25 Empyrean, 1 Clarence Street (Block 1), Salford, Lancashire, M7 1BP
Condition: No specific disrepair alleged beyond a lingering smell of smoke and an unreplaced broken bed and coffee table.
Evidence considered
- Tenant provided screenshots of advertised 1-bed flats (£825-£900 pcm) but most were considered too distant or not comparable (one was a studio, one smaller, two in different areas).
- Tenant cited a family member's 2-bed flat in the same block at £960 pcm, but this was not adopted as determinative.
- Landlord provided a 'best price guide' showing properties within half a mile ranging £1,050-£1,500 pcm and properties within the same estate ranging £1,030-£1,375 pcm.
- Landlord's advertised comparables in the same block averaged about £1,070 pcm for 1-bedroom flats, given significant weight though condition of those units was unverified.
- Tenant's assertions about antisocial behaviour and crime in the area were disregarded due to lack of evidence.
Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The Tribunal relied on its own expert knowledge of local rental values together with comparables from both parties, giving more weight to the landlord's evidence of similar one-bedroom flats in the same block/estate (averaging about £1,070 pcm) while discounting several of the tenant's comparables as being in different areas, of different size, or a different property type. It concluded a market rent of £1,020 pcm, slightly below the landlord's average comparable, reflecting uncertainty about the condition of comparator units. The tenant's claims of antisocial behaviour/crime and undue hardship were rejected for lack of supporting evidence, so the new rent took effect on the date in the landlord's notice.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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