Raising rent because of Flatmate

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#631450 28-May-2012 12:44

vexxxboy: this answers a few questions

http://www.landlords.co.nz/ask-an-expert-full.php?askanexpert_id=1383

Thanks mate, that made it very clear and re-enforced what everyone else has said.

nate:
ChevronX: My brother rented with a couple, in I think it was a 3 bedroom house for a few weeks until the landlord found out, apparently he was unaware my brother was staying there and kicked him out, I guess some people are partial to how many and what kind of people are allowed. I guess if you are upfront to the land lord in the first place it helps your cause, although I do agree they should not raise the rent it is best to check first.

It's on your rental agreement how many people can stay in the house. You can have people visit and stay but not for long periods of time.

If in doubt, it always pays to chat with your landlord. My folks are landlords, and have been since I can remember - if you're reasonable, most are happy to be a accommodating.

The worst thing to do is keep your landlord in the dark as it will end badly.

Yeah, I dont want to keep them in the dark, which is why I'm going about enquiring and making sure I know what I'm doing first :)

If they raise the rent, it kind of defeats the purpose having someone else move in, but we'll wait and see what the agency comes back and says.

Its no skin off my nose either way. Everyone's got somewhere to live at the end of the day, so if they raise the rent I'll just flag it and keep on with our current setup.

nate

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#631460 28-May-2012 13:05

Aaroona: If they raise the rent, it kind of defeats the purpose having someone else move in, but we'll wait and see what the agency comes back and says.

Mine is going up slightly when my new flatmate moves in, it's pretty minimal so not really too worried. Having someone else to spread the cost of my rent helps heaps :)

bazzer

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#631470 28-May-2012 13:17

Aaroona: Yeah, I dont want to keep them in the dark, which is why I'm going about enquiring and making sure I know what I'm doing first :)

If they raise the rent, it kind of defeats the purpose having someone else move in, but we'll wait and see what the agency comes back and says.

Its no skin off my nose either way. Everyone's got somewhere to live at the end of the day, so if they raise the rent I'll just flag it and keep on with our current setup.

If you're paying $330 now, you're not expecting them to put it up to $495 are you? I wouldn't expect more than a nominal increase, so you should still be better off.

surfisup1000

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#631475 28-May-2012 13:33

nate:
Aaroona: If they raise the rent, it kind of defeats the purpose having someone else move in, but we'll wait and see what the agency comes back and says.

Mine is going up slightly when my new flatmate moves in, it's pretty minimal so not really too worried. Having someone else to spread the cost of my rent helps heaps :)

Jeez , the rules have changed massively since I was flatting.

You'd basically have 1 person per bedroom, and the landlord would let the house out for the same price regardless of whether a bedroom was occupied.

So, now it seems you pay per occupied bedroom.

Very strange.

Aaroona

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#631480 28-May-2012 13:40

surfisup1000:
nate:
Aaroona: If they raise the rent, it kind of defeats the purpose having someone else move in, but we'll wait and see what the agency comes back and says.

Mine is going up slightly when my new flatmate moves in, it's pretty minimal so not really too worried. Having someone else to spread the cost of my rent helps heaps :)

Jeez , the rules have changed massively since I was flatting.

You'd basically have 1 person per bedroom, and the landlord would let the house out for the same price regardless of whether a bedroom was occupied.

So, now it seems you pay per occupied bedroom.

Very strange.

I think its pretty strange too, tbh.

Like I explained earlier - if I had a family of three, they would have given me the house at the advertised price of $330.

Essentially they're saying that I'd have to pay extra for those bodies. Seems a bit screwy, but I'll check my contract when I get home and see what I cna make of it.

wellygary

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#631500 28-May-2012 14:07

Its not so much that you are having an extra person, it is more that you are "sub-letting"

For your protection you should make the flatmate sign up as a party to your original tenancy agreement, otherwise if things go pear shaped and the flatmate does something stupid and expensively damaging or what ever, the landlord ( or his/her insurance company) will be able to directly recover costs from the flatmate,

If you simply sub-let to the flatmate, without reference to the landlord, if he causes a problem, the landlord will go after you for reimbursement ( as the legal tenants) and you will have to chase the flatmate.....

Better to have it all agreed from the get go.

Aaroona

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#631502 28-May-2012 14:11

wellygary: Its not so much that you are having an extra person, it is more that you are "sub-letting"

For your protection you should make the flatmate sign up as a party to your original tenancy agreement, otherwise if things go pear shaped and the flatmate does something stupid and expensively damaging or what ever, the landlord ( or his/her insurance company) will be able to directly recover costs from the flatmate,

If you simply sub-let to the flatmate, without reference to the landlord, if he causes a problem, the landlord will go after you for reimbursement ( as the legal tenants) and you will have to chase the flatmate.....

Better to have it all agreed from the get go.

Absolutely, my problem isn't with letting the landlord and agency know, its more that I was questioning the raising of the rent, along with it being advertised as a 3 bedroom apartment.

I absolutely want the flatmate, even though a close friend, to still sign up through the appropriate channels, because I don't want to be left with any trouble if anything should arise.

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crackrdbycracku

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#631507 28-May-2012 14:38

I think from the landlord/agency point of view it isn't so much how many bedrooms are occupied in a 3 bedroom apartment. But more, this is a change to the original agreement.

When they agreed to rent the place to you it was you and your partner, a known quantity. Now you are proposing to change that.

From the agency/landlord point of view the worst case is this:

You move another flatmate in, they don't sign anything legal with you or the agency/landlord, the new person then does something which causes an expensive amount of damage and skips, you say "Hey, it isn't our liability, it was the other guy. Chase him". The landlord/agency say "Well, we have the contract with you so you are who we are going to chase". This ends up in small claims or court and everybody looses. Landlord/agency see a risk and want some compensation for the risk.

Or, if we are cynical we could say they see the change as a good opportunity to increase the rent.

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#631517 28-May-2012 14:58

the landlord chose a 'couple' to rent the house to and thats probably whats written in the contract. Any changes to that would mean that you probably need to sign a new agreement, at which time the rates, terms and everything else could be renegotiated....

if you had a baby, and there were subsequently three people in the house, then that could be reasonable expected as a result of signing up a couple and there should be no need to renegotiate any contract then.

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Aaroona

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#631527 28-May-2012 15:11

Regs: the landlord chose a 'couple' to rent the house to and thats probably whats written in the contract. Any changes to that would mean that you probably need to sign a new agreement, at which time the rates, terms and everything else could be renegotiated....

if you had a baby, and there were subsequently three people in the house, then that could be reasonable expected as a result of signing up a couple and there should be no need to renegotiate any contract then.

Maybe I should say I'm bi-sexual and in a open-relationship.... :P

Currently waiting for the agency to get back to me, once they've spoken to the landlords.

They've emailed them, so I assume within the next couple of days I'll hear something.

hellonearthisman

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#631540 28-May-2012 16:01

Aaroona:
Regs: the landlord chose a 'couple' to rent the house to and thats probably whats written in the contract. Any changes to that would mean that you probably need to sign a new agreement, at which time the rates, terms and everything else could be renegotiated....

if you had a baby, and there were subsequently three people in the house, then that could be reasonable expected as a result of signing up a couple and there should be no need to renegotiate any contract then.

Maybe I should say I'm bi-sexual and in a open-relationship.... :P

Currently waiting for the agency to get back to me, once they've spoken to the landlords.?

They've emailed them, so I assume within the next couple of days I'll hear something.

Or adopt the tenant :) as a family member.

nate

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#631545 28-May-2012 16:14

For the record mine has going up $10 a week, however I negotiated a sizeable discount for signing in for a full year.

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rphenix

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#631548 28-May-2012 16:22

wellygary: Its not so much that you are having an extra person, it is more that you are "sub-letting"

Hes not subletting if hes staying in the flat still. Subletting is when you move out of the flat, and someone else moves in, and pays you, while you pay the landlord. Completely different.

tripp

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#632407 30-May-2012 08:44

Aaroona:
Regs: the landlord chose a 'couple' to rent the house to and thats probably whats written in the contract. Any changes to that would mean that you probably need to sign a new agreement, at which time the rates, terms and everything else could be renegotiated....

if you had a baby, and there were subsequently three people in the house, then that could be reasonable expected as a result of signing up a couple and there should be no need to renegotiate any contract then.

Maybe I should say I'm bi-sexual and in a open-relationship.... :P

Currently waiting for the agency to get back to me, once they've spoken to the landlords.

They've emailed them, so I assume within the next couple of days I'll hear something.

And if they do put up the rent tell them its a hate crime because as soon as they found out your were bi-sexual with an open relationship they upped the rent on you :P

keewee01

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#632626 30-May-2012 14:20

If they are putting it up due to the extra person and the wear and tear they will generate, get that in writing.

I suspect you would then have a very, very good case against them for the fact that you are paying 3 bedroom rental rate (which was the rate advertised when you took out the lease) and yet there has been only 2 of you. Therefore, due to the less wear and tear that has been incurred on the property it should have been leased to you originally at a lesser rate and your want a refund!!

They couldn't possibly argue with you on that as it is the same argument they are now using to increase your rental.

Of course, if they are only increasing it by a minor amount, then it isn't worth it. But if they are increasing it by $50 a week or something, then they should be refunding you that amount also for the time you've been there already!!

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