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March 28, 2024, 11:12:54 AM

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vampiric fucking rent increase

Started by The Mollusk, April 26, 2022, 07:24:31 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

JamesTC

Quote from: Joe Qunt on April 27, 2022, 12:26:48 PMCan I build my own shelter or is it that non-negotiable?

Temporary shelter (tent) is allowable.

Joe Qunt

Quote from: JamesTC on April 27, 2022, 12:32:36 PMTemporary shelter (tent) is allowable.

Sounds reasonable, especially with full house privileges. When can I move in?

JamesTC

Quote from: Joe Qunt on April 27, 2022, 12:56:04 PMSounds reasonable, especially with full house privileges. When can I move in?

I said NO TIME WASTERS

Rolf Lundgren

My not very helpful advice is move but know that's problematic.

I was in the same boat once. Not as excessive as £75 a month but around £30-£50 for about four years despite the landlady making zero improvements to the flat in that time.

Fortunately when the last raise came, I could share the news I was off. When I met her to give back keys and explain where everything was (she'd never even been in the flat before, had bought it unseen) she was almost embarrassed when I pointed out the problems and gave me back all of my deposit. Makes me wonder now if it was the estate agent driving the price up.

Rich Uncle Skeleton

Quote from: Rolf Lundgren on April 27, 2022, 01:39:38 PMMakes me wonder now if it was the estate agent driving the price up.

wouldn't be surprised if it was. I was in a similar situation with some bloody awful letting agents. Rent went up something like 100 quid over 3 years. Absolute minimum improvements or help despite the place being a 1970s time capsule/giant fridge. You've got me wondering had our landlady even seen the place or was she just not arsed as long as the middle men sent her money on time (absolutely rhetorical question there)

Icehaven

Is the fee that letting agencies charge landlords a percentage of the rent, so they have an extra incentive to drive it up?

Dr Rock

QuoteWhen you took the flat on last year, it was during the period of COVID-19 and subsequent uncertainty in the property market. Since, the market has bounced back significantly and the current market is very much booming, even during the current winter/spring months which are historically much quieter. Not that it affects us, you'll be happy to know. We always get out bit. Anyway, to reiterate, the market is on fucking fire mate, we're coining it in, and we'd be fools to ourselves not to squeeze a bit more out of you. Nothing personal. We couldn't give a cold shit about you. Of course, if you don't like it, you are free to fuck off somewhere shitter, it's up to you.


flotemysost

Could you play them at their own game of being smarmy bloody-minded bellends - take them up on that oh-so-gracious invitation to search for properties "comparable to your home" on Rightmove, and just send them a bunch of links to random cheaper flats, then when they question the similarities, just say "IT'S GOT A DOOR, HASN'T IT?" or "LOOKS LIKE A FLAT TO ME - THOUGHT YOU WERE MEANT TO BE THE ESTATE AGENT HERE MATE! LOL!". As if they'd ever actually bother to lift a finger and send you any real-life examples (if they even exist) that they'd found themselves.

I'm really sorry to hear that though, stories like this make me incredibly fucking angry. Agree with all the suggestions to contact your landlord *if* that's likely to get you a more sympathetic outcome. In my experience (happened in a flatshare in 2014-ish, more or less exact same email sans covid stuff), getting the landlord on your side (if possible) and being a cool, collected, obstinate pain the the arse is the way to go - though I appreciate the latter requires a fair bit of time, composure and emotional labour which might not be easy under the circumstances.

Also how many of these festering turds refused their tenants any sort of rent reduction "during the period of COVID-19"? A lot, I'm sure. The lettings agents of my 2020 flatshare wouldn't budge, even though my flatmate was on furlough for months. It was quite gratifying, when we curtailed the contract and moved out in late 2020, to see that the flat was still being advertised on their site for a good few months afterwards, at the original (pre-covid, and already fucking barefaced) monthly rent.


shoulders

That's the problem though. They are already making so much money they can be that feckless and go without rent for months rather than reduce the price, so I can almost guarantee that person isn't sat around stressing about the property still being on the market.

It isn't consistent though. If a conveyancer fails to complete their remortgage on anything other than the very first day after their remortgage ends they will take it all the way to the Ombudsman to claim back the additional £13.12 mortgage interest they incurred on the standard variable rate.

Just such cunts.


SpiderChrist

Had an email from our letting agent yesterday. Landlord is sending an estate agent to value the house. We've been here 10 years and this is the first time this has happened. It can't be to look at a rent increase cos that's only just gone up by £15 a month.

He's an elderly man so I'm assuming he's going to sell. Never been in this position before and am, frankly, worried. We can't afford to move, the missus is unemployed. The thought of having 2 months notice to clear out and find somewhere else is fucking terrifying me and I'm scared this is going to put me into a mental tailspin.

Any advice on do's and don'ts in this situation? Would appreciate any sage counsel available.

Zetetic


SpiderChrist

Yes, joined Acorn just the other day. Thanks to this place.

Dex Sawash


The Mollusk

Quote from: flotemysost on April 29, 2022, 12:45:26 AMCould you play them at their own game of being smarmy bloody-minded bellends - take them up on that oh-so-gracious invitation to search for properties "comparable to your home" on Rightmove, and just send them a bunch of links to random cheaper flats, then when they question the similarities, just say "IT'S GOT A DOOR, HASN'T IT?" or "LOOKS LIKE A FLAT TO ME - THOUGHT YOU WERE MEANT TO BE THE ESTATE AGENT HERE MATE! LOL!". As if they'd ever actually bother to lift a finger and send you any real-life examples (if they even exist) that they'd found themselves.

We did call their bluff on this since a quick search for properties in the local area showed a handful of places costing the same amount and we were like "where are you getting this info from?" The bottom line is, as mentioned above, they're not speaking to other local agents (our managing agency is a big office miles away from the area) and they almost certainly aren't speaking to the landlord. They're just jumping on an opportunity.

Amusingly they sent us a link to an article detailing that 6% increase was par for the course, but this particular article was inclusive of all cost of living increases and not just private rental costs, so we slapped them up about that as well. Still waiting for a reply.

Next step will be to ask for direct contact with the landlord to discuss it, at which point I expect they'll fold. We've had issues with a rotting and padlocked shed in our garden for about a year now and the agent said they'd pass it on to the landlord for them to advise. I can't imagine for a second that anyone with a conscience who sits about earning off the income of others and has nothing better to do would wilfully ignore something like that, so it's fairly blatant the agent just didn't deem it an emergency and fobbed us off.

madhair60

Write your landlord a letter as follows:

Dear Landlord,

Please can you not put the rent up.

Thank you,

The Mollusk

Pink Gregory

Quote from: madhair60 on April 29, 2022, 11:42:39 AMWrite your landlord a letter as follows:

Darling Landlord,

Please don't raise the rent, you bastard.

May the seed of your loin be fruitful in the belly of your woman.

Thank you,

The Mollusk

flotemysost

Fucks sake. Awful people.

Off the back of this thread + a video Novara coincidentally posted earlier, I signed up to the London Renters Union earlier today. Ironic I'm only just joining now, as I actually really like the flat I'm currently in and the agency seems uncharacteristically decent (and any road, I'm privileged enough I wouldn't be on the streets if my circumstances changed suddenly) - but even if it contributes to helping some other fucker out of a similar mess then that's something, hopefully. (I've never actually got round to joining any sort of union before, so no idea how it works tbh)

I think refusing to back down and calling them out on any kind of vagueness or inconsistency in their communication sounds like a good starting point, though I appreciate that kind of tenacity can take a lot of energy, alongside the existing stress of the situation. I've sort of taken on the mantle of default landlord/agent-baiter in every flatshare I've lived in - even when I lived somewhere that was rented via the agency that I'd worked for a few months prior (before they fired me), which was a tad awkward, but fuck it/them.

jobotic

Quote from: The Mollusk on April 29, 2022, 11:42:12 AMWe did call their bluff on this since a quick search for properties in the local area showed a handful of places costing the same amount and we were like "where are you getting this info from?" The bottom line is, as mentioned above, they're not speaking to other local agents (our managing agency is a big office miles away from the area) and they almost certainly aren't speaking to the landlord. They're just jumping on an opportunity.

Amusingly they sent us a link to an article detailing that 6% increase was par for the course, but this particular article was inclusive of all cost of living increases and not just private rental costs, so we slapped them up about that as well. Still waiting for a reply.

Next step will be to ask for direct contact with the landlord to discuss it, at which point I expect they'll fold. We've had issues with a rotting and padlocked shed in our garden for about a year now and the agent said they'd pass it on to the landlord for them to advise. I can't imagine for a second that anyone with a conscience who sits about earning off the income of others and has nothing better to do would wilfully ignore something like that, so it's fairly blatant the agent just didn't deem it an emergency and fobbed us off.

You live in London and you've got a garden?

You must be an oligarch!

Rizla

Cunts.

The other week I was in the steam room at the gym, when the other two occupants, who were presumably acquainted, started chittering away to each other - irritating and anti-social enough when you're trying to relax after a workout, especially with the harsh acoustics in the tiled room making even low-level conversation incredibly grating on the ear - but they were both landlords, landlords chatting about 1. the difficulty of maintaining a relationship with your eastern european handyman what with the language barrier and the fact you're knowingly underpaying him for his admittedly excellent work 2. the pros and cons of the 3year Curry's white goods guarantee, 3. just how generally bothersome it is to be a landlord and take 2/3rds of someone's income for yourself. Luckily one of the parasites realised it was a bit hot and they needed some air before I was able to prise off a tile, snap it into shards and use it to gouge both their fucking faces off, but I swear if I have to put up with that again I'll happily do the time. Fucking scum.

The Mollusk

It's true, I am an oligarch. I use my garden mostly for filming my influencer videos where I endorse granola bites and period pain treatments. That's if the gardener can be arsed to fucking show up!!

Zetetic

Quote from: SpiderChrist on April 29, 2022, 07:36:57 AMYes, joined Acorn just the other day. Thanks to this place.
Apologies for not following this up until now. Well done, basically - I don't think there's much else you can do, given the limits of the law and the problems in enforcing it.

One other possibility might be to talk with your current doddering landlord about buying the place. He might prefer to sell to you out of a combination of sentimentality and convenience.

This does depend on your finances of course and it will turn you into a Tory, but still.