31 Kenilworth Close Northampton NN5 6LD
Condition: 1970s end-of-terrace house in fair to good external condition, with basic functional kitchen and bathroom, no white goods, and some minor disrepair including damp to a WC wall and roofing felt damage.
Evidence considered
- Tribunal's own general knowledge of assured shorthold tenancy market rent levels in and around Northampton, used to set a notional open-market rent of £1300 pcm for the property in good modernised condition.
- No specific comparable lettings transactions were set out in detail in the decision; adjustments were based on the panel member's professional judgement and external Google Streetview inspection.
- Google Street View external inspection (dated July 2023) used in place of a physical inspection.
Tenant submitted evidence: yes. Landlord submitted evidence: yes.
Tribunal's reasoning
The tribunal first assessed an open-market AST rent of £1300 pcm based on general market knowledge, then deducted £250 pcm for the property's basic kitchen/bathroom, absence of white goods, and minor disrepair, giving an adjusted fair rent of £1050 pcm with no scarcity deduction applied as none was found in the Northampton locality. However, this uncapped figure was overridden by the statutory Maximum Fair Rent Cap, which limits increases to the RPI change since the last registration plus 5%, producing a capped rent of £660.13 pcm (including a £47.13 pcm variable service charge), and since this was lower than the uncapped £1050 pcm figure, the capped amount was registered as the new fair rent.
Read the original decision (PDF, GOV.UK)
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