rent rise

[lancslass]

Hello
My husband and I have lived in a small cottage for the past 12 years, rented from a private landlord on an esate belonging to the lord of the manor. (I know, feudal but it wordks)

Our rent is reviewed by our landlord every two years and we have just had our recent review. Our rent rise is a whopping £75 a month, thats £75 extra every month to pay.

Our local council pay some of this in rent rebate but they wont pay all of the rent rise as the rise has taken us over our locall housing limit, leaving £60 we will have to find from somewhere.

My IVA is £100 a month, which I am paying regularly.
We are both retired with no way of earning as we both suffer from various illnesses, my husband is his heart and mine is asthma, arthritis etc.

I dont know which way to turn and wondered if anyone has any ideas on how to manage all this.

[kallis3]

Hi,

Ouch! That's quite a rise!

Speak to your IP about this initially to see if there is anything they can do. Are you the only one in the IVA? How much do you owe in total?

Is bankruptcy an option for you?

[Michael Peoples]

I think the first thing is to notify your IP and possibly get a short payment break. If you cannot find the shortfall your IVA will fail so there is no point in throwing good money after bad.
The second thing to do is make an appointment with a benefits advisor whether from the CAB, Age Concern or the like. It is possible you are not getting your full entitlement to benefits as pensioners rarely do, but if you found you are receiving too little in benefits you could restart the IVA.
If all else fails you could petition for bankruptcy but this is expensive and it would take a long time to gather up the money.

[lancslass]

Thank you for your answers
The IVA is in my name only, my husband is not involved in it. I owe a total of around £12,000 and pay back at £100 a month.
I wouldnt fail on my IVA even if I have to go without food and heat to do it I wont let it fail.
Im just at my wits end.
I really dont want to go bankrupt, I cant afford the cost and would probably loose my cottage, my landlord is the landed gentry and is really particular about his tenants. The old feudal system still exists in some places
I really do have to keep up my IVA.

I have checked out my benefits and there are none we dont already have. We werent doint too bad until the rent rise,
Not sure where to go with this one.

But thanks anyway for the advice

[kallis3]

Definitely speak to your IP and explain this to them. You should not be having to scrimp and save and have to go without to pay your IVA.

How long have you been in your IVA and who is your IP company?

[lancslass]

Thanks kallis, I am only newly into my IVA, I have paid five payments up to today, and my company is Clear Debt.
It feels really good to be able to talk to somebody.

[Broke of London]

Hi Lancslass - Clear Debt are a good company and I'm sure they'll have some good advice for you. It's just a case of plucking up the courage to make the call. I hope it goes well for you!

[MelanieGiles]

How much have your rent rises been over the last 10 years as a matter of interest? You may well have been in a position to enter into a DRO rather than an IVA at the outset, given your low disposable income, and one wonders if that would have been a better route for you if the rent increase was forseen at the outset.

[lancslass]

Iknew a rent rist would come at this time, but its always a rise of a few pounds, £20 at the most, which I could have absorbed with a few savings here and there. But a a rise of £75 is a huge shock, its out of character as our landlord usually takes into consideration how much work we do at the property and how well we take care of it, we spent £300 last year on making the bathroom useable, and stop the walls from running with damp and the spores resulting.
An increase of £75 is a huge shock, if I had known this was coming I would certainly have declared in when my IVA was approved.

I will have to give my IP a ring and see what they say, although I cant see that anyone can help in the situation I am in.
Its hopeless

[kallis3]

Cleardebt are a good company and I'm sure a phone call to them will be able to sort you out.

Let us know how you get on.

[lancslass]

I have phoned my IP this morning and she was lovely, she did the best she could to help and suggested some things I might do. Im still in shock about the huge rent rise, but at least I can now see a way through to possibly dealing with it.
Thanks everybody for your help, still not sure how I will make the whole £75, but am more positive now that there are some things I can try.
Thank you all for your support with this issue.

[kallis3]

I'm so pleased your IP has been able to help you and that you're obviously feeling much better.

Good luck and let us know how you are getting on.

[Bradders]

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by lancslass

I have phoned my IP this morning and she was lovely, she did the best she could to help and suggested some things I might do. Im still in shock about the huge rent rise, but at least I can now see a way through to possibly dealing with it.
Thanks everybody for your help, still not sure how I will make the whole £75, but am more positive now that there are some things I can try.
Thank you all for your support with this issue.

I would suggest talking to the landlord and explaining that some form of rise is understandable but at that level it may force you to look for alternative accommodation. If you have been good tenants, as it sounds like you have, then you are very difficult to replace and your landlord will be aware of this and will hopefully be wiiling to reach some sort of a compromise. You shouldnt be shy about pointing this out and also telling them that it's in neither of your interests for you to have to look elsewhere.

You can do all of this without mentioning IVA's etc as really its not relevant to the size of the increase.

Good luck with it, if it doesnt work then you can at least fall back on the excellent advice received and you don't have to follow through on the threat to leave.[:)]

[lancslass]

Thanks for your advice Bradders, I have already explored this avenue, with a small movement on the rise, they originally wanted £500.

So doing what you suggested does work to a degree and is worth trying.