20 Hawthorne Avenue, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 4HJ
Condition: The property had some disrepair issues including a leaking bathroom sink, faulty kitchen lighting, and cracked kitchen flooring.
Evidence considered
- Neither party submitted rental comparables or completed the tribunal's reply forms.
- Tenants provided photos showing disrepair (cracked kitchen tiling, minimal furnishings) and a letter detailing reported repair issues, but no market rent evidence.
- Tenants referenced the Local Housing Allowance rate, but the tribunal held this is not binding on market rent determination.
- Tribunal relied on its own knowledge and expertise of local rental values to determine the open market rent.
Tenant submitted evidence: no. Landlord submitted evidence: no.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal used its own expertise rather than rental comparables, since neither party submitted rental evidence. It assessed the open market rent for the property in good, modernised condition at £1,450pcm, then deducted £100pcm to reflect a general lack of repair and condition (disrepair issues such as a leaking bathroom sink and faulty kitchen lighting), arriving at £1,350pcm. The landlord could not rely on a tenancy clause allowing a fixed £100 increase because the tenancy had become a statutory periodic tenancy. Due to the tenants' representations of undue hardship linked to a capped Local Housing Allowance, the tribunal delayed the start date of the new rent to the date of its decision rather than the date proposed in the landlord's notice.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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