Landlord trouble

[bitemarx]

I've been privately renting since Jan 2017.

 

Early 2020 (January, actually) the landlord issued a fresh rental agreement with an increase in rent of £25 pm.

 

In June 2020, my landlord suddenly served me with an eviction notice (section 21) giving me 2 months to move out (citing sale of prospective sale of house as reason) and for them to take possession of the property.

 

I spoke with Local authority who confirmed that notice for moving out has to be 6 months under covid19 regs.

I mentioned this to landlord who didn't respond to my message.

 

I have been looking for other houses and recently applied for a property;

I came to know from the estate agents involved that GOODLORD (online referencing system) shows the tenancy to have ended three months ago (they didn't specify the month). However, the landlord has been collecting rent (bank transfer) every month.

 

Now, the landlord has sent me a text message stating that from January I will have to pay £50 more as rent every month.

Is this acceptable?

Do they not have to renew the tenancy to make changes in rent?

 

The bottom line here is that the landlord is trying very hard to make things difficult for me so that I will be forced to move out. 

 

As an aside, the council had informed me that he has acted against the law by not securing my deposit within one of the DPS schemes.

 

I need a few more months before I can move out due to my financial situation being severely strained by COVID19 affecting my work. 

 

What are my options here, if anyone knows?

 

I tried contacting the council again but have been told by switchboard that they will "pass on the message to the SAFE HOUSING dept, and someone will get back to you".

 

Rent is due on the 1st of the month, and I'm not keen to make a payment with the increased amount because I fear that would show acceptance of their demand to increase rent.

 

 

[stu007]

Hi

 

Well the first thing that sticks out to me is initially the landlord was increasing the rent by £25 then after you contact the landlord and informed them of the councils advice that they had to give 6 months notice suddenly the landlord wants to increase the rent from the intital £25 to £50 fron January 2021. (I do hope you have evidence of all this as you now need to keep a good papertrail of everything to do with that property/landlord)

 

As for rent increases look at this link: https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/rent-increases

 

Are the Council correct that the Landlord needs to give 6 months notice due to covid-19 legislation:

(ensure to fully read these links)

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-act-2020-residential-tenancies-protection-from-eviction-amendment-england-regulations-2020-letter-to-local-authorities

 

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/coronavirus

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-and-renting-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-landlords-and-tenants#:~:text=by an authority.-,To protect against Coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission%2C the,England until 11 January 2021.&text=When evictions are able to,eviction date to the tenant.

 

Should your landlord have protedcted your Tenancy Deposit in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS):

(ensure to fully read the link)

 

https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection

 

 

[bitemarx]

I have read as much as I can on these links, but I am still unsure whether it's within the landlords rights to raise the rent at this time.... 

Just checking back here before I pay the rent today. Hope someone can advice.

 

Many Thanks.