12 Hindmarsh Crescent, Northfleet, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 8FD
Condition: Second floor flat in good general order with central heating and double glazing, but no curtains or washing machine provided by the landlord.
Evidence considered
- Landlord's Hometrack valuation (dated October 2025) for a one-bedroom flat intermediate rent at £993 pcm
- Landlord's Rightmove rental automated valuation for a one-bedroom flat at £1,181 pcm
- Average of the two landlord valuations (£1,087 pcm) was proposed as market rent but no underlying comparable property details were provided
- Tenant provided no comparable valuation evidence, only argument based on a statutory social-rent cap (4.8%) which the tribunal found inapplicable to this intermediate rent
- Tribunal relied on its own expert knowledge of local rental values to reach its determination, adjusting for absence of curtains (-£25 pcm) and washing machine (-£15 pcm)
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tenancy was an intermediate market rent (80% of market rent), so the statutory 4.8% social rent cap cited by the tenant did not apply. The landlord's evidence from Hometrack and Rightmove averaged £1,087 pcm, but lacked underlying comparable details, while the tenant provided no valuation evidence at all. Using its own expert knowledge, the tribunal set a starting market rent of £1,125 pcm for a modernised, well-equipped flat, then deducted £25 pcm for the absence of curtains and £15 pcm for the absence of a washing machine, arriving at a determined market rent of £1,085 pcm (with the intermediate rent payable calculated as 80% of this, i.e. £868 pcm). The tribunal found no undue hardship justifying a delayed start date, so the new rent took effect from the date in the landlord's notice.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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