1 Broadwater Apartments, Southdown View Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN14 8NN
Condition: Studio flat with some disrepair issues raised by the tenant, including a dropped/draughty window, loud door entry system, and a bin area/rat infestation nearby.
Evidence considered
- Tenant provided photographs, a hand-drawn floor plan, and informal comparisons (a one-bedroom flat at £900 pcm, a two-bedroom flat at £1150 pcm, one unlocated Rightmove image) with limited evidential weight.
- Landlord cited three Rightmove comparables (£995, £995, £1,025 pcm) but all were one-bedroom flats with outside space, found by the Tribunal not directly comparable to the subject studio.
- Tribunal used its own knowledge that the landlord's agent was advertising a one-bedroom flat in the same building at £1,080 pcm.
- Tribunal relied substantially on its own expertise and general knowledge of local rental values rather than the comparables provided.
Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The Tribunal found that none of the landlord's comparables (all one-bedroom flats with outside space) were directly comparable to the subject studio flat, and gave limited weight to the tenant's informal comparisons. Relying on its own expertise and general knowledge of the local rental market, including awareness of a one-bedroom flat in the same building advertised at £1,080 pcm, the Tribunal determined that the market rent for the studio in good repair with landlord-provided appliances was £960 pcm, i.e. no increase from the current rent and below the landlord's proposed £1,015 pcm. No adjustments were made from this figure, and as the rent did not increase, undue hardship was not considered.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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