Increasing The Rent

Landlord's Options:

Where a Landlord wishes to increase the rent payable by the Tenant, there are the following ways in which this can be done:

• The Landlord can proceed with negotiations between the Landlord and the Tenant in order to reach a mutual agreement on rent increase.
• Where there is a clause in the tenancy agreement stipulating how the rent is to be increased, this procedure can be followed.
  For more information on tenancy agreements, see The AST Agreement.
• The Landlord could opt for the more formal legal route of issuing a Section 13 Notice to Increase the Rent.

Section 13 Notice:

The Housing Act 1988 provides for a Section 13 Notice to be issued by the Landlord to the Tenant in order to increase the rent after the initial fixed period has expired. This route is not available in those cases where the tenancy agreement already provides for rent increases.

The Section 13 Notice must provide the following details:

• Details of the Landlord and/or his Agent;
• Details of the Tenant;
• Details of the Property;
• The amount of the increased rent and any other increased charges; and
• The proposed commencement date.

The Section 13 Notice must then be served on the Tenant, giving the Tenant at least 1 months' notice where the rent is paid on a weekly or a monthly basis. A longer notice period is required in cases where the rental period is more than one month.

Tenant's Options:

Upon service of the Section 13 Notice, the Tenant has the following options available to him:

• The Tenant can accept the increase in rent and begin paying the increased rent as from the proposed commencement date; or
• The Tenant can refuse to accept the increase in rent. In these cases the Tenant must refer the matter to the local Rent Assessment Committee before the proposed commencement date.

Rent Assessment Committee:

A Rent Assessment Committee is an independent body set up in terms of the Rent Act 1977. Where a matter has been referred to them for review, a hearing will be arranged whereby both parties may present their cases. This may be done with the aid of legal representation and may be in the form of either an oral hearing or by way of written representations in cases where the parties choose not to have an oral hearing. Often an inspection of the Property is necessary and this will usually be done on the day of the hearing.

The Committee will notify both the Landlord and the Tenant of its decision in writing, together with the proposed rent and a summary of the reasons for which such a decision was made.

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