Rent increase and no contract for 18 months?

"You are not obliged to sign a new contract. If you don’t you will remain on a Statutory Periodic Tenancy and you will not be obliged to pay any more rent until your landlord server the correct notices. Your landlord then has three options:"

Not entirely correct, would all depend on what the contract says happens at the end of the fixed term, if nothing then yes Statutory periodic and a section 13 is required to increase rent however if your contract has a clause that dictates what happens at the end of the fixed term then you will most likely be on a contractual periodic and a section 13 is not needed

A fixed term contract would become periodic. If the Landlord wanted a new contract, then he should give you the notice on the old contract by 2 months before it expires and start a new tenancy. I would consider it unreasonable, and therefore unfair, to raise your rent with 6 days' warning. Perhaps you should change your landlord. 20% is also a big increase, unless there are extreme circumstances. However, at this time, the landlord's costs may have risen by that amount, and he may have no option. For existing tenants, we are planning increases of 5 or 6%, but, with energy and other bills included, new tenants are seeing much bigger rises.

@P118...not *necessarily* reverting to a STATUTORY periodic. It could very well be a CONTRACTUALLY periodic agreement after the initial fixed term.

Fixed-term expired 18 months ago so the question of whether it is now a contractual periodic or statutory periodic tenancy makes no difference to the method of increasing the rent. If there is nothing in the agreement about rent increases the new rent can either be negotiated or imposed by serving Form 13.

A new agreement cannot be imposed by the landlord as it would require surrender of the existing tenancy and only the tenant can do this.

I have read that there is a cap of 10% increase per year, not sure if it is a guidleline or internet chat
20% seems far too much, you can appeal to an rent assessment committee, who review rents in your area.

Reply to the comment left by Chris H at 09/02/2023 - 18:51
I would be very careful about requesting an independent rent review because if the new rent is below market rate you can end up paying more than the landlord asked for. Only do so if your research shows the increase is higher than the landlord could realistically achieve on the open market.

Reply to the comment left by Kate Mellor at 09/02/2023 - 19:22
Quite correct as things stand but one of the government proposals is to cap the rent that can be assessed by the tribunal at the amount requested by the landlord so tenants will have nothing to lose by challenging increases, particularly as it is likely that S21 will be repealed at the same time.

Reply to the comment left by Chris H at 09/02/2023 - 18:51
This seems to be a common misconception. There is no set limit to the amount by which rent can be increased, but as has already been said, the tenant can appeal to the rent tribunal, which will fix the rent according to the market rate.

Whether a 20% increase is reasonable depends on how the market has moved since the last increase.

As others have explained your legal position quite thoroughly I won’t rehash all that.
I would agree that it seems a little unreasonable to expect you to sign a new lease with a sizeable increase with very little notice, it could in all likelihood be the fault of the agent not getting their act into gear and doing it at an earlier stage.
As I’m sure you’re aware interest rates have gone up in chunks every 5 minutes. Your landlord may have his fixed term coming to an end to be faced with mortgage repayments that have now doubled. If he’s going to be underwater on your tenancy the logical action is to make the rent match the market.
Realistically your choice is simple, you don’t have to agree to sign a new tenancy agreement, you can try to negotiate a smaller increase, and or a months notice, but ultimately the landlord always has the option to give you notice and find a new tenant who will come in at the full market rate, which is probably higher than your increase.
I’d certainly register on Rightmove and Openrent for suitable properties to see what else you can get for that money. It’ll either be good evidence in your negotiations, or you may find something you prefer, or you may even realise that if you move you will be paying more rent than the increase for the same type of property. Whatever the outcome you will have the necessary information to make your decision.

Reply to the comment left by Kate Mellor at 09/02/2023 - 19:22
My rents are well below current rental values, I could happily let the my tenants go to the independent rent review without any worry at all.