Am I missing something here? I feel like my letting agent hasade a mistake and still trying to make me pay more rent

[giudicelli]

Apologies as this is rather long but here goes 

I have been renting my flat for almost 5 years. I've never had any issues with my rent increase in the past here but a new letting agent took over recently, and when my tenancy was up for review at the end of October, they tried to increase my rent by 12.6%. I challenged it and managed to get it to 8% which is still ridiculously high as before it only ever went up by 2%, this is all just a bit of context so you can understand the new letting agency am dealing with.

  
As I said I was going to leave the property in April next year, I assumed they would draw up a 1 month rolling contract; they are extremely unorganized. The new rent would start from December, around mid Nov one of the agents sent me an email saying I would need to sign up to a website called 'goodlord', after which I would recieve my new contract to sign with the new rent.

I did exactly that and waited for my new contract to sign. I obviously didnt chase this up as it was upto them to check that I had registered through the link to 'goodlord' and send me this new contract. Roll on to mid to late December I get an email from the dept department saying they are missing money from my rent. I had not changed my rent to the increased amount as I was still waiting for this contract to come through. I emailed straight back to say I had done what was asked and was waiting for the new contract.

  
Now, as I said this office is very unorganized,  they often ignore my emails (they have ignored me several times when I told them I was burgled). So I knew that with the holidays coming up I wouldnt get a reply till at least the start of January. 3rd January I get a reply, Im told that her colleague made a mistake and that it wasnt the correct process. There were a few emails back and forth and I kept saying that I wont pay the increased rent until the contract is drawn up and I've signed it. In her last email she said:

  
' As I have mentioned, there is no assured short hold tenancy that can be drafted for less than 6 months therefore the only way we can keep you on the tenancy is by leaving it rolling. I am more than happy to draft and send a tenancy agreement for you but the tenancy end date will be May and not April ,would you like me to do this for you? '

  
Firstly, does this mean that if the contract stays rolling it cant be increased as it's the same rent and contract I was already on? Secondly If im leaving in April. The best option is to have a new contract with the rent increase on it and I give 30 days notice before leaving like any normal tenancy would end? 

I was hoping someone could give me some advice here if Im legally in the right and if the managers colleage made a mistake by giving me the wrong process then surely that's their wrong doing. They should've recognised that mistake instantly but instead its taken them nearly 2 months and those 2 months were meant to be with the increased rent.

I've just got an email from the letting agent just now:

'As mentioned previously multiple times we cannot send an agreement for a tenancy that is shorter than 6 months.If you would like to sign a tenancy then I can draft and send you an agreement for 6 months however as you have stated that you wish to leave by April to accommodate your needs we left you on a rolling contract.'

This is regurgitated bs again. If they leave me on the same rolling contract then surely that means I pay the same rent and it's not increased? This is exactly what I mean about them ignoring me. I have said if I'm left on a rolling contract then it's the same contract as before and that contract does not have the rent increase. Sorry guys this is so frustrating. Either I'm being very very stupid (although I'm being super careful as this can all affect my credit score etc..) or this letting agency is completely undermining everything I've said.

[Dino V]

If you want to sign a new contract, it needs to be for at least 6 months, as that's the minimum. There's no need to sign a new one, as at the end of the original period it becomes a rolling periodic tenancy where both you and the landlord only have to give each other 30 day's notice to end the tenancy, so less protection but fairly standard and fine if you're planning on leaving in a few months anyway.

The rent can be increased once the original contract period ended and just needs an agreement between yourself and the landlord, which you say you agreed to at 8%. That figure could be anything, it's only ridiculously high if you would be paying more than the market rent, but if you've had 2% increases for a few years I suspect you were way below it. No new contract is needed, which was the mistake made by the letting agent, but it doesn't change that you've agreed to an 8% increase from whatever date you agreed it would start from.