Revealed - how interest rate rise led to immediate £50 pcm rent hike

Controversial landlord Fergus Wilson has increased rents on all new tenancies in his property portfolio by £50 a week because of the base rate change announced by the Bank of England.

The change was announced by the BoE’s monetary policy committee last Thursday at noon and, within an hour, Wilson issued a statement saying that new tenancies would be increased £50 per month.

“It is for all new tenancies. Any existing tenants do not get an increase until the renewal date - any tenant that has already signed is immune for six months. All new tenancies will be offered at a greater rent by £50 a month” he says.

Wilson adds that he signed a new tenancy at 10.30am on Thursday - 90 minutes before the base rate announcement - and this will stick at the figure. “It will then go up by £50 after six months” he says.

He describes the increase as “merely passing on to the tenant the additional mortgage charge.”

The Bank of England’s decision to increase interest rates by 0.25 per cent is another blow to buy to let investors already hit by recent fiscal changes and new regulations, according to accountancy and tax advice consultancy Blick Rothenberg.

“For many people who were getting no return on their capital due to long term low interest rates and decided to invest in buy-to-let properties this will be another blow. They wanted to get better returns and for many it was also part of their retirement plans” explains one of the consultancy’s managers, Paul Haywood-Schiefer.

Fergus Wilson and his wife Judith have a portfolio of some 400 properties, mostly in Kent. At one time they owned around 1,000 buy to let units in the area.

Wilson last month gave an interview to Letting Agent Today responding to a series of controversies surrounding his approach to agents and tenants.