My 2 years contract finishes end of September and the landlord just sent over the new contract with a rent increase of 9%. They sent details of why they are increasing including near by apartment listing. These apartments are in the center of Shimokitazawa while mine is in Daita, so I believe it’s not a fair comparison.
Has any one negotiated successfully, what are good points I can counter act with?
Thanks.
3 comments
You can outright refuse if you don’t believe it is fair.
Some more detailed advice in this thread: https://reddit.com/r/japanlife/s/PUXdhNjvGm
We negotiated our rent increase by giving the agent a counter offer, then settling on an amount that was between the landlord’s increase and our counter offer. If that doesn’t work, you could try bluffing and saying if the rent is going up to that you will move out, and see if the landlord negotiates then because he’s rather not have the apartment potentially sitting empty.
Really though, just calculate how much it would cost to move into a new apartment (upfront costs + moving company), and think if it will be cheaper to just eat the increase.
I’m sure others can provide a better analysis or more local data, but at the very least the [Ministry of Internal Affairs statistics page](https://www.e-stat.go.jp/en/dbview?sid=0003427113) suggests that overall rents in Tokyo rose by only 0.3% last year. Of course this will vary by location and rental type, but 9% seems outrageous and more like a negotiating tactic unless they’ve done some kind of major renovation.
As in the discussion that u/CherryCakeEggNogGlee referenced, you ought to try to argue them down. If they’re citing an expensive apartment in Shimokitazawa, maybe you can point to a different listing close by that’s cheaper.
By the way, I also live in Daita and my rental contract’s up for renewal next year so I’m very interested to hear how it goes. Good luck!