22 Sergeants Lane Whitefield Manchester M45 7TS
Condition: A modernised detached family home with central heating and double glazing, with disputed minor repair/improvement issues raised by the tenant.
Evidence considered
- Tenant submitted four local 4-bedroom (and one 3-bedroom) asking-rent listings ranging from £1,295 to £1,890 pcm; none were actual lettings.
- Landlord submitted two Rightmove listings (not let): a 4-bed detached in Radcliffe at £2,100 pcm (later reduced to £1,890 pcm, still unlet) and a 4-bed detached on the same road as the subject property at £2,750 pcm, unlet after 8 months on the market.
- Tribunal treated the Radcliffe property as the most useful comparable given both parties agreed it was comparable, though its unlet status limited its weight.
- The £2,750 pcm same-street comparable was given no weight as its prolonged failure to let indicated it was priced above market rent.
- Tribunal relied substantially on its own expert knowledge of local rental values due to the lack of robust let comparable evidence.
Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal found that neither party supplied actual let comparables, only asking prices for properties still available to let. One comparable (Ardenfield Close) was accepted by both parties as broadly comparable but had its asking rent reduced to £1,890 pcm and remained unlet, while another (also on Sergeants Lane) had been marketed for eight months at £2,750 pcm without success, showing that figure to be above market value. Relying on its own expert knowledge of local rental values together with the limited comparable evidence, the tribunal determined the market rent at the same level as the existing passing rent, £1,800 pcm, meaning the landlord's proposed increase to £2,000 pcm was not justified and no issue of undue hardship arose.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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