Rental advise needed

zerocool2009 said:
It boils down to, was your landlord a good landlord. If he was, dont shoot him in the foot, honestly!
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I was being sarcastic. He was neither good nor bad. He agreed to an 8% renewal increase and is now backtracking to 20%. That’s fine he can do what he wants. I just hope that he will be equally chill with us moving out when we find a place.
 
PotatoGuardian said:
I was being sarcastic. He was neither good nor bad. He agreed to an 8% renewal increase and is now backtracking to 20%. That’s fine he can do what he wants. I just hope that he will be equally chill with us moving out when we find a place.
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I do get it. Its the same when you resign. Dont burn your bridges.

Think it in this way, its his place, if he wants to raise the rent with 50%, let him do so, but keep your side clean.

Give now notice on email, confirming that you are doing what the rules say as per the lease, giving him x days notice. Thank him for the time he was your landlord, and start to look for another place.

As simple as that.
 
PotatoGuardian said:
The lease says not allowed subleasing but that's funny. Landlord claims they can easily get the rent they want though but I dunno if it was a bluff
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Unfortunately the flood of digital nomads and expats living in Cape Town has pushed the whole market up, especially if you are in any half decent area, it’s nuts.
 
airborne said:
Unfortunately the flood of digital nomads and expats living in Cape Town has pushed the whole market up, especially if you are in any half decent area, it’s nuts.
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Yeh I know. And honestly I’m fine with the landlord doing what they need to do. Sucks for us but it is what it is. I’m just hoping there’s a way for us to leave early without being penalised given that the landlords reasoning is they are convinced they can get higher rent.

Listings are on for an hour sometime and we don’t want to be left without a place to stay
 
PotatoGuardian said:
Not OP but similar situation.

Our lease is coming to an end at the end of March. Our landlord wants a 20% increase in rent or to terminate our contract. Renewal we signed was 8% in our current contract.

Anyway we are happy to move and found a place for where we can move 15 February. Can we give him a months notice from today or can he penalise us? (I'm assuming the latter). According to contract he can reasonably penalise us for terminating our lease early but if we wait until the lease ends we might not find a place that fits our needs (Cape Town, shame).

We don't want to squat or fight it we are happy to just leave but ideally without penalty
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If give notice for the day the contract ends. After that it will be month to month until you find a place. That is just how it works. They can scream murder until they are blue in the face, they will have to wait until you found a place. Our previous place we waited almost 6 months for the tenant to move out. That just sometimes what happens when there is a shortage of place and it is noones fault. There is no need to feel guilty. As long as you don't move out before the lease expired. And of course you will try to find a place in time.
 
PotatoGuardian said:
Yeh I know. And honestly I’m fine with the landlord doing what they need to do. Sucks for us but it is what it is. I’m just hoping there’s a way for us to leave early without being penalised given that the landlords reasoning is they are convinced they can get higher rent.

Listings are on for an hour sometime and we don’t want to be left without a place to stay
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I don't think its necessary to end your lease early because then the landlord will have grounds to penalise you because you'd essentially be breaking the lease agreement but you are now fortunate to have 2 and half months to look for a new place and that will be a big help.
 
PotatoGuardian said:
I was being sarcastic. He was neither good nor bad. He agreed to an 8% renewal increase and is now backtracking to 20%. That’s fine he can do what he wants. I just hope that he will be equally chill with us moving out when we find a place.
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Agree with @zerocool2009 . Keep it professional and don't make it personal. You are not entitled to someone's house. They must just be patient until you find a place after lease expires. There will be a clause that states that should an agreement not be reached it will be month to month.

If it is an estate agent tell them to go to hell. They can wait.
 
RedViking said:
If give notice for the day the contract ends. After that it will be month to month until you find a place. That is just how it works. They can scream murder until they are blue in the face, they will have to wait until you found a place. Our previous place we waited almost 6 months for the tenant to move out. That just sometimes what happens when there is a shortage of place and it is noones fault. There is no need to feel guilty. As long as you don't move out before the lease expired. And of course you will try to find a place in time.
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That surely can't be the law?
It’s not your landlords duty to let you stay on for as long as is necessary to find a new place and they are able to give you 30 days notice to vacate at lease end once they are aware you will not be renewing the lease.
 
airborne said:
That surely can't be the law?
It’s not your landlords duty to let you stay on for as long as is necessary to find a new place and they are able to give you 30 days notice to vacate at lease end once they are aware you will not be renewing the lease.
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Of course it is. They need to wait for you to find a place. Alternatively report the matter the the rental tribunal and then it give you 3 months. There is no reason to be upset about it. A tenant can only do so much to find a place. As long as the tenant is actively searching for a place.
 
airborne said:
That surely can't be the law?
It’s not your landlords duty to let you stay on for as long as is necessary to find a new place and they are able to give you 30 days notice to vacate at lease end once they are aware you will not be renewing the lease.
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It is. But I don’t want this.

I don’t even want to stay. I’m more than happy to leave. This place isn’t the best ever for super low rent. My issue is we’ve already found a couple of places that want a tenant moving in 1 March and they won’t wait. Rentals in CPT go fast
 
RedViking said:
Of course it is. They need to wait for you to find a place. Alternatively report the matter the the rental tribunal and then it give you 3 months. There is no reason to be upset about it. A tenant can only do so much to find a place. As long as the tenant is actively searching for a place.
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That's the first I have heard of that, do you have any links to official website where I can find out more about that?

What happens if a new tenant and lease has been signed in the interim which is normal, what are they supposed to do if you refuse to leave when your lease expires due to not being able to find a new place?
 
Just kind of crazy that the landlord can skirt around the agreed annual escalation but then we have to abide by our side of the contract
 
airborne said:
That's the first I have heard of that, do you have any links to official website where I can find out more about that?

What happens if a new tenant and lease has been signed in the interim which is normal, what are they supposed to do if you refuse to leave when your lease expires due to not being able to find a new place?
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I don't have a link. It is just what it is. I mean, what are you going to do. The tenant is trying to find a new place. They are on their way out.
 
PotatoGuardian said:
Just kind of crazy that the landlord can skirt around the agreed annual escalation but then we have to abide by our side of the contract
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We they will have to wait till the end of the lease before anything can change. If they want to draw up a new lease, and you haven't agreed to the new terms, then it is on them to wait for you to find a new place.

You just simply tell them you can't agree to the new terms, and that you will be searching for a new place. They must please be patient until you find a new place. There is nothing more to it.
 
PotatoGuardian said:
Just kind of crazy that the landlord can skirt around the agreed annual escalation but then we have to abide by our side of the contract
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Be civil and state your circumstances and motivate why you want to terminate early.

The 20% increase came as surprise as you expected 8% and during the time to reflect on the news you came across another rental for similar current budget and needs and you do not want to penalize the current landlord by not attaining his preferred rental. You will however pay for the full month of Feb of show of good faith.
Use his bluff against him.
He will most probably realize that he have a good tenant with good payment record and will forego the idea of an 20% increase and settle on the 8%.
 
PotatoGuardian said:
It is. But I don’t want this.

I don’t even want to stay. I’m more than happy to leave. This place isn’t the best ever for super low rent. My issue is we’ve already found a couple of places that want a tenant moving in 1 March and they won’t wait. Rentals in CPT go fast
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Contact an agent (or a couple of them) and let them know when you're looking to move. If they're worth their salt they'll find you a place.
 
Wrath of Khan MD said:
guys its always a lot easier to post the rental contract part about the termination of the lease, as well as the yearly rental increase. Just those two parts, then we can all attack you correctly...

much obliged
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:laugh:I was actually going to but it's a photocopied pdf and I was typing on my phone yesterday, didn't feel like doing screenshots and stuff.

Essentially we can cancel by giving 20 days notice. They can charge a reasonable cancellation penalty in line with CPA, which takes into account:
(a) the amount the tenant is still liable for to the landlord up to the date of cancellation;
(b) the value of the lease up to the date of cancellation;
(c) the duration of the lease as initially agreed;
(d) the length of notice of cancellation provided by the tenant;
(e) the reasonable potential for the landlord, acting diligently, to find an alternative tenant; and
(f) the general practice of the relevant industry. https://rhkattorneys.co.za/2024/04/18/the-early-termination-of-lease-agreements-2/

We're just asking to be let out a month early with more than a month's notice so that we can secure a place and they can move on with their lives and find a new tenant
 
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