Tenancy Renewals
2022-2023
It is that time of the year when we reach out to current tenants and invite them to renew their tenancies which are ending at the end of August 2022 for another year into 2023.
You will shortly receive emails confirming the end of your existing tenancy and another one offering you a renewal.
Alongside this process, we have some changes behind the scenes although ones which should not affect you. The purpose of this blog is to explain what is happening so you can look out for the emails.
change of underlying ownership
First some news on our side. On May 6th 2022, my company Rainbow Capital Property Ltd sold our portfolio of seven houses in Stratford to another local landlord, namely Unicorn Living Ltd. We are selling all our other properties too. After 27 years as a landlord, it is simply time for me to retire.
The decision to sell was personal rather than commercial. I am going to leave the property business and pass over management to my colleague Tom Hudson, supported by our maintenance guys, James and Atila.
Ownership of the houses and your tenancy thus transferred to Unicorn back in May. The terms of your tenancy did not change however and the same rights and obligations have simply continued between you and them. Hopefully you have not even noticed that anything is different.
Going forward, management of the properties and your tenancy is intended to stay with Tom without me getting in the way and taking all the credit :). From your perspective, little should change.
Tenancy Renewals
1St September 2022 - 31st August 2023
Unicorn would love you to stay on as their tenant so you will shortly receive an email from Tom offering you a renewal of your tenancy on similar terms to those you have now.
Unicorn take over at a tricky moment. The main challenge facing them is the astronomical rises in costs - specifically energy, council tax, water rates and the like. Over the past two years we have taken a big hit on energy with our annual bill rising from £25,000 to £90,000 - a combination of suppliers going bust along with our fixed rate deals, the tripling of wholesale prices and more folk working from home using more energy. You have been shielded from this pain suffered by the rest of the country as we agreed fixed rent tenancies with the cost of bills included and we honoured them. Interest rates have risen too so Unicorn’s mortgages are more expensive. And the Council keeps putting up the council tax.
Rainbow never raised rents for incumbent tenants, some of whom have renewed their tenancies for many years and never paid more rent.
So there will need to be some adjustment this year so that everyone pays a fair market rent to Unicorn upto August 2023, with rent rises sufficient to cover the increases in cost. We have advised Unicorn to keep the rent increases to a minimum in order to retain the loyalty of existing tenants.
And the new tenancies will again mean your rent is fixed until August 2023, shielding you from any further rises in costs.
Tom will also confirm re-protection of your deposit directly by Unicorn.
Ending Existing Tenancies
You will also get an email from me confirming the end of your tenancy with Rainbow Capital, including a formal Section 21 notice and notice of the transfer of your tenancy from us to Unicorn.
We don’t usually like to use formal notices but as this is end of an era for us, we should do things by the book.
Time for Andrew to bow out gracefully / over to tom Hudson and Unicorn
I hope the above makes sense. In summary you will receive three emails:
Email from me at Rainbow confirming end of current tenancy 31/8/2022
Email from Tom at offering you: (a) tenancy renewal 1/9/2022 - 31/8/2023 (b) additional confirmation of end of current tenancy (c) confirmation of transfer of rent from Rainbow to Unicorn
Email from Tom confirming transfer of your deposit from Rainbow to Unicorn
I hope as many of you renew your tenancies as possible.
As for me, I became a landlord when I was 25. Now I am 52 and no longer a young man. It is a job that requires almost 24 x 7 x 365 vigilance. It’s time to seek an easier life with new adventures. As I leave the property rental business I wish you all the best of success in the future. Thank you for being the best tenants a landlord could wish for and for allowing me to accommodate you. It has been my privilege.
And good luck with Tom and Unicorn. You will be in good hands with Tom - he’s one of the best people I’ve ever worked with and fully committed to giving you a fantastic rental experience.
Best wishes,