Rent increased? Go to pieces (5,2)

I believe the answer is:

crack up

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'go to pieces' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'rent increased?' is the wordplay.
'rent' becomes 'crack' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'increased?' becomes 'up'.
'crack'+'up'='CRACK-UP'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for crack up that I've seen before include "Suffer breakdown" , "Laugh without restraint" , "Burst into laughter" , "laugh out loud?" , "go to pieces" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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