26 Oakdene Parade, Cobham, Surrey, KT11 2LS

HAV/43UB/MNR/2026/0115 · Decided 2026-07-01 · maisonette · 2 bed

Condition: Dated, unmodernised duplex above shops with disrepair including damp/mould, damage near entrance, no central heating and no hot water at kitchen tap.

Evidence considered

• Tenant referred to a comparable property less than a mile away, also above a shop and similar size, newly decorated and let at £1,500 pcm, but no formal comparable evidence was submitted by either party.
• Tribunal relied on its own expert/general knowledge of local rental values in the absence of detailed comparable evidence from either side.
• Starting from an assumed modernised market rent of £1,500 pcm, the Tribunal deducted £120 for unmodernised condition/lack of central heating and £120 for disrepair issues (damp/mould, no hot water at kitchen tap, entrance damage).

Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: no.

Tribunal's reasoning

The landlord's notice proposed increasing rent from £1,260 to £1,600 pcm, but the landlord later withdrew the increase, agreeing to keep rent unchanged and address repair issues. In the absence of detailed comparable evidence from either party, the Tribunal used its own expert knowledge to assess a modernised market rent of £1,500 pcm, then deducted £120 for unmodernised condition (no central heating, dated kitchen) and a further £120 for disrepair (damp/mould, no hot water at kitchen tap, entrance damage), arriving at £1,260 pcm, matching the existing rent. As the rent remained unchanged, the tenant's undue hardship application regarding backdating had no practical effect.

Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)