Private rent advice please.

A greedy landlord i believed. He actually wants you to leave.

Thanks BananaQ, He's actually been really good thus far. The reality is we got the place new at a very good deal. Since then the rents have really increased. My question I guess is can he do it? As mentioned there is nothing about a mid term review in the agreement. As far as I was aware I signed for the 2 year term at the published rent. Is there anything in HKG law that permits this? Thanks again all.

Give him a chance to get back to Market Rents by either: + Moving out, or + Offering to pay a Market Rent minus the 1 month he might lose to replace you: i.e pay him 11/12ths of the Market rent If he thinks you are a good tenant, he should be happy with the second BTW, if the second year is clearly stated in the Contract at a Low Fixed Rate, then tell him: "Those two things are what I would do, if we had a 1+1 Lease, but we have a two year lease." "Do you really want to break the lease, and give me a reason to hire a lawyer, or can we move to a new two year lease (covering years 2&3) that is closer to the market." See what he says, but you might find a way to negotiate that gets you a rate that would get you to stay for the third year. As it stands now, if you hire a lawyer and force him to take the LOW rate for year 2, then for sure he will want you out after that

Thanks OFFTHEPEAK. I just wondered if I'd missed anything. Like is it the norm, or an unwritten rule in a HK tenancy agreement that there's a mid term review. There certainly wasn't with my previous landlord. Thanks again.

I have been on both sides, Landlord and Tenant. If you show some flexibiility now, you may win a lower rent in Year 3, assuming you want to stay. Why do you think he sign a Two Year Lease, at such a low rent?

A typical lease would be for 2 year term but quite normally there may be a break clause allowing the tenant to give 2 or 3 months notice of termination after 1 year. The landlord may also have the right to give notice mid term. It should be quite clear in the lease if such mutual break clause exists. If it does then you may find that your landlord serves you notice to move out if you are not able to reach agreement on price increase. If there is no such clause then you should clarify why the landlord thinks he has the right to request an increase mid term as he may simply be mistaken or chancing it. Clearly if you hold fast then you can not expect to be offered a below market renewal at the end of lease.

if its a fixed 2 years contract without the 1 year fixed + 1 year optional and 1/2 months notice clause then I dont think you are obligated to pay anything more than the contract. If you have a 1 year fixed with 1/2 months notice then landlord can change the rent in the second year (more like he can give you a termination notice to leave the apartment)