As well as being a landlord, I also rent myself. My landlord emailed in July to confirm my rent would stay the same. However the house then failed the EICR and needed a full rewire, costing the landlord £6.5k.
I went onto a periodic tenancy as the estate agent wouldn’t renew my contract without an EICR.
Now the landlord wants to put the rent up from £925 to £995 because of the costs incurred. The place is a shambles, he never spends any money on it and it looks even worse now with all the channels the electrician had to do (the landlord is going to patch over these with paint which won’t match the horrible old anaglypta wallpaper.)
If the repairs had improved he spec of the place then that could justify a higher rent but I feel I am being penalised for his lack of maintenance.
As a landlord, I accept that sometimes big bills come along and if I don’t keep the place in a good state then that is to be expected.
I wouldn’t count a full re-wire to pass eicr as anything other than an improvement to the existing spec, which isn’t good enough to allow the property to be rented. The fact it won’t improve the property decoratively (and sounds like will be worse in that regard) is neither here nor there. Rents can be increased to cover costs inc sig repairs/maintenance.
Some LLs absorb all maintenance costs and don’t ask for increases when major repairs needed others will say they keep rent lower and don’t. Just like freeholders/mgt companies and leaseholders’ service charges.
If you view the increase as unreasonable you can however legally challenge it.
From your description the LL will pay £thousands and will only recoup over several years. If the increase was going to pay for the repairs in a year or two that would be different
Like any proposed increase you can try negotiating eg agree if walls get properly redecorated or suggest a lower figure because of the worse decorative condition.
It sounds as though as you are in a periodic, you hold all the power. If the property no longer suits your needs for the price you want, you can ‘vote with your feet’ and move out.
Alternatively you can try to negotiate with the Landlord, or refuse the increase, and they will need to serve a formal Section 13 increase notice, which you can appeal if the rent proposed is not an appropriate market price.
Have you never ever changed your mind about whether to charge for something when it’s an unexpected extra? LL is like you, wants to make a profit from being a LL. Maybe didn’t think through before or didn’t know how expensive rewiring would be
You could try saying you will not pay the higher rent as its much too big an increase and make a counter offer for what you think is fair or just decide to move as sounds like you have multiple issues.