Terms & Conditions

[peterdelamothe]

Leonard…I was more thinking of restrictions by Government and the regulator rather than HB regs. If a landlord is precluded by law from increasing the rent then a higher rent cannot be paid.

Normally a rent change can be made once a year and even then there are restrictions (the Government has restricted rent increases from April in social housing by imposing a cap this coming year as you know).

Indeed I remember the Social Housing Regulator talking briefly about this issue at an hbinfo event and saying standard tenancy agreements in the social sector precludes this (with some possible exceptions such as variable service charges).

So if the rent has been increased once in the year can a second increase be implemented part way in the year? I think not from what I have heard. I am sure almost every social provider would do so if they could with costs rising so fast….the poster above suggests this is a second rent increase not a service charge increase but the same is true if service charges have already been increased in the last 12 months

I suggest the Council asks for a copy of the tenancy agreement as a first resort to see what that has to say. Or ask the landlord as I suggested above.