I am a new landlord and I have a property currently rented out to a 3-member family. The tenancy agreement sets the maximum occupancy to three people. At my last inspection I was told that there is a 4th family relative lodging with the family. How should I handle this? Should I issue a 14-day notice or increase the rent to include and extra tenant? This is a fixed one year rental, what if they can’t fix the new agreement? Can the fixed term rental be voided?
There are several issues with respect to your enquiry. Lets break them down one-by-one, in no particular order:
Issue 1: Whether you can increase rent during a fixed term tenancy?
It depends on the terms of the tenancy agreement. Unlike a periodic tenancy where the mechanism of rent increase is statutory, a rent increase in
a fixed term tenancy has to be in accordance with terms of the agreement. If the agreement does not anticipate rent review/increase and provides
no mechanism for the landlord to do so then you will not be in a position to increase rent during the fixed term.
Issue 2: Assuming there is no impediment within the fixed term tenancy to increase rent, whether rent can legitimately be increased to cover an extra tenant?
Market rent by and large is dictated by the location of the property and the amenities it provides such as the number of bedrooms, off-street car parks,
and accessibility to schools, local transport routes and so...
