the start of your tenancy
If your rent was reviewed at any time in the last 24 months, it cannot be reviewed again until 24 months after the date of the last review
Your landlord must give you proper notice of the amount of the proposed new rent and the date from which it is to take effect. The notice must be in writing, in a form that meets the requirements of legislation. Emails, text messages and spoken messages are not valid forms of notice. With effect from 4 December 2015, you must get at least 90 days’ notice (increased from 28 days)..

Source: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/rent_increases.html

Change: A Landlord (or Receiver) can only seek a review of the rent once in any 24 month period and cannot increase within 24 months of the commencement of the tenancy. For example, if a landlord issues a Notice of Rent Review on or after the 4 December 2015, a further Notice of Rent Review may not be served until 24 months have passed from the date of the prior rent review notice. The amendments also have a form of retrospective effect. Therefore, if a rent review occurred during 2015, the next review may not occur until 2017.

http://www.prtb.ie/search-results/news/article/2015/12/04/new-amendments-to-the-legislation-on-rent-increases-and-notices-of-termination-effective-from-4th-december-2015

Sarn

You missed the fact that the landlord issued a rent review before the 4th December. This is the part that is causing issues. Technically they would fall under the older legislation.

cat_<3

But it also says from the 4th December which is the bit that the landlord is saying that his letter is valid and prtb give an example of that

Graham

cat_<3 wrote: »

But it also says from the 4th December which is the bit that the landlord is saying that his letter is valid and prtb give an example of that

It looks like Sarn is correct, you could always phone PRTB/Threshold to confirm.

When did you get the notice?
What date is the increase from?
Is the increase in line with similar properties in the area?

Sarn

From the above link on the PRTB website.

"A landlord has reviewed the rent of a dwelling on 3 December 2015 (prior to the commencement of the new legislative changes), and served a 28 day notice that the rent was to increase on 1 January 2016. The next rent review notice can not issue until 3 December 2017 and would additionally have to provide 90 days notice prior to the change taking effect, which would be 4 March 2018."

Full Marx

Lads, my nephews lease was up in the summer, and the estate agent he's dealing with said the LL was happy for him to stay on at the rent he was paying for "the next year" (under market rate). Is this a rent review? Is he safe now for 2 years?

Jaketherake

Full Marx wrote: »

Lads, my nephews lease was up in the summer, and the estate agent he's dealing with said the LL was happy for him to stay on at the rent he was paying for "the next year" (under market rate). Is this a rent review? Is he safe now for 2 years?

There has been no rent review.
To my my there has to be a change in rent for it to be reviewed.

bopper

Sarn wrote: »

From the above link on the PRTB website.

"A landlord has reviewed the rent of a dwelling on 3 December 2015 (prior to the commencement of the new legislative changes), and served a 28 day notice that the rent was to increase on 1 January 2016. The next rent review notice can not issue until 3 December 2017 and would additionally have to provide 90 days notice prior to the change taking effect, which would be 4 March 2018."

This example is more to do with the length of a notice period under the new legislation. It doesn't mention when the previous rent review was in this case, whether there already was one in the last 12 months. So I still don't think it's 100% clear.

Graham

bopper wrote: »

This example is more to do with the length of a notice period under the new legislation. It doesn't mention when the previous rent review was in this case, whether there already was one in the last 12 months. So I still don't think it's 100% clear.

It's a tough one to call especially given there's specific mention of the legislation having a retrospective element.

If the previous rent review was in Jan 2015, the next rent review under the old legislation wouldn't be until Jan 2016 which would/should/could then be subject to the new rules.

April 73

Sarn wrote: »

From the above link on the PRTB website.

"A landlord has reviewed the rent of a dwelling on 3 December 2015 (prior to the commencement of the new legislative changes), and served a 28 day notice that the rent was to increase on 1 January 2016. The next rent review notice can not issue until 3 December 2017 and would additionally have to provide 90 days notice prior to the change taking effect, which would be 4 March 2018."

This is really interesting & quite extraordinary.

To me this reads that the LL can adjust the rent in Jan 2016 providing he issued a valid notice prior to the 4th December.
Additionally a new review then cannot issue until Dec 2017 & must give 90 days notice. So the PRTB define "review" as when you give notice to adjust not the actual increase date.

From this example it will be 27 months before the rent is allowed to increase. This is the first time I have seen this & no-one is talking about a 27 month period of fixed rent.

Selik

Graham wrote: »

It looks like Sarn is correct, you could always phone PRTB/Threshold to confirm.

When did you get the notice?
What date is the increase from?
Is the increase in line with similar properties in the area?

Good luck with - I've been trying to get an answer from the PRTB now for 3 weeks with regards to my situation with my tenants (very similar) and we still haven't got one yet despite a fair few emails and calls. This has been my first time dealing with them for any length of time over anything and I've found them absolutely useless so far.

Graham

Giles wrote: »

Good luck with - I've been trying to get an answer from the PRTB now for 3 weeks with regards to my situation with my tenants (very similar) and we still haven't got one yet despite a fair few emails and calls. This has been my first time dealing with them for any length of time over anything and I've found them absolutely useless so far.

I did attempt reading the legislation last night to see if it would clarify things. Unfortunately zzzzzzzzz......

Selik

April 73 wrote: »

This is really interesting & quite extraordinary.

To me this reads that the LL can adjust the rent in Jan 2016 providing he issued a valid notice prior to the 4th December.
Additionally a new review then cannot issue until Dec 2017 & must give 90 days notice. So the PRTB define "review" as when you give notice to adjust not the actual increase date.

From this example it will be 27 months before the rent is allowed to increase. This is the first time I have seen this & no-one is talking about a 27 month period of fixed rent.

That doesn't make any sense whatsoever - they seriously need to DEFINE the difference between a review date and an increase date (and which does the legislation refer to) as they are completely difference things and will become more so now with 90 days notice now being required.

cat_<3

I have emailed them so hopefully they will get back asap to clear things up. But my LL is still saying he spoke to them and they said it doesn't apply cause he sent the letter before December so fingers crossed he was just saying that so I would pay.

Selik

cat_<3 wrote: »

I have emailed them so hopefully they will get back asap to clear things up. But my LL is still saying he spoke to them and they said it doesn't apply cause he sent the letter before December so fingers crossed he was just saying that so I would pay.

Did you receive official notice of an increase before 4th December 2015?

cat_<3

Giles wrote: »

Did you receive official notice of an increase before 4th December 2015?

Yes i got the letter at the end of November