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This is the text of the e-mail I received from the agency on 28th of January (my emphasis):

Hello,

I hope this finds you well.

Unfortunately, we’ve been asked to inform you of an increase in your rent. It hasn’t been increased in a while, and our landlord would like to have a fair return on his property whilst recognizing that you have been a good tenant for a long time. He’s asked us to increase the rent to £500 from the existing £470.

You are entitled to one month’s notice of any increase, so this won’t come into effect until your rent due date on 30th February 2022. Once agreed, your rent cannot be reviewed for another 12 months.

Please see the attached form for details, and do let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this rise.

Kind regards,

and also the form attached to the e-mail, signed by the landlord's agent, contains the same mistake:

The starting date for the new rent will be

30/02/2022

Do I have any right to interpret that as "not-in-February", and to increase the payment on the next month?

It's clearly a typo, right. But what should I assume that 30/02/2022 was meant to be 28/02/2022 and not 30/03/2022? Both typos are equally likely, no?

BlueDogRanch
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Enlico
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1 Answers1

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Do I have any right to interpret that as "not-in-February", and to increase the payment on the next month?

No. The letter is clear in that it serves as a one-month notice for rent increase (I'm assuming that the timing of the letter complies with your entitlement to the notice).

Even the doctrine of contra proferentem would be unavailing because contra proferentem is about adopting from among reasonable interpretations the one that is favorable to the non-draftsman. No reasonable interpretation can be premised on an unreal date such as the 30th of February.

Iñaki Viggers
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